Chanpuru, Okinawa's everyday stir-fry, combines seared island tofu with seasonal vegetables, and goya chanpuru is its best-known form. Frying the bitter melon with tofu and egg softens its bitterness, and Okinawa's firm tofu holds up well in the pan. Long valued as a dish to ward off summer fatigue, it is now served year-round in homes and diners, since improved varieties of goya are available in every season. Canned pork is sometimes used in place of fresh pork.
Ingredients
- Bitter melon (goya)
- Island tofu
- Pork
- Egg
- Bonito flakes
How I made it
- Slice the bitter melon thin
- Tear the island tofu by hand and brown it in an iron pan
- Stir-fry the bitter melon and pork, then fold in beaten egg
- Plate it and top with bonito flakes
Sources: maff.go.jp
This moment in the journey
Goya chanpuru
Dinner would be Okinawan home cooking, and that has to mean goya chanpuru. I sliced the bitter melon thin, tore the firm island tofu into chunks by hand, and browned it in an iron pan.
Chanpuru is a stir-fry of seared island tofu and vegetables, originally a home dish made from cheap, easy-to-find ingredients. I added pork, then folded in beaten egg. I'm sure every family has its own delicious version.
Watch this scene on YouTube3:52
More notes from this journey
Motobu, Okinawa
Spam musubi
In postwar Okinawa, when meat was hard to come by, canned pork became a widely used source of protein that kept well and was easy to prepare, and serving it wit…
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Jushi
Jushi is the Okinawan word for seasoned rice.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Stone-roasted sweet potatoes
The sweet potato is said to have reached the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1605, when Noguni Sokan brought seedlings back from Fujian in China.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Yanbaru
Yanbaru, written with the characters for mountain and field, means a region of connected mountains and spreading forest, and refers to the north of Okinawa Isla…
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Fukugi windbreaks
In Okinawa, fukugi trees have long been planted around homes to shield them from typhoon winds.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
Motobu, Okinawa
Kouri Bridge
A 1,960-meter bridge linking Yagaji Island in Nago with Kouri Island in Nakijin.
From: Island cooking in a traditional Okinawan house
More notes from Kyushu & Okinawa
Motobu, Okinawa
Rice with sea grapes and egg yolk
Sea grapes (umibudo) rank third in Okinawa's aquaculture by both volume and value and are known as one of the prefecture's signature products.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Motobu bonito sashimi
Freshly landed bonito from a fish shop in Motobu, the only town on Okinawa's main island where pole-and-line bonito fishing survives, where the fish is fresh en…
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Okinawa soba yakisoba
Okinawa soba is a noodle dish made with wheat flour rather than buckwheat.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Bise Fukugi Tree Path
In the village of Bise, at the northwestern tip of the Motobu Peninsula, fukugi trees planted as windbreaks around the houses form the largest tree-lined paths…
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Ie Island and Mt. Gusuku
An island about 5 kilometers west of the Motobu Peninsula, forming the village of Ie.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter
Motobu, Okinawa
Ryukyu kanhizakura cherry
In Okinawa, cherry blossom means kanhizakura, whose deep pink flowers hang downward like little bells.
From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter