Que sera sera Okinawa

This is one of beautiful beaches in Okinawa. The name is from a geography of sand which is moon shaped. It is located 30 minutes from my house. We can swim there between May and October. It is a private beach for the Moon Beach Hotel, so if we want to swim there, we have to pay for swimming and parking. I didn’t use to go to the beaches when I was in Okinawa. However, I remember I swam there twice. Especially, I remember that it was summer time and I was 5 years old when my aunt and cousin were visiting my family. They stayed at Moon Beach Hotel; therefore, we could go to the beach for free. My cousin and I went there and wore inner tubes, and swam a little bit. We didn’t do special things, but I was happy to see my cousins because I couldn’t see them so much. It is a great beach to swim when you visit Okinawa.

We have food called “Taco Rice” in Okinawa. They are originally from Mexico. I believe it came from there after World War 2 with American fast food somehow. I used to eat it at lunch when I was an elementary, junior high, and high school student. Schools provide us with lunch when we are students in Japan. It is different than Mexican Tacos. We use rice, cabbage, beef, cheese, and tomatoes. We put sliced cabbage, cheese, chopped beef, and tomatoes on top of rice and then we mix everything when we eat. It is not very spicy, so I like it very much.

There are only two department stores in Okinawa. One is a department store on International Street which has a lot of souvenir stores and restaurants in Naha city, Okinawa. It is one of my favorite places to shop!! =D I used to go there with my mother when I was a child. There are many expensive clothing stores, restaurants, and stores which sell cosmetics… etc. I mostly go to clothing stores because I LOVE clothing!!!! <3 <3 <3 My mother often goes to malls a lot to go window shopping. When we go to Ryubo, usually we stayed there more than four hours!! Especially, when they have sales, we stayed there almost one day!!! My favorite clothing store is “ELLE” which means “she” in French. I guess the designer is French, I love it because they make colorful clothing. I love bright colors!! I cannot wait to go shopping there again!!!! XD

☆Ingredients
1/2 Goya
100g Sliced Pork
1 Egg
1/2 Tofu
1 Tablespoon of Salad Oil
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Soy Sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoon of Sweet Sake
A little dried bonito

☆Recipe
1 Cut 1/2 Goya into half and remove seeds and seend wool and then cut it in 2mm round slices.
2 Put sliced Goya into a salty water bowl and wash it by rubbing and then remove the moisture from the sliced Goya by using paper towels.
3 Beat the egg.
4 Cut sliced pork into bite-sized pieces.
5 Drain Tofu and cut it into bite-sized pieces by hand.
6 Put 1 tablespoon of sald oil into a pan and then after a while put in the beated egg until it is half-cooked.
7 Removed the half-cooked egg from the pan then cook Goya and Pork.
8 Put the half-cooked egg into the pan again and put in 1 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 1/2 tablespoon of sweet sake and a little dried bonito.
9 Done!

It in an Okinawan traditional food, easy to cook, yammy, and good for your health!
Try cooking it★

Awamori is a traditional alcoholic beverage in Okinawa. It is different than Japanese alcohol, "Sake", which is made from Japanese rice, not Thai rice. Average brands of Awamori have 30-43% alcohol and export brands one have only 25%. When both are called “Koshu”, it means it is older than 3 years, and is more valuable. It is very hard to drink it straight, so we usually mix it with water or some juices. People in Okinawa are known to be “good drinkers”. However, I choose not to drink alcohol so much even though it is good, so I won’t be an alcoholic!!

We have an American Village in Chatan, Okinawa. There are lots of visitors, locals, and American people there especially on the weekends between afternoon and midnight. It reminds us of a foreign country. We can do lots of fun things there. We can enjoy watching live music in the streets. There are often live street shows by street musicians, and we can watch it by famous musicians from Okinawa if we are lucky! XD There is a Ferris wheel there which only they have in Okinawa. It is very good for dating!! Seeing the beautiful view for riding a part of the Ferris wheel makes a couple feels extremely romantic! <3 We can try different kinds of food from other countries. We can eat Sushi for sure, and of course Okinawan Foods, too. Also, we can eat Mexican, Indian, Italian, French, Thai, Korean, or Chinese food. American food which is fast food or Teppan yaki steak restaurants are available, too. If you go to Okinawa, I insist that you go to the American Village!!!

I like to eat noodles especially Okinawan Soki Soba, and I want you to try it, so I am going to introduce how to cook it.

♔Pork Spare Ribs ♔

Ingredients
♥Pork Spare Ribs [1kg]
♥Bonito Flakes [2cups]
♥Awamori(Sake) [1cup]
♥Sugar [1/3cup]
♥Soy Sauce [1/3cup]

➀ Put pork spare ribs and water in a pan and wait until it boils.
➁ After its boiled, remove all of water and put water in a pan and then, remove it again.
➂ Put 2 cups of bonito flakes, 1 cup of awamori, 1/3 cup of sugar, and 1/3 cup of soy sauce in the pan. After it's boiled, skim the scum and stew 2 or 3 hours on low heat.
☞It's better to stew 2 days, for it's very tasty.

♔Soki Soba♔

Ingredients
♥Cooked Stew Pork Spare Ribs
♥Soba sales at a market [1pack]
♥Soba glaze at a market [1pack]
♥Chopped Green Onions [a little]
♥Pickled Ginger [a little]
♥Kamaboko(Fish Cake) [1/3 package]

➀ Dilute soba glaze with water.
➁ Remove soba from the package and parboil it for a few seconds.
➂ Put 1.2, cooked stew pork spare ribs, chopped green onions, pickled ginger, and 1/3 package kamaboko in a bowl.

It is a small island which is located at 5.3 km southeast from mainland Okinawa. There are about 200 people living there, and it takes about 20 minutes by ferry from mainland Okinawa. It is a very spiritual island. There is a myth about Kudaka Island. Amamikiyo, the god of Ryukyu, made the Ryukyu Islands a long time ago. Ryukyu is what we used to call Okinawa. There are a lot of spiritual spot at Kudaka Island. Especially, Kubo Utaki which is the sacred place there. Only female shaman can enter there, so men are not allow to go there even King of Ryukyu couldn’t go without dressed as a woman. Okinawa is a motherhood Island. There are a lot of Noro which names shaman. They are such as a counselor to people. Shamanism has been there and still alive in Kudaka Island.
❀Pictures of Kudaka Island❀