I believe that most of you already know that the Japanese diet is one of the healthiest diets in the world.
According to the UN, Japan currently has the greatest number of known centenarians of any nation with 67,824 according to their latest (2017) census and southern Japanese Okinawa islands whose population is said to include the largest proportion of centenarians in Japan.
The lifespans enjoyed by Okinawans may be explained by several genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. That said, experts believe that one of the strongest influences is diet.
Diet in Okinawa – More tofu and seaweeds than traditional Japanese diet
Okinawa diet is a bit different from that of mainland Japan due to the islands’ unique history.
The traditional Okinawa diet is comprised of very nutritious, mostly plant-based foods. It emphasizes soy products, vegetables including sea vegetables (seaweeds) alongside occasional — and small — amounts of noodles, rice, pork, and fish.
Okinawa has its unique local dishes – such as Tofu stir fry (champuru), mozuku, the seaweed tempura, and eat very unique seaweed called “ umi budo” with soy dipping sauce and many more.
MOZUKU
Mozuku is a brown type of seaweed. 99% of the world’s Mozuku production is made in Okinawa.
Mozuku tempura
Mozuku tempura is one of the popular local dishes
Umibudo
Umibudo is a type of seaweed and literally means “sea grapes” in Japanese and popular only in Okinawa.
Special Okinawan tofu : Shima dofu (tofu)
Tofu in Okinawa is made differently than on mainland Japan.
Shima dofu, which means “island tofu” is similar to momen dofu (firm tofu), but its taste and recipe are different. Tofu in mainland Japan is made boiling soybean milk first and squeezing water out after it is boiled, but in Okinawa, water is squeezed out first and the tofu is then boiled. Squeezing water out from raw soymilk before boiling results in shima dofu having 1.3 times higher protein content than tofu made in the mainland. It also has much fewer calories while having higher nutrition value.
Dish using Shima tofu – Goya Champuru
One of the most famous Okinawan dish! Champuru means “stir fry” in the Okinawan language and refers to a dish which was prepared by stir-frying various ingredients. By far the most popular champuru variety is goya champuru, in which the bitter goya vegetable is stir-fried with tofu, eggs, and pork or spam.
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As you might have known it, I am partnering with Kokorcares to give away July’s Kokoro Care Package for 3 winners! (details on how to apply below!)
Kokoro Care Package is a subscription box business that delivers healthy, premium-quality Japanese foods straight from Japan to customers worldwide. All their products are free from additives and chemicals ( that is why I LOVE THEM!!!!) and many cannot be found outside of Japan.
I actually received Okinawan foods in June! ?
You can have a chance to win Kokoro Care’s July Package, too!
One of the food item in July package is smoked SHIMA TOFU (that tastes like cheese).
This Shima tofu is smoked with KOJI, the Japanese culture. (if you come to my healthy gut and power of miso class, you’d definitely know what I am talking about!)
JUST SIMPLY FOLLOW THESE STEPS:
1. Follow both Cooking with Yoshiko and Kokoro Care on Instagram
@cookingwithyoshiko
@kokorocares
2. Tag a friend who would be a Japanese food lover on the comment section in my Giveaway post on Instagram.
3. Fill out this quick survey about my future Japanese cooking online course, at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RWBVSL2
This giveaway ends this THURSDAY.
Good luck and have a lovely week!
Yoshiko
DO YOU NEED HEALTHY COOKING INSPIRATIONS?
All of my cookbooks (Cooking with Soy – hard copy or e-book version; Japanese Superfoods, and Top 3 Japanese Superfoods for Natural Weightloss) are filled with tofu and seaweeds recipes!
