Food Pages

There are many types of seaweed harvested from the sea around Okinawa that provide a plentiful supply of minerals to the Okinawan diet. Okinawan people have always included a number of different varieties of seaweed in their everyday diet and in large amounts. Konbu is the most commonly used seaweed even though it does not come from the tropical waters around Okinawa. It is featured in both traditional festival menus and in the everyday diet. This traditional food dates back to the 18th century, when raw sugar from Okinawa was traded at Shimonoseki to the Kitamaesen trading ships in return for konbu. This konbu was brought down all the way from Hokkaido to Okinawa on the ships and was used in trade with China.


Seaweed (KOMBU)
There are many types of seaweed harvested from the sea around Okinawa that provide a plentiful supply of minerals to the Okinawan diet. Okinawan people have always included a number of different varieties of seaweed in their everyday diet and in large amounts. Konbu is the most commonly used seaweed even though it does not come from the tropical waters around Okinawa. It is featured in both traditional festival menus and in the everyday diet. This traditional food dates back to the 18th century, when raw sugar from Okinawa was traded at Shimonoseki to the Kitamaesen trading ships in return for konbu. This konbu was brought down all the way from Hokkaido to Okinawa on the ships and was used in trade with China.
Konbu grows in seawater and is said to contain more than foutyfive different minerals and elements. The absorption rate of these minerals is high which makes it an excellent source of the daily essentials. Konbu also contains dietary fibre and essential fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Okinawan people eat tofu as a regular staple of their diet. Consuming large amounts of seaweed rich in amino acids makes good dietary sense for the Okinawan diet because it balances the tofu which provides protiens that alone lack these amino acids. Pork, konbu and tofu are indispensible ingredients in festival menus and the combination of tofu and seaweed is common in the everyday diet. Some examples include clear soup with tofu and asa (hitoegusa, a green seaweed), or adding fried tofu and konbu to a meat broth. These combinations are believed by many to be the primary features of Okinawan longevity food which is said to be a dietary factor in the prevention of lifestyle related diseases. This may possibly be the explaination for the long life spans of so many Okinawan people.