The secret to good health is good foodImprove your health by eating local Okinawan cuisine!2013.02.

In Okinawa, there is a saying that “food is the best medicine for life” and a belief that eating good, tasty food is the secret to health and long life. You will also likely become healthier if you eat local Okinawan cuisine using ingredients cultivated in the rich natural environment of Japan’s southernmost islands.

Truly unique Okinawan cuisine

Okinawa has its own unique local cuisines - such as “chanpuru”, which literally means “an assortment”, “Okinawa soba noodles” and “pork cuisine” - all of which are quite different from typical Japanese dishes. These can be enjoyed at many restaurants within Okinawa Prefecture, such as “Koos Okinawa-cuisine Asatoya”, “Komminka (old folk house) Teirabui” and “Eminomise” in the central area Naha. Actually, when we asked for recommendations at a restaurant during research for this article, the owner said “First you have to try chanpuru - otherwise you won’t have properly enjoyed the Okinawa experience!”
Chanpuru is a fried dish where ingredients such as tofu and pork are mixed with vegetables such as goya (bitter melon). The tofu used is a type called “shima-tofu”, which is distinctively hard and chunky. It can be eaten as it is, in soup, or deep-fried. “Okinawa soba noodles” is another unique dish and is completely different to standard Japanese soba. Full-bodied wheat flour noodles and served in a pork stew made with a soup of tonkotsu (pork bone broth) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). Specialists each have their own unique flavors and arrangements, so it is a good idea to eat and compare at various restaurants.
 
Koos Okinawa-cuisine Asatoya
Address: 1-3-13 Asato, Naha, Okinawa
Tel. 098-867-2078
Hours: 17:30～24:00
Open: 7 days a week


 
Komminka (old folk house) Teirabui
Address: 56 Katsurenhama, Uruma, Okinawa
Tel. 098-977-7688
Hours: 11:00～16:00
Closed: Tuesday


 
Eminomise
Address: 61 Aza Oganeku, Kunigamigun Ogimison, Okinawa
Tel. 0980-44-3220
Closed: Monday & Tuesday


 

Healthy and delicious!

Japan has one of the longest average life expectancies in the world - 85.90 years for women and 79.44 years for men. There has been an increasing focus on Japan’s food culture as the secret behind its long life expectancy, and in particular the cuisine of Okinawa Prefecture, which is the area of Japan where people live longest.
“Okinawa Daiichi Hotel” in Naha serves breakfast made with plenty of Okinawan ingredients. People eating this breakfast for the first time will likely be shocked by the sheer quantity and range of dishes on offer. In total there are more than 20 dishes available, made using some 55 different ingredients. It is also surprising that the total calorie count of this breakfast within 585kcal, which shows the extent to which Okinawan ingredients are healthy and low in calories. Katsue Watanabe, the owner of the hotel, has a “vegetable sommelier” qualification and is constantly researching ingredients. She is in contact with farmers who produce vegetables locally and is completely focused on developing new recipes. Her life-work is to serve healthy and delicious cuisine to people visiting Okinawa, explaining that “It doesn’t matter how healthy a food is unless it is tasty as well - otherwise, people won’t want to eat it.” This spirit of hospitality is at the very core of Okinawa. Visitors who stay at this hotel invariably want to visit again.
 
Okinawa Daiichi Hotel
Address: 1-1-2 Makishi, Naha-shi, Okinawa-ken
Tel.: 098-867-3116
Access: 8 mins. walk from Monorail “Makishi Station”
 

The secrets of healthy cuisine developed with human intelligence

In Okinawa, food has been used to improve health, with vegetables, meat and fish arranged and eaten to suit one’s physical condition. In recent years, the components of food have been explained in scientific terms and disease-preventing functions have attracted attention. Vitamin-rich Okinawan vegetables such as goya (bitter melon) and hechima (sponge cucumber) are known as “shimayasai” (literally “island vegetables”), and these are essential ingredients of Okinawa’s local cuisine. As this is an area surrounded by seas, types of seaweed such as mozuku and aosa are commonly eaten as healthy sources of calcium and iodine. Local cuisine here is infused with the intelligence of ancestors who lived well by eating tasty and healthy foods.
 

Mineral-rich island vegetables

Geographic conditions are involved with the “shimayasai” (island vegetables) that are said to be good for the body. Surrounded by the sea, Okinawa has mineral-rich rain and this means that the soil here is also rich in minerals. That is why Okinawa’s vegetables have high levels of calcium and magnesium. Vegetation is also said to produce antioxidants such as vitamin C in order to form protection from strong ultra-violet rays. Therefore, vegetables that are cultivated under the strong sunlight of Japan’s southernmost islands are reputed to have particularly excellent antioxidant functions. The best example of this phenomenon is goya (bitter melon), which has exceptionally high vitamin C content and is often eaten in chanpuru or pickled as a cure for summer heat fatigue.
 

Fruits noted for their healthy components

Have you heard of the fruit known as “shikwasa”? This citrus fruit is an Okinawan specialty that is rich in vitamin C, which is said to have fatigue recovery and beauty-enhancing effects. What’s more, it has also become a topic of conversation thanks to the publication of research results showing that it has effects which inhibit cancer. Juices and alcoholic drinks containing shikwasa can easily be purchased from vending machines and shops throughout the prefecture.
Many other southern island fruits benefiting from the warm climate are also cultivated in Okinawa, including pineapple, mango, dragon fruit, banana and papaya, all of which are produced in the highest volumes in Japan. Fresh fruits are sold at astonishingly low prices in downtown areas of Naha, such as in the public market and its surroundings. Fruits generally contain many vitamins, but fruits cultivated here in the warm climate of Japan’s southernmost islands are said to be particularly beneficial for good health.
Enjoy an invigorating trip to Okinawa by tasting many of its cuisines and fruits.
 
Beauty-enhancing pork cuisine - a must-try for female visitors!
Even within Japan, pork-based cuisine is particularly popular in Okinawa. Pigs are consumed almost entirely - from the head to intestines and tail - without throwing away any of the parts, and a local saying has it that Okinawan people “eat every part of the pig except for its oinks”. This is an excellent food in terms of health, as it has high nutritional value and is rich in vitamin B1, which is effective in recovery from fatigue brought on by Okinawa’s hot climate. Many of the pork dishes in Okinawa are slow-cooked, often together with local Okinawan specialties such as “awamori” liquor or black sugar. Pork is rich in collagen, which is a great form of protein, and is excellent as a food that enhances beautiful skin. “Rafute” (a stew of pork cooked in awamori) and “tebichi” (a stew of pig’s trotters) are well worth trying for beauty-conscious women. The day after enjoying these dishes, you will be able to sense their skin beauty-enhancing effects in your newly springy skin.
 


 

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