[Music]
what's up and welcome to Okinawa Japan
my name is Luke Martin with chopstick
travel.com
and today we are taking you on a food
tour of this beautiful part of Japan so
Okinawa is a tropical island south of
the main islands of Japan today we have
left to the main city of Naha so as you
can see this is our little cottage we're
staying at behind me and also our rental
car and we have a beautiful view of the
ocean down there we are in a place
called moto boo and we're gonna do a lot
of snacking today so it's breakfast time
we are hungry so we want to head to eat
some famous Okinawan soba so let's go
there right now
[Music]
just pulling into the restaurant now it
is beautiful driving here in Okinawa I
definitely recommend you rent a car if
you ever do come here it's just so easy
to see all the beauties of this amazing
Island
we are sitting down now in the
restaurant is a really cool kind of
homestyle in restaurant right on the
side of the road it's kind of no no real
sort of Japanese restaurant there is
some seating on the floor on tatami mat
it's like we are sitting on right now
but then there's also some regular
chairs and tables and we ordered these
Sookie Sosa from a vending machine as
you saw so that is the famous Okinawan
soba with pork spareribs we're just
waiting for our Bowl to arrive our bowl
of tsuki soba has arrived and Okinawan
specialty and this looks absolutely
phenomenal so let me show you what we've
got here in our bowl so we've got the
pork spareribs you can see they're just
these tiny ribs but we have four big
chunks and then we've got some seaweed
kind of tied in a bow tie on top here
and then underneath we've got those soba
wheat noodles not like some soba where
it's buckwheat this is just regular
wheat and these are pretty bouncy and
kind of medium thickness and just all in
a clear broth this just looks absolutely
beautiful so let's dig in okay let's try
some of these noodles here oh yeah these
look awesome let's try this
oh yeah
all those noodles have an amazing
texture they're perfectly firm super
valency and the bra really sticks to
this noodle as well it's like a fish
stock and it's very light though a
little bit salty even so let's try one
of these one of these pork spare ribs
bones still in let's just try that
Oh ma'am hold those are awesome those
are a little bit sweet almost like the
pork belly that we had back in Naha City
it almost tastes like caramelized and
there's a little bits of cartilage in
there too so it gives it a little bit of
a kind of chewy texture but the meat
itself is extremely tender and it's
soaked up the flavor of that broth as
well
all these are awesome noodles so there
are a couple of condiments on the table
here so let me start with some of this
here this is the pickled ginger red
pickled ginger open that up and let's
throw some of that on top oh yeah and a
couple more things here we've got some
vinegar and I think this is a chili
vinegar homemade chili vinegar there's
little bits of chili flakes rolling
around in there so sprinkle that on oh
yeah always tastes better with a little
bit of vinegar that should be good and
also some chili flakes here as well just
put a little bit of that to get the heat
level up all right that should be good
and that looks beautiful so let's give
that a little bit of a mix here oh man
that looks awesome
I'm gonna get some of that ginger with a
piece of that seaweed in a noodle
not chili vinegar is awesome that radish
was also like a little bit spicy card
that ginger sorry is also a little bit
spicy seaweed has an amazing texture
very very firm alright that was a
perfect way to start our day of eating
today oh man those noodles were
seriously addicting there's just one
woman cooking all of those noodles and
that restaurant is quite large and it
was completely packed so definitely go
try that place it we're gonna keep going
go into the little moto boo town and
show you guys that and maybe get some
fresh sashimi all right guys we've come
to a small little village called moto
boo it is beautiful it's picturesque
it's a little fishing town and they have
a local market right behind me actually
we're gonna try to get some fresh
sashimi there Hopi now is famous for a
lot of things and one of those
it's the bitter melons so we actually
found some just growing out on the
street here so cute so this is the
famous Toronto bunch and you can see the
tree has been cut just like it would be
in real life and they made a little
batch out of it it's really cute okay we
bought our sashimi from a little stall
on the side of the road this is such a
cool little sleepy town and a fishing
port so we definitely wanted to get some
fresh fish so we ordered up some
mackerel sashimi some tuna sashimi
that's awesome let's open this up and
try it
we're just sitting outside on the grass
and let's try this sushi me out it's
very kind of small cut and I'm just
gonna put a little bit of soy sauce on
there let's try that
oh man so soft very fresh tasting it's
kind of like naturally oily but it's
extremely soft and just falls apart in
your mouth and then with that soy sauce
just a little bit salty oh man that's
good
let's have another bite with a little
bit of wasabi this time and so we try
that
all that was all these good oh yeah
no some fresh to see me
[Music]
so we have ordered our shaved ice check
this out here it is a small mountain of
ice and then we ordered the adzuki bean
the red bean kind so you can see
underneath there those Zuki beans are
hiding and let's just try this get some
ice this is another one of those little
mom-and-pop style shops here in Okinawa
oh that's nice that is not too sweet
whatsoever super cold refreshing those
beans are extremely soft they have them
soaking in big buckets back there
I guess that's to make them nice and
tender like there oh man that's awesome
definitely not too sweet that is just
right and I couldn't picture anything
more I would want today on a hot day you
know get out about that was absolutely
delicious such a good way to cool off on
a hot day especially here at Okinawa
where is super hot I really loved the
concept at the vending machine and that
was just absolutely delicious between
you and finish it I'm so cold
finished off with our shaved ice my body
temperature is a lot more comfortable
now that was awesome we are going to
head to probably the most famous
attraction in this part of Okinawa the
cha-cha Mori aquarium so we're gonna go
there now and then tonight we are going
to have a barbecue back at our little
house our little Airbnb so let's go to
the aquarium and show you guys that
[Music]
so we are walking around the aquarium it
is absolutely outstanding the fish are
so interesting and there's so many
different types and lots of really
colorful ones big whale sharks stingrays
sea turtles everything has been good
besides the fact that it is extremely
busy in here there's a lot of tourists
here kind of pushing and shoving to get
the better viewpoint but besides that
it's really beautiful it is a Sunday
afternoon so maybe if you come on a
Monday morning you would have the whole
place to yourself hopefully okay guys we
are back at our little Airbnb we had an
amazing time at the aquarium definitely
recommend you check that out tonight we
are going to be actually cooking at home
so we're going to be having a barbecue
so we've been provided a barbecue with
this Airbnb charcoal style so let's go
light it up and then we'll start cooking
and you guys can follow us along
charcoal is going so we'll leave that
for about 30 minutes or so get it nice
and hot we'll get the food ready inside
and then start grilling up our dinner so
here we have all our ingredients this
just looks so awesome so let me show you
what we got here
very simple we've got some salmon which
I just rubbed with a little bit of salt
and pepper and some lemon we've got some
cherry tomatoes some mushrooms and then
two nice steaks which are also rubbed
with salt and pepper and then some
Japanese barbecue sauce so let's go
outside and throw them on the charcoal
grill all right let's put the meats on
the salmon first
oh yeah stick
[Music]
listen that sizzle this is gonna be good
all right
we added some smaller mushrooms to
[Music]
and tomatoes cherry tomatoes
[Music]
all right this looks awesome we will let
that cook for a little bit I'm getting
super hungry so I definitely don't claim
to be any sort of the chef whatsoever I
rarely cook because we're always eating
street food or we're always eating at
some local restaurants it's really cheap
too when you live in Asia to just eat at
the small local restaurants but every
chance I get I love to do a barbecue or
cook at home and barbecuing I think it's
pretty hard to do a really bad job so
I'm hoping this is gonna turn out good
check that out that looks amazing
oh man okay I am totally ready to eat
the steak finally our barbecue is done
and we have all of our beautiful food
here let me show you what we've got so
we've got our salmon which looks amazing
with our mushrooms we also picked up a
potato salad at the grocery store we've
got our steaks here what you're looking
awesome probably a little overcooked but
that's all right we cook them slow and
then some grilled tomatoes cherry
tomatoes with some other small mushrooms
so let's dig in let's start with the
salmon and I'm just gonna top it with a
little bit of lemon juice oh yeah
all right and let's have a bite of that
that looks like some delicious salmon
let's try
oh yeah hmm oh man super smoky a little
bit salty and then sour from that lemon
you can only achieve that flavor cooking
it on charcoal that is amazingly smoky
Wow
goes to change that salmon with one of
these grilled cherry tomatoes
try these mm-hmm that's like naturally
sour and sweet and a little bit smoky as
well mmm busca and now for the steak
let's cut off a piece this is definitely
overcooked
I usually like to get my steak
medium-rare but this is barbecued so
just cook it slow or kind of a low heat
and let's try that mmm
that barbecue sauce has almost
caramelized on the outside of that steak
it's definitely not extremely tender but
I kind of like it a little bit lean
super smoky once again mm-hmm it almost
has a burnt flavor to it wow that is
really really really good and that
there's no a testament to my cooking
ability just the ingredients are really
high-quality it's very easy to cook on a
BBQ wow that is awesome and a perfect
way to end our day so Sabri and I are
going to enjoy the rest of this meal and
we hope you enjoyed today's video this
is our last video from Okinawa tomorrow
we are heading to view coca so make sure
you stay tuned we are in Japan for
another two and a half weeks we're going
to few coca Osaka and Kyoto so make sure
you stay tuned for those we're gonna be
making a lot of videos and we were super
excited to bring them to you I hope
you've been enjoying the Japan series so
far if you have been make sure to leave
a like and let me know any questions you
have down in the comment box and
subscribe and if you haven't seen our
videos from Okinawa the links will be
down in the description box and thank
you so much for watching this video my
mouth is watering I'm having a hard time
talking so we'll see you again
from Japan very soon thanks for watching
guys bye bye