Best authentic Chinese cuisine on Okinawa awaits at Ryu’s Dining

The stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts from Ryu's Dining in Okinawa, Japan, is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. MATTHEW M. BURKE/STARS AND STRIPES
The stir-fried chicken with cashew nuts from Ryu's Dining in Okinawa, Japan, is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. MATTHEW M. BURKE/STARS AND STRIPES

Best authentic Chinese cuisine on Okinawa awaits at Ryu’s Dining

by Matthew M. Burke
Stars and Stripes

Chinese food back home in Massachusetts always consisted of greasy, over-battered chicken fingers; tough-as-leather strips of teriyaki beef; Rangoons devoid of any crab; and fried rice that tasted like it was already a day old.

Japan provided a dramatic improvement. Yet I realize now, having never traveled to China myself, that I’ve never had authentic Chinese food in my life. That is, until I dined at Ryu’s Dining in Kitanakagusuku, Okinawa.

Ryu’s Dining serves authentic, traditional Chinese cuisine made from recipes going back more than a half-century. Some of the dishes boast a flavor profile made up of 20 unique Chinese spices regularly procured in Shanghai and brought back to Okinawa.

The proprietor of the establishment, known affectionately to patrons as “Dragon,” was a high-end chef in Shanghai, then Tokyo, before opening the first iteration of Ryu’s Dining in Chatan. Dragon quickly built a loyal following.

Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/1.608174

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