I tried collecting "unique in Okinawa" full of exoticism while being in Japan

Pork egg, lunch meat, goya champloo and something eye catching pig food. Okinawa was a place where you can feel foreign countries while being in Japan. Okinawa culture is mixed with influences of countries such as Ryukyu, Japan, China, and the United States.

Hello,Takuya Sudo @ circle around the world bicycle @ Charridermanis. I stayed at the New Year and New Year holiday in Okinawa since I went around Japan in 2002. At that time thought, Okinawa is too funny. Just stopping by the supermarket, there were many discoveries.

◆ Food culture of Okinawa
Canned luncheon meat: It spread out through the US military from the food shortage after the war, and it penetrated even to the general household of OkinawaLuncheon meatIt is a can of. Danish picture "Tulip" from the photo and American spam (SPAM) and canned goods are on the supermarket. People in Okinawa seem to use it as a ingredient for Goya Champloo and Miso Soup.


Sliced ​​luncheon meat: When opening a can of luncheon meat, it is necessary to take up the cut which entered the can, using a metal fitting like a key. That's why there is a handy pack type. It is also useful to have already sliced.


Corn Beef Hash: Combeef hash with beef and potato is also one of the foods that is excited as "unique in Okinawa". I put it on a loaf of bread and ate it. It seems to be good to put in an omelette.


Campbell's soupI knew that it was an American soup brand, but I never had a hand. This is also on the super shelf. Turning over the opened can, expected the state of the juice, but a lump like a puddle popped out. Add a proper amount of water and heat it to completion. It was a smooth soup with no uneven taste.


Jimmami tofu: Jimami Tofu is made using peanuts instead of soybeans. This was also in the supermarket. A strange object that is sticky and sticky. The texture like sesame tofu mixed with a slightly flavored peanut flavor.


Supaiman: I was quite shocked when I visited Okinawa in 2002Supaimanwas. It is not a plum taste, plum is a processed sweet that is processed as such. Sour but sweet, exquisite salt plum becomes addictive.


Sartar undergarment: Saura is "sugar", Anda is "oil", Aggie is "fried", it is a fried confection of Okinawa using sugar. It was similar in shape to what I said in Africa, and I missed somewhere. However, the difference is the difference between the mud. Like a cookie the surface is crispy, like the donut the contents are completed as a sweet moistly. Although there was also a banana taste, whether it is kneading into the dough, a banana flavor was introduced a little.


◆ Okinawa drink
Milk tea: Manshin tea is a refreshing taste like tea feeling spring. I was excited with the different culture in Okinawa, but if you look closelyJasmine teaThat's it. It was also written in cans. However, Jasmine tea is close to Okinawa, too. That Coca-Cola, tooOkinawa limited Manshin teaWe sell.


Fresh vegetable goya mix: Goya was used for Okinawa limited edition of fruit vegetable series handled by Itoen. I can not say anything about the goya's exquisite protagonist.


A & amp; W's root beer:Root beerIs a type of carbonated drink. A & amp; W is America's fast food chain, it seems that it was once also entering the mainland, but now there are stores only in Okinawa. The product that A & W worked on was a big hit, and this root beer. Although I feel that I also saw it overseas, I did not put a hand from prejudice that it looks delicious. Nevertheless, I was in Okinawa and challenged from interest. I am not wrong. It was the taste of the hospital. It is hard for me to drink it. This unique taste which is hard to describe somewhere has failed somewhere, but it was a classic in Finland in ScandinaviaSalmiakkiIt was a black sweet. Well well investigated, both raw materialsLicoriceIt is licorice. I have little likes and dislikes, but I will not accept only this taste.


Bayy League: Suntory if it is "Nicchan", Kirin if "Kiriri" and each company has its own beverage of orange flavor. In Asahi it is "Bayrey". Do not you come up with a face "Bayyries Boy" drawn in orange when listening to Bayy Lease? This Bayrey boy, the mainland goodsThe package has changedI can not confirm its appearance, but I met nostalgic face in Okinawa as long as I felt nostalgic.


Orion beer: Orion is the fifth largest beer maker in Japan, following Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory. It is rare in the mainland, but in Okinawa it has become a beer maker holding a large share. I feel "Okinawa unique", it is a representative item.


Fanta of Seikuwasa: Fanta is a carbonated drink series handled by Coca-Cola, Orange and Grape are standard. Besides that, I sell a variety of flavors, but in Okinawa there was a funta of shikwasa. On the mainland for a limited time, Okinawa seems to be sold for the full year. It was a fanta with a sour taste similar to lemon and citrus.


Increasing can of vending machine: Okinawa was also warmly wrapped in December. On the mainland it is a booster of vending machines that can be said as a summer tradition, but in Okinawa vending machines it seemed to be able to purchase throughout the year. It is also ordinarily placed in the supermarket.


Hub Attack: There is a law in the energy drink of the world to attach name that seems to be strong anywhere. Okinawa was a serpent hub with poison. It certainly is strong. However, as this was not placed in the supermarket but only at the souvenir shop, I think that it is a commodity for tourists. Raw materials, such as caddy, ryegun, kukoshi, reddish extract, coriander, hibiscus, licorice, ginseng, dokudami, perilla, mandarin skin, jujube, sanshui, fennel, hub extract, vermicelle extract, etc. were written.


◆ Okinawa cuisine
Pork egg onigiri: "Instrument of rice ball" is not a pork egg but a product called "pork egg onigiri", the ingredients were tuna. There are other types of fixtures. Pork is a luncheon meat, egg is a egg yaki, and a combination of tuna with mayonnaise in addition. This one is 410 kcal and high calorie. It was a portable meal with a volume.


Yoshinoya's Taco Rice: At GIGAZINE in August 2013A visit / taste report is publishedSo in the Yoshinoya in Okinawa to the menuTaco riceAre listed. When I visited the store, water came out instead of tea, first surprised. Tomato salsa sauce, raglike meat, lettuce of Shakijaki, rich cheese on a rice cake taco rice. From this combination, it is a dish that seems to be in Mexico if you add rice and add tortilla. While feeling a sense of incompatibility with Western food to eat at Yoshinoya, the taco rice itself was pretty bad. It is a dish that is nodded as well.


Loco Moco bowl: Hamburger steak, fried eggs, bowls on which cabbage came are Loco Moko rice. Originally it is a popular local cuisine in Hawaii, but also in Okinawa. Even though it was a combination of Western food, bowl was strange, but grew and chopsticks advanced. Fast food restaurant is easy to eat even if it is added to the menu. With a soup, it was a price of 500 yen for one coin.


Goya Chanpuru: Goya makes a cucumber a little larger, vegetables like Ibobo. It is a common ingredient in Okinawa and is also lined up in the supermarket. I got a Goya Champloo with such a goya at the cafeteria. The goya champloo which I made by himself was bitterly bitter like a shrieking face. That's why I was standing, but the dishes served at the cafeteria were not strangely bitter, just a little accent. Feel the texture of goya shakijaki and tofu with fluffy. Although it was light taste in general, the slice's luncheon meat is a solid taste and it makes me feel just fine. It was a price of 650 yen that I could replace meal only once.


Makishi public market: As a kitchen of Naha citizens, as a tourist spot where Okinawan ingredients gather, the Makishi public market was crowded with many people. I take a walk and I will go there several times.


In the fresh fish department, we can not get tired of seeing seafood such as semi-shrimp, which is small like a cicada, littleneck as large as the size of a soccer ball, and so on.


When I visited an island country called Fiji floating in the Pacific Ocean, I found a huge Ise shrimp like a monster. "I have spoken all over the world but I've never seen such a big shrimp", but I have talked to the owner of a fish store ... ... it was in Japan. You are swimming in a public market aquarium. When asking the aunt of the shop, a story that one to two thousand yen is done. "Recently, travelers often eat from China," he said, the aftermath of the bombings had also reached here.


Fishes and shellfish sold in the public market can be eaten in the second floor dining room which climbed the stairs when paying some cooking amount.


"Not a lobsterI will eat Ise shrimp this time ", but I rushed into the market spiritually but withdrew from the loneliness that" I do not get excited if I am alone ". Instead of saying that, I ate a sashimi assortment on the market. There is a meal space in the corner of the market without leaving the stairs here. It is 550 yen in a picture of a platter. The inside is octopus to squid for tuna and salmon. White leafy fish with skin is texture made with prepuri. It was a fish named "Irubucha (Ao-Budai)" which was also conspicuous in the market from its blue body color. Two sweet shrimp filled with sweetness which was slightly relaxed when it took it.


Supermarket in Okinawa was also cheap ordinarily. Since I was Japan for the first time in about a year, I was eating only here. Even though it is the same protein, it is sometimes able to bear meat in thirties, but since fish is also friendly to the stomach, it is saved.


Kilo valve:
I wrote in the article in the other day in the daffodilMekong noodle with soba noodlesAlthough it was frightful, a huge box lunch called kilo valve was also sold in Okinawa. It is immediately after entering Buddhist temple street from Route 58 Route through Naha City. Characters such as "1 kg" and "mega squire" are eye-catching buildings.


Purchase a kilo valve of 'green onion chicken'. It is a lunch box that exceeds 1kg with rice and side dishes that are also the source of the store name. When we receive a plastic bag containing a box lunch, it weighs heavily enough to lower the position of the wrist. The main is chicken fried chicken, extra wiener and croquette. A lot of spaghetti under the fried chicken. The side dishes were dried radish, fried vegetables, potato salad.


The compatibility of chicken fried chicken with salted sauce is outstanding. A commitment to the food of Japanese who can not just end up with fried chicken.


Apart from side dishes, this rice is also included. I challenged with hungry, but I could not eat side dishes, but rice was impossible. As much as this, the price is 500 yen and a wonderful price for your wallet. For kilo valves 300 yen for weight and 400 yen for lunch box are also on sale.


The first time I came back to Japan in about one year's return to Japan was a "hot more" nori dialect. I felt that there were more stores in Naha. Also a lunch shop next to the inn. And this kilo valve. There are reasons for such circumstances, Okinawa Prefecture has a lot of lunch box expenditure per personData nation second placeIt is also gathered up.

◆ Buildings, Customs
Shisa: Okinawa's popular character is> Shisais. The motif is a lion. It is casually placed at the entrance of the roof of a private house or building. In 2 pairs of one pair, please pay attention as Aya breathes with "Achi (open mouth)" with mouth opened, "Shape (closed shape)" with mouth closed . It was also useful as a mascot character. To make it laugh, Okinawa is full of Shisa.


About Shisa "There are so many sea shrines in Okinawa that it makes you laugh, its appearance and facial expressions are diversifiedIt is also summarized in the article that is.


Ishiganto: Like the plate of the foundation in the mainland building, the building of OkinawaIshigantoThere is a stone monster of amulet called that. Like Shisa, it was a unique custom of Okinawa.


Pillar: It is not as major as Seisa or Ishiganto, but Ryusesu is also an innovative good for Okinawa. However, quite a rare character. We are also breathing Ahina with two pairs of two. Just recently, a huge dragon pillar of about 15 m in height was completed near the terminal port where a large cruise ship came in,Also in the newsIt was getting.


Shuri Castle: The royal palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom built on the hill overlooking Naha cityShuri Castleis. As it disappeared in the great war, the current building was rebuilt. Building which was painted with vivid vermillion was distinguishing from Japanese castle. It overlaps with the image of Ryugu castle where the influence of China is where.


The castle wall: Shuri Castle is so, so it seemed that Nakijin castle and Zakkire castle once visited. Okinawa's walls draw curves. The reason for this shape is that when the enemy attacks, the curved line can secure a wider field of view than the straight line, making it advantageous.


Looking back on this way, something is high calorie food environment in Okinawa.

In 2002 I was aiming for Okinawa by ship from Kagoshima. It took time and money The hardship was a far past. Now that LCC is also flying, even from Tokyo (Narita) you can go to Okinawa with 10,000 yen off. As I have introduced this time, Okinawa is full of tickets for traveling, so I do not dream that I can go for fun in the future.

(Sentence / picture: Takuya SAITO @ Charriderman
Cycling around the world for a bicyclehttp://shuutak.com
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