Girl’s Island Lunch Party with Hirayachi and Champuru

Today, we had a girl’s lunch party with our neighbors.
I learned how to cook Okinawan dishes, so I will introduce them here.

The menu was Hirayachi with fennel and Goya Champuru.
The following ingredients and amount are appropriate (!), so you can substitute the ones in your kitchen.
Please try making it.

Recipe of Hirayach with Fennel

Since it is baked flat, it is called a hirayachi, which is an Okinawan side dish like omelet, crepe and okonomiyaki added and divided by 3.
The sweetness of onion is just right in Hirayachi, and the texture is fluffy.
It’s a Okinawan dish with a scent of fennel and piiyahi (island pepper), just like Western food.

[Material] (The amount is appropriate!)
2 eggs
milk
flour
Fennel
Onions (quarter)
Konbu soup (powder)
Piiyashi (island pepper)

Fennel is called “Unkyo” in Taketomi’s language.
It is also known as echober because it was once used as a gastrointestinal drug.
I’ve heard that it’s good for coughing.

Since piiyashi grow well on the stone walls, many islanders make their own.
Boil quickly and ripe fruit for 3 days to 1 week in the sun.
Then, fry in a frying pan at high temperature to make a powder.
It is said that the spicy ingredient called piperine rejuvenates blood vessels.
We use it as if it were pepper for anything in Okinawan cuisine.

[How to make]

1. Finely cut fennel
2. Roughly chop the onions
3. Put 1 and 2 in a bowl and add flour, eggs and milk (same texture of baking a crepe)
4. Season with dashi stock and piiyashi
5. Pour one full cup of 4 in an oiled frying pan and bake thinly
6. Turn over when lightly browned
7. Complete when fluffy

Recipe of Goya Champuru

Champuru is a dish like fried vegetables.
There are many kinds of champuru ; tofu champuru, fu champuru, somin noudle champuru, and goya champuru is also a typical menu.

[Material] (The amount is appropriate!)
goya ; bitter gourd
tofu
2 eggs
pork
konbu dashi (powder)
piiyashi

[How to make]

1. Cut bitter gourd in half vertically and then slice into thin slices
2. Slice the tofu
3. Slice the pork finely
4. Fry 1.2.3 in an oiled frying pan
5. Melt the egg and then add softly
6. Add a small amount of water, cover with a lid, and steam for a few minutes to complete

Chatting is today’s main

The main thing was a pleasant chat while having lunch.
Each house in Taketomij island has their history, and in many cases, the systematic diagrams and recorded materials have been left behind.
While seeing such materials, we also talked about stories from the age of about 3 to 4 generations, music stories, and mysterious stories that they actually experienced.
Looking at the pedigree diagram, you can also see that many of the people who now live on the island are connected somewhere and are distant relatives.

Of all the stories I heard, there were many that could be learned, but the most important thing I learned today is…
It seems to be
“Sea turtles are the messenger of Ryugu (sea)”

A story that someone was helped by sea turtles, a story that was misleading because they didn’t value sea turtles… Many legends seem to remain in all over Japan, but there are many stories of sea turtles in Yaeyama.
It seems that there is a custom of eating sea turtles in Okinawa and Yaeyama, but I swore to my heart that I should not eat them.

Dessert is Pineapple of Iriomote Island

The dessert was a special sweet pineapple, which is now in season.
It is made by a farmer on Iriomote Island.
Three years ago, there were farmers who started cultivating 5,000 pine apples, because of recommendations of others, and it is the first to harvest this year.
However, due to the influence of covid 19, the number of airplanes has decreased and they cannot ship or sell it!
They are in an emergency.
I saw the news that Ishigaki Airport shipped a pineapple with a charter machine, but it seems that there are still few buyers and it is difficult.

By all means, please help the farmers, a box of pineapples from Iriomote Island for each family.

After the meal, Karaki Tea

“Would you like to try Yanbaru‘s Karaki tea?”
I could not imagine at first.

It is a tea that is familiar as a healthy tea in the northern part of the main island of Okinawa, and it is said that the leaves of “Karaki“, which is also known as “Okinawa Nikkei”, are used as tea.
Smell of cinnamon!
It is said to have the effects of promoting blood flow and repairing capillaries. It is a great tea that warms the body in winter and improves metabolism in summer.

Today, I had this karaki tea as a herbal tea that mixed lemongrass and rosemary picked from the garden.
The power of herbs will make our body healthier.

Summary

Although I wrote “Girl’s Lunch Party” in the title, today’s host is a big senior on the island, and a man!
He is soft, good at cooking, dexterous at their hands, and able to make small things by hand.
Good at singing and playing musical instruments.
He is also good at talking.
Perhaps because his family and relatives are international, I noticed that his way of making herbal tea was fashionable.
It looks like a girl! High girl’s power! !
So I was really relaxed and enjoyed chatting, it was like a girls’ party…