TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2007
Of course, part of any vacation is taking in the local cuisine... so here are some pictures of our favorites:
YAKI-NIKU TABEHODAI - "Yaki-niku tabehodai" is basically all-you-can-eat barbecue. You grill pre-marinated meat at your table right in front of you. Believe me when I say this is a vegetarian's nightmare. You can select from chicken, pork, or beef... just like a salad bar... only bloodier. For just $13 you can eat all the meat that you want, but you only have an hour and a half, so gambatte!
OKINAWA SOBA - Okinawa Soba is nothing like traditional soba. It's much closer to ramen. It consists of noodles in soup with large pieces of marinated pork. The pork is cooked so long that you can eat the cartilage. Yum! Dan likes traditional ramen better because he thinks that Okinawa Soba broth is too plain. I would tend to agree... although I do enjoy soft cartilage. 
HABUSHU - Ok, I have to admit that we had neither the guts, nor the funds to try this, so I have no idea if it is actually tasty. Habushu is hard liquor...with a pit viper inside. People tell me that you're supposed to eat the snake. (The habu snake native to Okinawa is: Trimeresurus okinavensis... for all you bio-nerds out there.) I think I'll stick with the worm that comes in tequila...
CHAMPURU - Champuru is like a type of stir-fry. This one includes goya, spam, and tofu. Goya (also called nigaori) is a local Okinawan vegetable. It looks like a really bumpy cucumber. It has a really bitter after-taste and I never really enjoyed it when we ate it at home (sorry Grandma) but I think it's something you grow to like when you're older. This champuru was actually pretty good. 
A&W - Lastly a small homage to American fast-food. Dan and I were pleasantly surprised to find that the A&W hamburger chain is alive and flourishing in Okinawa. We treated ourselves to fatty hamburgers and of course, root beer! I know this is not very exciting to everyone else, but you would be surprised to learn how hard it is to find a decent hamburger in Japan. Most hamburger patties are filled out with... I don't know... something other than meat, and root beer is almost non-existent. Japanese people generally don't like the taste of root beer, cherry coke, or Dr. Pepper because they think these drinks taste like medicine. Naturally, Dan and I guzzled as much root beer as we could get our hands on.
Want to see more from Okinawa? Click here:
Okinawa? Hawaii?
Okinawan Goods... many sad animals
Eating in Okinawa
