Traditional Okinawan Foods & Recipes

It’s only been 100 years since the Ryukyu kingdom of Okinawa was incorporated into Japan and in the southern most islands the Okinawans have been able to maintain their own distinctive culture, language, and cuisine. Okinawan cooking leans toward stronger and spicier flavors than Japanese food and is more heavily influenced by Chinese cooking styles. Pork is a very important ingredient, and every part of the pig is used, from the pig's feet and ears to its pork tripe. Other traditional Okinawan ingredients include local seafood, native tropical vegetables and fruits, Black sugar, and awamori, Okinawan liquor made from rice. Many Okinawan recipes also depend on soy sauce and miso (fermented soybeans). Kooreegusu is a condiment made from red peppers marinated in awamori.

Stir-frying is the most common cooking method used, and Okinawan champuru is basically a stir-fry using some combination of tofu, leeks, and eggs plus other ingredients. Okinawan menus will usually have a number of champuru dishes listed. Another typical dish is rafute. Rafute is pork stewed in miso, soy sauce, sugar, and awamori, which is very similar to a Chinese dish called kakuni. Toofuyoo is a strongly flavored super concentrated tofu concoction that's eaten in tiny bites as a snack while drinking. It's a bit like Velveeta cheese that's been compressed until it's reached an incredibly dense state.

On this page we will give descriptions of Ingredients used in Okinawan cooking and provide recipes for you to use at home. It would probably be impossible to provide all of the different variations to the dishes included in the Okinawans diet but we will provide recipes here that have been used by our membership to maintain some of their families’ traditional culture.