Journeys in photographs and words.

Cook the local flavors once more

Motobu, Okinawa

Okinawa soba yakisoba

From: Early cherry blossoms and an Okinawan winter

Eating the fried noodles topped with bonito flakes
Eating the fried noodles topped with bonito flakes

Okinawa soba is a noodle dish made with wheat flour rather than buckwheat. It is said to have come from China four to five hundred years ago, to have been served at the court of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and to have spread to ordinary people after the war. Pork stock, taken from pork meat and bones, is often combined with bonito stock, and the balance between the two is what defines the soup in each home and shop. This time the chewy thick noodles became yakisoba, seasoned with Okinawa soba soup and finished with bonito flakes.

Ingredients

  • Okinawa soba noodles
  • Cabbage
  • Bean sprouts
  • Carrot
  • Thin slices of meat
  • Green onions
  • Okinawa soba soup (as seasoning)
  • Shaved bonito flakes

How I made it

  1. Stir-fry the vegetables and meat in a pan
  2. Add the noodles and toss together
  3. Season with Okinawa soba soup
  4. Plate and top with bonito flakes

Sources: maff.go.jp maff.go.jp

This moment in the journey

Okinawa soba yakisoba and bonito sashimi

Time to cook dinner. Okinawa soba noodles, soft and chewy, would surely be delicious stir-fried. Cabbage, bean sprouts, carrot and thin slices of meat went into the pan over the gas flame. I added the noodles and seasoned them with Okinawa soba soup.

On the table: a can of Orion's non-alcoholic beer and a plate of fried noodles. And bright red bonito sashimi, glistening, served with shredded daikon and cucumber, soy sauce and wasabi. Fresh and chewy, really good.

In a glass bowl, yushidofu, eaten together with its broth. I topped the noodles with shaved bonito flakes. The flavor of bonito clung to the thick noodles. Ippee maasan: so delicious.

Watch this scene on YouTube3:51

Read this scene in the full journey

Cabbage, bean sprouts and sliced meat frying in the pan
Cabbage, bean sprouts and sliced meat frying in the pan
Stirring the pan over the gas flame with a wooden spatula
Stirring the pan over the gas flame with a wooden spatula
Tossing the noodles in with the vegetables
Tossing the noodles in with the vegetables
A can of non-alcoholic beer, a glass and a plate of fried noodles
A can of non-alcoholic beer, a glass and a plate of fried noodles
Bright red bonito sashimi on shredded daikon
Bright red bonito sashimi on shredded daikon
At the table with fried noodles and a can
At the table with fried noodles and a can
Carrying a glass bowl of yushidofu
Carrying a glass bowl of yushidofu
The plates of fried noodles and sashimi on the table
The plates of fried noodles and sashimi on the table