I regret not having more conversations with my Ojiichan while he was alive but because he passed while I was still in high school, I didn’t have that yearning to learn more about the family still in the Motherland. You see, Ojiichan was the only member of his family who remained in Hawaii. After the release of the 1940 census, we learned that Ojiichan arrived in Hawaii when he was 14 years old with his parents and a younger sister. About three years later, the family moved back to Hiroshima but Ojiichan stayed in Hawaii working on the sugar plantation where he eventually met Obaachan (who was born in Hilo). As my interest in the family piqued, I frequently asked Obaachan about Ojiichan’s family in Japan but she was very vague (including the Tatsumoto mon) with her responses and my Dad eventually informed me that Ojiichan’s family in the Motherland never treated Obaachan like family – perhaps they viewed her as a gaijin since she was born in America. So all I know about the family is that Tatsumoto means “dragon book” based on the kanji characters and that I’m one part Hiroshima-ken, one part Yamaguchi-ken and two parts Kumamoto-ken (Mom’s side)… or am I?
Misplaced Roots?
Many, many years ago in a previous life as a supermarket pharmacy manager, one of my regular patients – Mrs. Nakahodo – was purchasing her usual bottle of Tylenol. She normally would simply smile as she didn’t speak much English and was always impeccably dressed with her hairnet, crochet vest and Japanese umbrella so I would use what little Japanese I learned in high school; “ohayou”, “doomo arigatou”, “doo itashimashite”. One day, she started speaking to me directly and of course, I didn’t understand a word so I simply stated “wakarimasen”. Another patient waiting behind informed me that Mrs. Nakahodo was using an Okinawan dialect and she could understand the gist of her conversation. She said Mrs. Nakahodo was telling me she could tell I was Okinawan because of my face so I replied, “Nakahodo-san, uchinanchu nai. Watakushi wa Hiroshima to Yamaguchi to Kumamoto ken”. Mrs. Nakahodo simply waved her hand side to side and muttered something then took her bottle of Tylenol and bowed before leaving. I always assumed having an Okinawan appearance for men meant full facial hair – I have Okinawan buddies who are clean shaven in the morning and almost have full beards by nightfall whereas it takes me 2 to 3 weeks to simply grow a scraggly beard and moustache. So I forgot that incident until…
The Master Blueprint
Several years ago, I decided to purchase a 23 and Me DNA kit for myself and various family members. I opted for the full analysis which included various genetic markers for certain diseases or predisposition to various physical ailments. However, the basic kit still included ancestry which the rest of the family received. Initially, the results were very general as 23 and Me likely didn’t have a large database of DNA from the Asian population so as they explained, the results are generalized as an average and not precise for any given lineage. Therefore my initial results were about 94% Japanese and just under 6% Korean and the Japanese lineage was simply reported as Japanese. However, with a larger database, my results are now 99.9% Japanese and 0.1% Vietnamese and the Japanese is also divided into prefectural predominance. So I assumed Kumamoto first followed by Yamaguchi and Hiroshima. WRONG! Hiroshima first followed by… Okinawa. And though both of Mom’s parents hailed from Kumamoto, it’s her 4th most prevalent prefecture with Okinawa being number 1! Nakahodo-san, sumimasen, you were right!
Okinawan Cuisine
I used to say, this is my interpretation of an Okinawan dish but perhaps I should now state; this IS Okinawan cuisine! Actually, any Asian cuisine that was bought to Hawaii from the Motherland has morphed into Hawaii/(fill in the Asian culture of your choice) type of cuisine as immigrants had to make-do with proteins and produce that was available in Hawaii. Like meat jun. Hawaii transplants to the mainland say you‘ll never find meat jun in the continental US as it seems to be only a Hawaii-Korean dish. And it seems that chicken hekka is dish that’s only made in Hawaii. So here’s my Okinawan/Japanese/Hawaii version of rafute or shoyu pork belly:
8 to 10 strips of pork belly with skin, ¾ to 1 inch thick and 10 to 12 inches long
A long strip of aluminum foil is folded around the individual strips of belly so that only the skin is exposed. The foil “wrapped” pork belly is placed under a broiler to brown but not burn the skin, about 10 to 15 minutes.
The browned pork belly strips are then simmer in a deep skillet covered with enough water for 60 minutes. The strips are then refrigerated overnight in the braising liquid. The next day, the hardened pork fat is removed, the braising liquid saved and the belly is sliced into large bite sized pieces.
½ cup shoyu
½ cup awamori
½ cup brown sugar
A thumb sized piece of fresh, peeled ginger
1 large garlic clove sliced lengthwise
About 1 cup of reserved pork belly stock
¼ cup mirin
Bring the mixture to a simmer then add the sliced pieces of pork belly and simmer for 90 to 120 minutes adding the mirin during the last 15 minutes. Serves 8 to 10 (since pork belly is so rich) or 4 to 5 diners if everyone is already taking cholesterol medication.
Okinawan Soba
I first sampled a version of this dish created by Chef John Iha while he ran the kitchen of the former Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas – he currently owns Gochi Grill in the Remington College food court on Bishop St. Unlike the thin noodles in common soba, Okinawan soba is a lot thicker more like traditional udon noodles with a pronounced chewiness like Italian al dente pasta. Chef Iha originally topped the Okinawan soba with fried salmon and salmon skin and fresh herbs but at Gochi Grill he adds beef, chicken, kim chi and cilantro broth or pork belly to the chewy noodles. Ever since sampling Chef Iha’s old and new Okinawan soba creations, I’ve always kept a bag (made by Sun Noodle of course) in my refrigerator just in case I have any leftover pork ribs or shoyu pork and the mercury takes a dip.
The Bitter Delight
As I’ve previously mentioned, I used to avoid bitter melon or goya whenever Obaachan or Mom would either stir fry or stuff those bitter gourds. Then sometime after I hit those middle-age years, my palate did a complete reversal and I can literally have a goya dish with every meal. The only roadblock was the price as they’re usually about $3.99 per pound at the supermarket and not much cheaper at the Farmer’s Markets. However, a co-worker grows several types of bitter melon and I’m always grateful to take any extra gourds off her hands. My usual standby is my basic champuru or stir fry with either chicken or pork though I’ll also slice then salt batches, rinse then marinate in bottled kim chi sauce for a day or two until the slices soften and create a fresh, bitter melon kim chi.
In lieu of adding my champuru recipe here, you can simply go to the link on my blogsite for a visual recipe:
https://the-gochiso-gourmet.blogspot.com/2019/02/champuru.html
Comments