Taste Of The Tropics
It's claimed that one of the reasons Okinawa has Japan's highest percentage of centenarians (28 per every 100,000 population) is a healthy diet. Regardless of whether eating in the islands is good for you, one of the pleasures of a visit to Okinawa is the opportunity to indulge in the distinctly different Ryukyu cuisine , combining Chinese and Japanese cooking styles, with plenty of tropical ingredients and liberal use of pork and fresh seafood. Among the most common dishes are Okinawa soba , a filling bowl of thick wheat noodles and pork chunks, and chanpuru combining stir-fried vegetables in a thicker stew. It comes in many varieties, depending on the principal ingredient; look out for chanpuru made with sponge gourd ( nabera ), bitter melon ( goya ), wheat gluten ( fu ) and wheat noodle ( somen ). The tempura here is also different, the batter being thicker and moister. Practically every part of the pig is used in local cooking, from the head to the trotters ( tibichi ). Their blood is sauted with vegetables for chii-irichii , their stomach and intestines go into nakami soup. Goat stew ( yagijiru ) is a rustic dish particularly popular in the Miyako Islands and you could also try irabru-jiru : sea snake stew. Other local fish that may end up on your plate include irabucha (parrot fish) and mibai (grouper), as well as plenty of dishes incorporating the squid ( ika ) and its black ink. Vegetarians get a look in, too, with Okinawa producing many different types of tofu, including the delicious silky smooth jimamedofu made from peanuts. The most refined Ryukyu food is Tundabun , the medicinally balanced court cuisine, beautifully displayed and served in small morsels like the mainland's kaiseki ryori . Some of the dishes are an acquired taste though, particularly the blue cheese-like tofuyo , tofu fermented in Okinawa's pungent rice liquor, awamori . Like wine, awamori improves with age - don't pass up the chance to sample some of this warming and very palatable beverage while travelling in the islands, but take care since it can have an alcohol content of up to sixty percent.
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