Summer Festival Food: 夏祭りの屋台

夏祭り natsu matsuri means summer festival (I wrote a little about this before).

Of course, no summer matsuri is complete without the food tents, called 屋台 yatai. Most popular are probably the fried and grilled foods; some of the more “traditional” ones that I have seen in Okinawa are listed below. Just be careful not to stain your yukata…

**I will try and add some more pictures of all the foods as I have time.

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Yakisoba 焼きそば : fried noodles. Usually at summer matsuri, I see Japanese sauce yakisoba rather than Okinawan salt yakisoba, but it depends on the festival.

Takoyaki たこ焼き: fried octopus balls. Round dough balls with bits of octopus mixed in and fried, then topped with sauce and usually katsuobushi.

Okonomiyaki お好み焼き: cabbage “pancakes,” topped with sauce, as well as usually mayo, nori, and katsuobushi.

Pote ポテ: potato fries.

Yakitori 焼き鳥: grilled chicken skewers.

Ika yaki イカ焼き: literally, squid grilled on a skewer. Squid-on-a-stick.

Jaga bataa じゃがバター: baked potato with butter.

(Yaki) toumorokoshi (焼き)とうもろこし: corn; in this case it will be grilled and slathered with butter.


Recently we went to a matsuri in Nago and split a mega-combo メガコンボ, which came with a mix of potato fries, yakisoba, takoyaki, and yakitori. It was a popular food tent, and everything was cooked piping hot on the spot. It was nice because it came with a small(ish) serving of a bunch of different foods for variety, and a good compromise for my husband and I to split.

Some food tents are starting to offer some more western choices, like “meat pies” which I think are kinda like empanadas. Often you also see アメリカンドッグ  “American dog,” which just means a corn dog.

You might also see some “local specialties,” which in Okinawa typically means soba. Each festival has its own wide array of foods to try, and we enjoy trying as many as possible. On the mainland I have seen way more variety of matsuri food, and some really interesting looking ones. So keep in mind since this list is mostly applicable to Okinawa, I have only included the ones most common in Okinawa.

And of course, there is more than just savory foods… plenty of sweets as well.


Wataame わたあめ: cotton candy.

Choco banana チョコバナナ: chocolate covered banana on a stick.

Taiyaki たい焼き: fish-shaped bean pastry.

Dorayaki どら焼き: round pancake-like bean pastry.

Sata andagi サーターアンダギー: Okinawan fried “donuts.”

Kaki-gouri かき氷: Shave ice!


In Okinawa, the drink selection is typically some canned soft drinks (though don’t expect much variety beyond water, green tea, and coke), draft Orion beer, and of course, the local booze, awamori.

 

Kurashiki Dam: 倉敷ダム

It was very hot and humid today in Okinawa; summer has begun. The sounds of cicadas are everywhere. I feel like eating shave ice and watermelon.

Kurashiki dam in Uruma has a park next to it– it is perfect for cooling off in summer time. I went to the dam today, and it was busy with families and kids. Luckily there is a lot of parking. Some kids were cooling off in the water, while others were gathering bugs, tadpoles, or other small creatures. Many adults set up camping tents to hideout in while the kids played. Just looking at the dam made you feel like summer was here. It seemed so nostalgic, seeing all these kids play in the water and catching wildlife, not on phones or other electronic devices.

I also cooled off my feet wading in the water, it was so refreshing. I definitely recommend visiting here on a hot summer day.


address: https://goo.gl/maps/yKYtoGk1ieH2

Kayari Buta: 蚊遣り豚

蚊遣り豚 kayari buta: a ceramic mosquito-incense holder shaped like a pig. Sometimes written as just 蚊遣豚. Buta 豚 means pig, ka 蚊 means mosquito.

蚊取線香 (also seen as 蚊取り線香) katori senko: mosquito repelling incense, usually shaped in a coil. Senko 線香 means incense.


Kayaru buta is frequently seen around Japan during summer time, so it is a sort of symbol of summer. It is cute I think.

I bought one at Makeman メイクマン (DIY Home Store) in Okinawa. I think it is the most generic type, but it has a feeling of nostalgia. I saw some really expensive ones on Amazon.jp, they were very pretty though. Sometimes the smell of the incense is a little strong, but I guess it keeps the bugs away well enough so I don’t mind using it outside on my upstairs lanai. You cannot tell from the picture but smoke wafts from his snout as the incense burns. We bought the Cainz home store brand incense instead of 1 of the 2 big name brands here in Japan; I think it works just as good.

 

Summer Gift-giving: 御中元

御中元 ochuugen is the custom of summer gift giving. In my local stores, there is a huge display with aisles of summer gifts. You may also see the something like 夏のギフト (natsu no gifuto summer gift) or even サマーギフト (summer gift spelled in katakana).

This gift-giving season typically corresponds to Obon. In Okinawa, it is traditionally observed when visits to the family home are made during Obon (customarily the second day), but it is okay before or after. Especially in the workplace where you will probably not see them during actual Obon. In Okinawa, it is tradition to deliver the gift in person, rather than use a mail delivery service, though you will see many people in the grocery store filling out the mail delivery forms to send gifts to family in the outer islands or the mainland.

For me, the most interesting part is the types of gifts on display in stores. Popular items are summer fruits (mango in Okinawa), rice, coffee, pork, unagi (eel), jelly sweets, and other goodies. But there are also gift sets such as laundry soap, beer, spam, cans of tunafish… sometimes I find them quite odd, as far as gifts, but it seems so practical that I actually sort of appreciate it. Usually gifts are about 2000 yen to 5000 yen; stores make a lot of money during this time period. It is also typical to ship gifts to family members who live far away… during this time I see many people filling at shipping forms at the store counters for summer gifts.

During this time, I have seen a bunch of ads on tv about sending summer gift. The Hormel one sort of makes me laugh a bit, sending a gift pack of SPAM. The family in the ad seems so happy to be receiving cans of spam and making goya chanpuru.