Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands. Robert Walker
for “something mixed” and refers to the combination of ingredients stir fried in the dish as well as Okinawan culture as a whole. It’s not Japanese and it’s not Chinese. Rather, it’s a rich combination mixed up and only found in the Ryukyu Islands. Here’s a simple, favorite recipe for stir-fried goya.
A bitter gourd hanging from a vine.
A plate of stir-fried goya chanpuru.
Goya Chanpuru (Stir-fried Bitter Gourd)
Serves 2
1 Goya bitter melon
pinch of sea salt
5 oz (150 gm) pork back ribs or thinly sliced pork (Okinawans often use spam)
1 pack tofu
sesame oil
cooking liquor such as Okinawa awamori
1 cup (50 g) soybean sprouts (other vegetables can be added as well, such as small slices of onions, carrots, green peppers, and mushrooms)
soy sauce
instant bouillon (or dried bonito powder)
2 eggs, beaten
1. Slice the bitter gourd in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Then dice the halves about ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick. You’ll get many crescent-shaped pieces.
2. Mix the bitter gourd with a pinch of salt in a bowl and leave to stand for about 10 minutes. This removes much of the bitterness.
3. Cut the pork into bite-sized pieces.
4. Break the tofu with your fingers into bite-sized pieces and fry them in a pan with the sesame oil until they become brown. Then transfer them to a dish.
5. Fry the pork in the pan with the sesame oil and cooking liquor at low heat until it’s brown and crispy.
6. Put the bitter gourd back in the pan and fry with the pork at high heat.
7. When the bitter gourd wilts, add the tofu and soybean sprouts and more cooking liquor. Fry and mix well.
8. Season with soy sauce and bouillon (or dried bonito powder).
9. Add the beaten egg to the pan. Mix and cook all at low heat until the egg is half cooked.
PART 1
THE SATSUNAN ISLANDS
薩南諸島
The Satsunans (薩南諸島; Satsunan-shotō) are the island portion of Kagoshima-ken. The balance of the prefecture lies on the mainland. Unlike the more southerly Okinawan Islands, the Satsunan Islands, especially the northerly ones, have a more temperate climate, only vaguely subtropical. Although it rarely ever freezes, it can be cool, even cold, in the winter. The islands are best visited in the summer, but of course at that time it can be very hot and humid. Spring is best as fall can mean typhoons. Overall, the vegetation of southern Kyushu Island, the Kagoshima area, the Satsuma and Ōsumi Peninsulas and the Satsunan Islands is blessed with more than abundant rainfall. Thus it is lush, with cycads, tree ferns and some of the more hardy species of various palm trees found in great profusion.
The Satsunan group consists of about 25 inhabited islands and more than another dozen uninhabited islands spread out over three major groups: the Ōsumi, Tokara and Amami. The Satsunans occupy a total of 966 square miles (2,503 square kilometers). The tiny, uninhabited chains of the Kusagaki (草垣 群島; Kusagaki-guntō) and Uji Islands (宇治群島; Uji-guntō), found approximately 31 miles (50 kilometers) further west and 37 miles (60 kilometers) northwest, respectively, of Kuroshima in the East China Sea are not included in this definition.
Cape Sata (Sata-misaki), the final tip at the end of the Ōsumi Island chain.
Chapter 1
THE ŌSUMI ISLANDS 大隈諸島
Ancient outcrops, modern spaceport
1 Tanegashima 種子島
2 Mageshima 馬毛島
3 Yakushima 屋久島
4 Kuchinoerabujima 口永良部島
5 Takeshima 竹島
6 Iōjima 硫黄島
7 Kuroshima 黒島
The northernmost group of the Satsunan Archipelago, the Ōsumi Islands (大隈諸島; Ōsumi-shotō), lie about 37 miles (60 kilometers) south of Kyushu Island’s southern tip, the Ōsumi Peninsula. The islands are volcanic in origin and have a combined area of 400 square miles (1,035 square kilometers). Altogether there are seven inhabited islands and several tiny named uninhabited ones. The island chain’s total population is around 52,000, with about 18,000 living in Nishinoomote on Tanegashima.
There are two airports on the Ōsumi Islands, one each on the two largest islands of Tanegashima and Yakushima, and an airstrip and unmanned control tower on the island of Iōjima. The latter is kept in good working order and used by air charter services. Almost all the islands (and this is true throughout the Ryukyus) also sport a helicopter landing pad, but these are generally only used for emergency medical evacuations or other government purposes, not for commercial services.
More usually, both Tanegashima and Yakushima are reached by regular and frequent ferry service from the north out of Kagoshima City. Ferries, which carry passengers, vehicles and cargo, take about four hours. High-speed jetfoils, which don’t carry vehicles or cargo, take about two. There are also passenger and vehicle ferries but not high-speed hydrofoils from Kagoshima to Takeshima, Iōjima and Kuroshima. Service to these three islands takes place only three times a week.
There are multiple ferry terminals in Kagoshima with several competing lines. Moreover, sailing schedules change all the time. It is most important to verify your ferry and its current timetable. In the case of several islands, you will have several choices but for others service is much more limited.
A high-speed hydrofoil service from Kagoshima runs to several of the Ōsumi Islands.
Tanegashima marina and ferry dock.
As a matter of convenience, the Ōsumi Islands are sometimes divided into two subgroups: the northeast and northwest.
The Northeastern Group
This group contains the Ōsumi’s two largest islands, plus two very small islands. All four are inhabited.
1 TANEGASHIMA 種子島
A long, narrow and mostly flat island, Tanegashima (種子島; Tanéga-shima) is almost 37 miles (60 kilometers) in length from north to south and ranges from 3–7 miles (5–12 kilometers) east to west. Its area is 172 square miles (445 square kilometers), making it the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands. The island was supposedly named Tané (meaning “seed”) because that’s what its shape resembles. Tanegashima has a coastline of 103 miles (165 kilometers) and a population of 36,000.
Although there are a half dozen villages sprinkled around the island, most are quite small and the majority of the island’s people live in and around the island’s