Okinawa prefecture Specialty Dishes & Local Gourmet Guide

Okinawan noodle dish

A traditional Okinawan noodle dish with thick wheat noodles served in a pork bone and bonito broth. Topped with pork belly and fish cake, it's beloved locally.

Okinawa spare rib soba

Soki soba is a representative local dish of Okinawa, and is topped with pork spare ribs (soki). The thick curly noodles go well with the pork bone and bonito soup.

Okinawa soba with sweet and spicy pork belly

Sanmainiku soba is a type of Okinawan soba topped with sweet and spicy pork belly meat. The combination of melting fat and light soup is exquisite.

Local soba from Ishigaki Island, Okinawa

Yaeyama soba is a soba from the Yaeyama Islands of Okinawa, centered around Ishigaki Island. It is characterized by a soup that combines thin, round noodles with bonito stock and pork bones. It is common to top it with chopped saminiku or kamaboko.

Okinawa stir-fried somen

Somen tasiyah is a home-cooked Okinawan dish made of boiled somen noodles stir-fried with vegetables, tuna, and eggs. The seasoning is based on salt or soy sauce, and each household has its own unique flavor.

Stir-fried Okinawan kelp

Kubuirichi is a traditional Okinawan dish made of shredded kelp stir-fried with pork, kamaboko, and vegetables. Kubu (kelp) and ilichi (stir-fried) are auspicious items that are served at celebratory occasions.

Okinawan style okonomiyaki

Hirayachi is a thin Okinawan pancake-style dish that is a home-cooked dish made from flour mixed with tuna and chives. It is eaten as a snack, snack, or light meal.

Mochi wrapped in shell leaves

Kasa Moochie is a rice cake eaten on "Moochie Day", which falls on December 8th of the lunar calendar in Okinawa, and is typically wrapped in moon peach leaves and flavored with brown sugar.

Fried egg with shredded carrots

An Okinawan home-cooked dish in which carrots are finely grated and stir-fried using a ``shirishiri'' device. It is typically stir-fried with eggs or tuna, and is a simple, nutritious side dish that is sweet and gentle.

Okinawan fried donuts

Sata anda ghee is a traditional Okinawan fried sweet made with eggs, flour, and sugar. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It has a long shelf life and can be used at celebratory events.

Okinawa white miso soup

Inamuduchi is a celebratory Okinawan dish made with stir-fried pork, konnyaku, shiitake mushrooms, etc., then simmered in a white miso soup stock. With a sweet and mellow flavor, it is also a staple during New Year's holidays.

Okinawa soup with bone-in pork

Soki soup is a traditional Okinawan soup made with bone-in pork ribs (soki) stewed until soft and finished with salty soup along with kelp and radish. It's worth eating

Black Okinawan soup

Squid ink sushi soup is a traditional Okinawan soup made with squid meat, ink, and liver, and is completely black in appearance. It has a concentrated taste of umami and richness with little bitterness. It goes great with white rice.

Stir-fried loofah with miso

Nabera means "hechima" in the Okinawan dialect. This home-cooked dish is stir-fried with miso, pork, tofu, etc., and you can enjoy the melt-in-your-mouth texture and flavor of the soup stock.

Okinawa's hearty beef soup

Okinawan beef soup is a rich soup made by simmering beef ribs and bone-in meat with kelp. It has a strong, punchy flavor with a garlic and salty base.

Okinawan pork stew

Rafute is a local Okinawan dish, and is a melt-in-your-mouth stew made with skin-on pork simmered in sweet and spicy awamori, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Its roots are in the court cuisine of the Ryukyu Dynasty.

Okinawan medicinal soup

Chimusinji is an Okinawan tonic and tonic soup made with pork liver and other ingredients simmered with kelp. Seasoned only with salt, it has a light and gentle taste that brings out the flavor of the ingredients.

Red kidney beans x brown sugar shaved ice

Okinawa zenzai is a cold Japanese sweet for summer, made of red kidney beans and brown sugar simmered in syrup and topped with shaved ice. Unlike inland zenzai, it has a sweet and refreshing taste.

Okinawa traditional pork

Agu Pork, a traditional Okinawan pig, has sweet fat and tender meat, perfect for shabu-shabu or yakiniku.

Okinawa premium beef

Ishigaki beef, raised in Okinawa's Ishigaki Island, is rich, sweet, and juicy, perfect for steak or yakiniku.

Okinawa's prefectural fish

Gurukun, from Okinawa, is a light-flavored fish with a refreshing taste, popular in fried or simmered dishes, representing Okinawa's traditional flavors.

Rare Miyako beef

Miyako beef, a premium meat from Okinawa's Miyako Island, has balanced marbling and rich flavor, ideal for yakiniku or teppanyaki.

Okinawa aromatic citrus

Shikuwasa, an aromatic citrus from Okinawa, has refreshing acidity and unique aroma, popular for juice, dressings, and sauces.