Okinawa Soba (Pork and Bonito Noodle Soup)
Cuisine: Japanese
Region: 沖縄県
Servings: 4人分
Okinawa Soba (Pork and Bonito Noodle Soup) is a home-style staple dish. The pork cooking liquid is the foundation of the Okinawa soba soup. Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.
Ingredients
- 4 portions Okinawa soba noodles (pre-cooked)
- 500 g pork belly (sanmainiku, in one piece)
- [Pork belly braise] 200 ml pork cooking liquid
- [Pork belly braise] 3 tbsp soy sauce
- [Pork belly braise] 3 tbsp sugar
- [Pork belly braise] 2 tbsp awamori (or sake)
- [Soup] 1 L pork cooking liquid
- [Soup] 800 ml water
- [Soup] 30 g katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
- [Soup] 1½ tsp salt
- [Soup] 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 8 slices kamaboko (Okinawan stick fish cake or regular kamaboko)
- Green onions (thinly sliced), as needed
- Red pickled ginger, as needed
- Koregusu (island chillies steeped in awamori), to taste
Steps
- [Boil the pork] Put the pork belly in a pot in one piece, add plenty of water (about 2 L) and bring to a boil over high heat. Skim off the scum, then simmer on low for about 1 hour, until a chopstick slides in easily.
- Lift out the pork. Strain the cooking liquid and let it cool. Remove the white fat that sets on the surface, or leave a little if you like.
- [Braise the pork belly] Cut the pork into slices 5–6 cm wide and 7 mm thick. Bring the braising ingredients to a boil in a small pan, lay in the pork and cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, coating it in the liquid until glossy.
- [Soup] Bring 1 L of the pork cooking liquid and the water to a boil, add the katsuobushi, simmer on low for 5 minutes and strain. Season with salt and light soy sauce. Aim for a clear flavour that combines the richness of pork with the aroma of bonito.
- Slice the kamaboko diagonally 5 mm thick.
- Warm the noodles briefly in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, drain well and place in warmed bowls.
- Pour over the hot soup and top with 2–3 slices of pork belly, kamaboko, green onions and pickled ginger. Add a few drops of koregusu if you like.
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Notes
The pork cooking liquid is the foundation of the Okinawa soba soup. Remove too much fat and the soup loses richness, so leave some behind.
Braise bone-in pork spare ribs (soki) the same way instead of pork belly and you have soki soba.
If you can't get Okinawa soba noodles, use thick Chinese-style noodles or udon instead (the texture will be slightly different).
The braised pork belly keeps in its liquid in the fridge for about 3 days. It's also delicious on rice or in stir-fries.
Origin and history
Okinawa soba is Okinawa's everyday soul food: thick noodles made not from buckwheat but from wheat flour and kansui alkaline water, served in a broth of pork and bonito. The traditional version is topped with sweet-savoury braised pork belly, kamaboko, green onion and pickled ginger, and soki soba, topped with bone-in spare ribs, is also popular. The noodles and toppings vary from island to island, as with Miyako soba on Miyako Island and Yaeyama soba on Ishigaki and nearby islands.
Because it contains no buckwheat, labelling it "soba" was called into question in 1976. Local noodle makers negotiated repeatedly to protect the name, and on 17 October it was officially recognised as "Honba Okinawa Soba" (authentic Okinawa soba). That date is now Okinawa Soba Day.
Its roots are said to lie in a noodle shop opened in Naha in the mid-Meiji era by a cook from China, and from there it grew into a flavour suited to Okinawan life.