history; Okinawa

On a day in mid-October, I tried cooking paella, a Spanish dish for the first time.

It’s not too much a stretch to say Goya is the staple of Okinawa.

As a kid, every New Year I would look forward to a sweet jelly called kouhaku kanten. Kanten is a jelly made from boiled tengusa algae and seaweed. It is known for being low-calorie and rich in fiber, so it is often used as a healthy alternative to regular sweets.

Turmeric, or “ukon” in Japanese, is a kind of ginger, known as a spice for Indian curry, and in Japan, it is mostly recognized as a food that can help avoid hangover.

It has been said that food is the soul of a country. This couldn’t be truer for Okinawa. A mix of favorable natural conditions and diverse foreign influences produced unique eating habits and a cooking style that is now known as “Okinawan cuisine”.

Following a recommendation from one of our readers, I was on a quest for some good eats at Pizza Sun Okinawa.