Vagabonding around the World

A food lover’s guide to Okinawa

In the culinary lexicon of Japanese food, if kansai-ryori(kansai cuisine) is a different dialect, then Okinawan cuisine is in a different language. Reflecting its geographic and historical isolation – Naha is closer both geographically and culturally to Taipei than Tokyo (…), the southern island still have a strong sense of being caught between the two behemoth cultures of China and Japan.

Okinawan cuisine originated from the splendor of Ryukyu court and from the humble lives of the impoverished islanders. Healthy eating is considered to be extremely important. Indeed, island thought has long-held that medicine and food are essentially one and the same. The Okinawan language actually splits food stuffs into kusui-mun (medicinal food) and ujinimun (body-nutritius foods). Today the island’s staples foods are pork, which is acidic and rich in protein, and konbu, (a type of seaweed), which is alkaline and calorie free.


(Lonely Planet Japan 2009, page. 772)

Speaking of calories, I love the fact most of the food in both supermarket and menu restaurants, is labeled with the amount of calories . If you can’t decide among the dozens of Ramen’s cup which one to choose, at least you know how many calories you are assuming.

In my first full day in Okinawa I have not yet tried any local speciality, although as I am doing since I am arrived in Japan, I went to the local market and picked some random stuff, without asking what is it. The 3 tempura pieces I had today for 40 yen each were all delicious, like almost everything I had so far.

Then for dinner I went to a supermarket, where I bought a box of 15 pieces of fresh sashimi (tuna, salmon and another one) for a whopping 300yen, 2,75€. In comparison star fruit were selling at the market for 350-500 a piece. I already know that soon I will develop gills in my body, because not only there is so much choice of fish, but it’s also one of the cheapest option.

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  1. dabesa

    How about the “eat till you’re 80% full” rule?
    Are you following that? Do they?

    Ciao!

    • Hara Hachi bu.

      What I am doing this days is eating one dish at a time. For instance my dinner tonight was the above-mentioned sashimi, but also a cup of instant Ramen, that I consumed almost 1hour before the sashimi.

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