How Tsu 好吃: Steamed manjuu and Tea

How Tsu 好吃 is a hidden gem in back neighborhood of Ginowan, a small cafe with tea and steamed buns.

It is not too difficult to find, but if you didn’t know about it, you probably wouldn’t have followed the signs to get there. The signs lead you to a small alley, with about 1 maybe 2 kei car spaces.

There is a sign outside saying “Open.” And sure enough, as you open the door of what seems to simply be someone’s house… a small tea space and kitchen appears. The menu is in Japanese and English (probably due to the location near to the military base, though I cannot imagine many Americans come here). There are handmade steamed buns: nikuman (meat), taanmuman (taro), anman (red bean), and bao (like a steamed pork sandwich bun). There are also some choices for tea: high mountain oolong, jasmine, herb, and coffee. For 500yen, I got red bean and taro buns with a pot of high mountain oolong. Cheap and delicious.

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address: https://goo.gl/maps/yhRyLE8q1Tq

Open noon-7pm. Closed on Mondays.

Gusuku Manjuu: 城まんじゅう

Manjuu 饅頭, or まんじゅう, is a popular Japanese wagashi, specifically a rice cake, often with a sweet red bean paste filling.

*also sometimes romanized as manju.

城まんじゅう Gusuku manjuu is a manjuu shop located in Kitanakagusuku village. Of course, I love manjuu but this place is a little special. First, there are 3 types of handmade manjuu sold here: aasa (アーサ, a type of Okinawan seaweed), sesame (ごま), and azuki bean (小豆). Second, the manjuu here are steamed in fragrant shell ginger leaves (called サンニン sannin in Okinawan language), similar to famous “No” manjuu in Shuri and muuchii. Since the leaves of ginger shell have bactericidal effect, in the old days Okinawan people would often wrap rice balls and muuchii with the leaves.

My friends bought some of these manjuu the other day and gave me some… they were very delicious. The delicate smell and taste of the shell ginger leaves infused into sweets has grown on me since living here.

The shop sells both individual and packages of manjuu; good for omiyage or tomb offerings, particularly for shiimii.

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address: https://goo.gl/maps/d34HAGF2Tx82

Hekoki Manjuu へこきまんじゅう: Fart-inducing cakes

Today I went to a products fair for Nagoya and Mie held at the department store. There was this really tempting looking manjuu from Mie prefecture; it had a batter made with satsuma-imo (Japanese sweet potato). It was called hekoki manjuu へこきまんじゅう.

屁こき (へこき) hekoki: means “breaking wind” or “farting.”

饅頭 (まんじゅう) manjuu is just a type of Japanese steamed bun or cake. Some people romanize it as “manju” with only 1 u.

So these are “cakes” that make you pass gas. Hmmm. I read that sweet potatoes can make you more gassy.

There were many types to choose from but I got the one with cream cheese and cranberry in the middle and it was very delicious. The batter is made from sweet potato which made the texture and taste so yummy. I would really recommend trying these, but maybe not too many at one time…

I didn’t get a picture of the manjuu cake itself since I was too hungry to wait. At the time I was thinking of my stomach and hadn’t planned to write an entry about it. But then I thought that fart-inducing cakes seemed like a pretty interesting/unique food as well as being incredibly oishii 美味しい. I suppose whenever I make it to Mie prefecture, I will have to find their original shop!

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Famous “No” Manjuu in Shuri: のー饅頭

The の “no” character is short for “noshi” のし or 熨斗,  which is a ceremonial origami fold used to express good wishes or good fortune, usually attached to gifts. It is seen at any kind of celebration like a wedding, new baby, New Years, housewarming… people give gifts or money envelopes with this decoration on it. 

ぎぼまんじゅう Gibo Manjuu in Shuri sells special manjuu まんじゅう (steamed buns) with the no character painted in red, known as no-manjuu のー饅頭. The manjuu are only 150yen and come out piping hot, enormous and packed with subtly sweet red bean paste. They are wrapped in sannin サンニン (also known as gettou 月桃 in Japanese or shell ginger in English) leaves, so you have the slight fragrance reminiscent of Ryukyu sweets. It is delicious and absolutely filling. It is highly recommended to visit and try these manjuu!

Although the shop is currently located at Kubagawa in the Shuri area, it was originally by the Seikou temple in Gibo (another area of Shuri), so the name is Gibo Manjuu since the business is over a century old. The number of manjuu sold each day is limited, so be sure to go early!

address: 〒903-0807 沖縄県那覇市首里久場川町2丁目109

 

Mizu manjuu: 水まんじゅう

水まんじゅう mizu manjuu literally translates to “water dumpling.” Sometimes they are also called “kuzu manjuu” くずまんじゅう.

Mizu manjuu are a popular summer time treat because they are served chilled. The outside is made from kuzu starch (arrowroot 葛) which gives it the translucent effect. The inside filling which you can see through the outer layer is either azuki paste or a fruit-jelly paste with white bean. The taste is so refreshing, perfect to balance the hot summer days. And the outer appearance is so cute and delicate.

The ones in my first picture are matcha 抹茶 and raspberry ラズベリー. The second picture is shikwasa シークワーサー flavor. The third picture is a really creamy and tangy sour cream flavor, no bean paste used.

In Okinawa, you can find these at Shirobara confectionary (白バラ洋菓子) which has a few locations throughout Okinawan main island. Just copy and paste into Google Maps to find the closest to you. I have also seen a few at SanA grocery store during summer.

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