The 3 ‘R’s to good eating – Restaurants,

Reviews & Recipes

A Tasteof

Okinawa

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STRIPES OKINAWA

A TASTE OF OKINAWA2

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

Fore Fathers Food Truck serves up perfectly cooked specialty burgers, hearty hotdogs, and mouth-watering BBQ. Indulge in your midday cravings with any one of the delicious burgers on the vast menu. Or, bring your friends and chow down on all your other BBQ grill favorites like the tender pulled pork sandwich! Locations change daily so make sure to follow @forefathersfoodtruck on Facebook. Visit during lunch hours Monday – Friday or look for them at events across Kadena Air Base and Okinawa. One bite and you’ll know you found your new go-to for the best lunch on the island!

Your new favorite lunchtime go-to!

Taste the Hawaiian vibe at Hale Noa Café

Owned by a chef in Hawaii, Hale Noa Café has been attracting a wide-range of foreign customers. With its Hawaiian vibe, Hale Noa serves up the some of the best of the 50th state’s favorite foods. We choose the fresh-est ingredients for the best taste made from scratch. Enjoy Macadamia Nut Pancakes, Hawaiian Bowl, Fresh Poke Bowl and more! Hale Noa’s fluffy French Toast with berries and crème brulee sauce is to die for! Afterwards, wash it all down with one of our healthy and home-made smoothies. Start your day with a superior break-fast at Hale Noa Café.

STRIPES OKINAWA

A TASTE OF OKINAWA3

AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

There is more to how Okinawa soba got its name than just its place of origin. Not long after the postwar reversion of Okinawa to the Japanese government in 1972, the mainland organization governing fair trade claims insisted that, accord-

ing to its rules, Okinawan soba could not be sold as soba because it did not meet the minimum criteria.

According to Japan’s Fair Trade Commission, soba noodles must be comprised of at least 30 percent buckwheat. Traditional Okinawan-made soba noodles, however, have always been made with 100 percent wheat.

Many Okinawans protested the rule. In a bid to protect their traditional dish as well as livelihoods, Okinawa soba producers and the Okinawa Noodle Maker’s Union fought to have it changed. After lengthy negotiations, the Japanese government finally agreed to a

compromise: It could be called, and hence sold, under the special name of “Okinawa soba.”

Oct. 17, 1978 was the day that Okinawa soba was finally, officially endorsed. Okinawa-ns, not only celebrated the day as a victory, they made it a local holiday to honor the traditional dish and promote the local industry.

Okinawa Soba-no-Hi, or Okinawa Soba Day has been celebrated throughout the pre-fecture on Oct. 17 ever since.

- Stripes okinawa

In Japan, everybody loves noodles, and Okinawans are no different. In fact, they’ve got their own re-gional strand of the classic Asian cuisine – Oki-

nawa soba. It’s not only a local favorite, but the dish of choice for many visitors who come in search of a true taste of Okinawa.

The uninitiated may think Okinawa soba is some mere local take on those Japanese buckwheat noo-dles that can be slurped in just about any other cor-ner of the country. But they’re wrong. This is a whole different dish.

Called “suba” in the local dialect, Okinawa soba is made from wheat flour instead of “sobako,” or buck-wheat, like its counterpart from up north. The noodle is a little flatter and thicker compare to Chinese noodles. The color ranges from white to light yellow. As the matter of fact, the shape and the style of Okinawa soba noodles vary from island to island within the prefecture. For ex-ample, the Yaeyama Islands soba noodles tend to have a slight circular cross shape.

The soup is flavored with seaweed, bonito flakes and pork, which is cooked for many hours and very carefully skimmed.

Standard toppings include fish cake, green onion and a thick slice of stewed pork belly (“san-mai niku”) or pork rib (“soki”); while the dish is usually garnished with red pickled ginger. Boiled pig’s feet, or “tebichi,” and pork cartilage are also popular toppings. Want an extra kick to your soba? Add some “koregusu,” a popular condiment made of hot-chili-infused local “awamori” liquor.

Each Okinawa soba restaurant has its own variation of broth and toppings, such as tofu, giblets or fried vegeta-bles. In many restaurants, you can ask for a mix of vari-ous toppings according to preference to make your own original bowl of Okinawa soba. Prices usually vary be-

tween 500 to 800 yen ($5 to $8). It’s so tasty, and the tender pork belly soaked in rich

broth just melts in your mouth. The meat is well braised until tender enough to be cut by chopstick. The boiled noodle is chewy and goes well with the soup. It is addic-

tive. It is loved so much, in fact, that more than 190,000 bowls are consumed each day in Okinawa, according to the Okinawa Fresh Noodle Cooperative Association.

“Okinawa soba is very unique because the soup is a combination of Chinese influenced broth made from pork and Japanese influenced broth made from “bonito” (dried fish flakes),” says Atsunori Sunagawa, executive secretary of the cooperative. “To-day, people don’t make home-made Okinawa soba much

because the noodles and soup can be purchase at gro-cery stores – and there are more than 300 restaurants that specialize in it.”

It is said that the local love affair with noodles started in the early 1500s when they were first imported from China to the Ryukyu Kingdom. During the Meiji Era (1868-1912), they began gaining popularity, but were still considered a luxury food. Over time, however, the grow-ing popularity of noodles gave birth to the local version that Okinawans of all ages today have come to know and love. How much?

Consider this: Every year for the past decade and a half, Okinawa has been celebrating Okinawa Soba-no-Hi, or Okinawa Soba Day on Oct. 17. On this auspicious day, events honoring all things soba take place throughout Okinawa. Some shops even handout soba free of change. Soba restaurants tout special menu items and discounts; and an estimated 2,000 other eateries showcase soba on their menus for Okinawa Soba Day. But why wait till Oc-tober?

Okinawa soba restaurants are almost everywhere in Okinawa. It is quick, inexpensive and tasty. Get your bowl of authentic Okinawa soba – for a true taste of Okinawa!

Soba à la OkinawaYou’ve never had noodles like this before

So(ba), what’s in a name?

For more on Okinawa’s soba story (in Japanese), visit

www.oki-soba.jp/about/okisoba.html

Have a side of ‘Jushi’

Know your noodles

“Jushi” is a rice dish prepared with a choice of ingredients, includ-ing pork and vegetables and is often served as a side dish with Okinawa

soba. Each restaurant uses their own original broth to cook the rice. “Fuchiba jushi” is jushi with “fushi-

ba,” or mugwort leaves.

“Okinawa Soba” (Usually) Pork Belly & Soba “Tebichi Soba” Pigs Feet & Soba

* Yushi tofu is coagulated, unformed Okinawa-style tofu

(Shima tofu) that is eaten warm. Similar to “oboro tofu” in other parts of Japan, it’s favored for

its rich soy taste. This tofu served in soba noodles, it is a

popular dish on Okinawa.

Tofu Curd & Soba “Yushi Tofu Soba”

Pork Rib & Soba“Soki Soba”

Vegetables & Soba“Yasai Soba”

“NakamiSoba”

Pork Cartilage & Soba

- Photos courtesy of Okinawa Fresh Noodle Cooperative Association

STRIPES OKINAWA

1. Ginger 2. Stewed pork belly 3. Green onion

4. Soup (Seaweed, bonito, pork, etc.)5. Fish cake

Names of local soba favorites

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AUGUST 20 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

Making soba from scratch Ingredients: (Serves 5)

For noodles• 1.1 lb semi-strong flour• Shikomi water (see next)• Starch

Shikomi water• 1 tsp baking powder• 1 egg• 1 tsp salt• 6.4 oz water

Ingredients: (Serves 4) For broth and noodle• 12 cups /0.63 gal water• 5.91 inch long konbu kelp• 0.71 ounce dried bonito flakes• 3.38 oz sake

• 2 tsp salt• 4 pack Okinawan noodles• red pickled ginger• chopped spring onion

Directions1. Mix flour and

Shikomi water very well with hand. Knead very well for ten minutes.

2. Form deflated dough into a ball. Put it into a plastic bag and set aside for 30-40 min-utes.

3. Sprinkle flour on the dough. Roll it out by using a rolling pin to make it 1.5mm thick. Add the starch to prevent the dough sticking from a rolling pin.

4. Add starch to both side and cut the dough. Cut it into 5mm – 8mm by using a kitchen knife.

5. Boil the cut noodle. It takes about 15 seconds. Take out when the noodle come up on the surface of boiling water. After taking out of water, add little bit of oil. Leave it for a while to make it cool.

6. Enjoy your h o m e m a d e Okinawa noo-dle!

Directions1. Boil water and add

the spare ribs, boil for 3-4 minutes.

2. Drain the ribs with a strainer and wash well with water.

3. Cook konbu that’s been soaked in wa-ter for 30 minutes, and remove the kon-bu just before the water comes to boil.

4. When the boiling begins, add the boiled spare ribs, sake, and dried bonito flakes. Cook for 3-4 minutes.

5. Remove any residue and then take out the dried bonito.

6. Cover with a lid, leaving a little open space and simmer on low for about 30 minutes, until the meat is tender.

7. Drain the soup in the strainer and separate the soup and spare ribs.

8. Put the soup in a pan and season with salt. This is the soup for the noodles.

9. Season the spare ribs. Put sake, soy sauce, and mirin in another pan.

10. Add the spare ribs to the pan, cook at me-dium heat with a drop-lid for 10-15 min-utes. Keep at it until the water level drops, and be sure to continue to apply sauce to the ribs.

11. Then cook the noodles.

12. Drain them in the strainer, put the spare ribs on top, and pour in the soup.

13. Top it all off with pickled ginger and green onions.

Okinawa Soba Soki (spare rib) Soba

For spare ribs• 1.76 lb pork spare ribs• 1/2 cup mirin sweet cooking

sake• 1.69 oz sake• 3 tsp soy sauce

- Information from NHK World, photos courtesy of Okinawa Fresh Noodle Cooperative Association

AIEN Coffee and Hostel is a modern-style bistro. We now have drive-thru service. Call in your order or drive up for takeout. But we also have safe and clean sitdown dining available. AIEN literally means “come together,” and our goal is to connect people through our delicious cappuccino, dreamy lattes and amazing food. Our takeout menu is stocked full of delightful breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. Our goal is to keep your bellies and taste buds satisfied and family and your friends safe during this trying time. Let us give you a break! Stay safe and stay healthy.

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