Cook Around Japan - Amami Oshima: Preserving Island Tradition

Dining with the Chef!

Hello, I'm Rika Yukimasa.

I've come to the island of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Look at this view!

It's just so nice to stand here looking at beautiful view.

Amami Oshima is a popular sightseeing destination for Japanese people as well.

Its rich natural environment has given rise to a food culture that cannot be found anywhere else in Japan.

Join me now as we explore a unique approach to food, cultivated through the ages in Amami Oshima.

Let's explore Japanese cuisine in greater depth.

Japan is a chain of islands approximately 3,000km long from North to South.

There is a large variation in climate, and the terrain of each region has given rise to a diverse culture of food.

Today, we head to Amami Oshima,

the largest of the Amami Islands located 380 km south of the mainland of Kagoshima Prefecture.

With a population of about 40,000, and an area of 700 square kilometers, much of Amami is covered in forest.

The mountainous region provides a rich natural habitat to rare and diverse species.

Unlike the temperate humid climate of Japan's main island, Honshu,

Amami's climate is subtropical.

It was registered as a World Natural Heritage site in 2021.

Located between Honshu, Okinawa, and the Asian continent,

it has assimilated many diverse cultures, giving rise to a unique cuisine.

Join our host, Rika Yukimasa, as she explores this fascinating culture.

Delicious!

Cook Around Japan, Amami Oshima.

An insight into the island's proud heritage and traditional cuisine.

What a view!

This is my first visit to Amami. It's so beautiful.

Thank you.

We love to hear visitors say that.

Walking on the beach, you forget about your worries.

Yes, you feel less stressed out.

That's the beauty of island life.

Hisadome Hiromi is a native of Amami.

She's a food culture researcher.

The fauna is so rich and diverse.
It's unlike anything I've seen in Japan.

Really? I grew up in this environment, so I take it for granted.

It's so relaxing.

It's green all year round.

Then, there's the blue ocean, the white sandy beaches,

and the deep green of the mountains, which have become famous as a World Natural Heritage site.

This is one of the attractions of Amami Oshima.

Amami Oshima has a culture found nowhere else in Japan.

Even the architecture is different.

Amami is known for its elevated storehouses called "Takakura."

I think they are a symbol of Amami's acquired wisdom.

"Takakura" are built alongside houses to store food.

Amami Oshima has a lot of rain and an abundance of wildlife.

Storehouses with raised floors were essential to protect food from humidity and animals.

Amami is an island so there's a limit to what we can bring in from outside.

People had to make do with what was available.

So, we raised pigs and fowl, and grew a wide variety of vegetables.

We were able to enjoy a self-sufficient way of life.

The "Takakura" warehouses are essential for preserving food.

Amami Oshima's food culture is different from that of Japan's main island.

Rika heads to Hisadome's restaurant to try one of its most famous local specialties.

The colors are so vivid and pretty.
Just like Amami's nature and light.

This dish is said to have been introduced to Amami in the 1400s.

First of all, take some rice and choose whatever toppings as you like.

And then pour chicken soup over it.

That's the way to enjoy "Keihan."

What a pretty palette.

Beautiful. You're very good at this.

This soup was made from a local breed of chicken called "Akadori."

We use the entire chicken.

A two-year-old bird is best, because it's rich in fat and produces a golden soup.

This is such a delicious chicken soup.

It's so different from what I have tasted.

But you get to enjoy together with rice, chicken, eggs, and also different condiments.

It gives a complexity.

It's really delicious.

The chicken is simmered with aromatic "naganegi" long onion and ginger.

That's it.

"Keihan" calls for clear chicken soup simmered over low heat for at least eight hours so that it doesn't get cloudy.

It's said that it's very difficult to make this kind of clear, golden soup.

But it comes naturally to us because we learned from our parents and have been making it since childhood.

This chicken soup used to be eaten every day in Amami Oshima.

In the old days, if people caught a cold,

they would drink a bowl of hot chicken soup and sweat it out, rather than taking medicine.

In the past, "Keihan" was served to welcome visiting officials from the mainland.

The majority of local dishes in Japan
use "kombu" or "katsuobushi dashi."

It's rare to see "dashi" made with
chicken only.

Yes, I think that's because Amami is very close to Asia.

The island is at a intersection between Okinawa and mainland Japan.

This is evident when you study the food culture.

It's a perfect blend of Okinawan cuisine and the mainland cuisine from the north.

Amami Oshima lies between the Kagoshima mainland of Kyushu and Okinawa.

Throughout history, it's been greatly influenced by northern and southern cultures.

Amami Oshima once boasted its very own culture.

But in the 15th century, it fell into the hands of the Ryukyu Kingdom - which is now Okinawa.

And in the late 16th century, it came under the rule of the Edo Shogunate.

The mixture of Japanese mainland culture and Asian culture introduced to Amami via Okinawa

led to the evolution of a unique island culture that cannot be seen anywhere else in Japan.

The people of Amami were happy living in their own world.

They found themselves flooded by a completely different culture, but they managed to assimilate it.

They were able to absorb the culture of their political rulers.

But that's not all - they built upon it.

The result was a multi-layered culture of food.

This culture has been handed down from one generation to the next,

which is something we are very proud of.

Efforts are being made to preserve Amami Oshima's traditional culture.

A salt boiling hut by the sea.

Seawater is pumped up and boiled down over a wooden fire to make sea salt just like in the old days.

A lot of the calcium in the water is removed.

Maybe that's the reason for its sweet and tasty flavor.

I have no idea.

The natural sea salt made from the Kuroshio Current in the East China Sea

has a distinctively sweet flavor which makes it a favorite among chefs.

Orders come in from all over Japan.

The sea is so clean.

It may not make much difference in the salt I'm producing, but it makes me feel good.

It's all thanks to the sea.

50 years ago, there were over 30 salt boiling huts, one for each village.

But now there are only three.

In the past, each village produced its own salt because it was a necessity.

It wasn't made for sale.

We made our own salt and sugar.

Self-sufficiency was a way of life.

Today, he continues to make 600kg of salt per month by hand.

It's easier to make things in a factory.

The unit price is cheaper.

So only a few people want to go to the trouble of making salt by hand.

The only reason I keep doing it is because there's a demand from salt connoisseurs.

You can really taste the difference when you sprinkle it on "onigiri" rice balls.

I grow about 15 kinds of vegetables in this field.

They're all thriving.

Is summer the peak harvest season?

Actually, it's winter time.

Summer is the least productive time of year because of the typhoons.

In winter, it looks like paradise.

This is an organic farm that produces island vegetables indigenous to Amami Oshima.

These are bitter gourds.

Otherwise known as bitter melons.

Bitter gourds are a summer vegetable.

They're a staple in Amami Oshima and Okinawa.

They have a distinctively bitter taste and are usually stir-fried.

This is a vine of bitter gourd.

I ship the vines as vegetables.

It's delicious.

Yes, it has a nice flavor.

It has the bitterness and little bit of sweetness at the same time.

I have never tried this vegetable, actually this part of leaves, but it tastes really good.

It's a new discovery.

It'll make a nice tempura.

Yes, definitely.

Kusada Satoru is the seventh-generation owner of this farm.

He grows 20 kinds of island vegetables which have been handed down from one generation to the next.

The production of island vegetables like sponge gourds,

white gourd melons and bitter gourds is declining because they're difficult to eat.

But I'm trying to keep the tradition alive which is why I'm stockpiling the seeds.

The farmers of my father's generation are in their 80s.

Most of them have retired, which means it's up to my generation to keep the vegetable farms alive.

I don't want the island vegetables to become extinct, which I doubt they will.

But I'm stockpiling the seeds just in case.

If something were to happen to me, I'd be able to rest in peace

knowing that someone else would be able to sow the seeds and keep the tradition alive.

Nowadays, many people both from within and outside the island come to visit him to learn about island vegetables.

I thought I was young, but I've been farming for over 30 years and have reached the ripe old age of 54.

The best way for me to pass on my knowledge to the next generation

is to keep on teaching the young people who come to visit me.

I hope the island's traditions will be kept alive.

There are no monumental structures or national treasures on this island.

But we can take pride in our heritage that has been nurtured and handed down through the ages.

Our history is the actual treasure of Amami.

Hisadome is going to show us how to make a local specialty that has been handed down through the ages.

I'm going to make a very popular island specialty.

It's a very simple dish of pork with miso.

But it's a favorite among the people of Amami.

In fact, when people talk about miso in Amami, they usually mean this pork miso.

We use it to make "onigiri" and vegetable stir-fries.

It's a very versatile ingredient.

The dish calls for pork belly.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and parboil a 500 g chunk of pork belly.

Season the pork belly with salt and simmer at medium heat for about 50 minutes.

Once it's cool enough to handle, cut into 1 cm thick slices.

Is it best to use pork belly?

The people of Amami love pork belly.

It has the most flavor.

We eat pork every day.

We couldn't live without it.

Cut it up into fairly large pieces.

In some regions, for example, Kagoshima, they use ground pork.

But in Amami where it originated, we use a block of pork belly.

The recipe is quite simple.

I'm using my mother's recipe which calls for equal amounts of pork and miso.

I'm using what's known as "nari miso" made from cycad seeds.

Miso is a fermented product essential to Japanese cuisine.

It's usually made with soybeans, barley, and other grains.

But in Amami Oshima, the seeds of cycads are used to make cycad or "nari miso."

Cycad miso is unique to Amami.

You can't find it anywhere else.

No, I've never come across it before.

During times of famine when rice couldn't be cultivated,

the people of old devised a way to make miso from cycad seeds.

You probably won't be able to find cycad miso outside of Amami,

but you can use any variety of grainy soybean miso.

Now for some sugar.

I'd say about 150g per 500g of pork.

Amami Oshima is a major producer of sugarcane,

and is known for its high-quality dark muscovado and other types of sugar.

This is peanut powder.

Amami produces a lot of peanuts, so we use it in miso, too.

Not all families add peanuts to their pork miso, but my mother always insisted on using peanuts.

And finally, a generous amount of "katsuobushi" skipjack shavings.

Interesting!

And that's it.

We make a large batch and store it in the fridge to use in all kinds of dishes.

I've seen various kinds of food, but this one is something I've never seen.

I know about the pork miso, I knew the existence of it,

but to cut the chunk of pork to this size, it's something completely new.

And the pork miso is done.

I'd now like to show you a local dish using pork miso.

Bitter gourd stir-fried with pork miso.

My mother used just bitter gourd.

But nowadays we have such a wide variety of vegetables to choose from,

so I'd like to make it more colorful.

I think it'll go well with wine.

When you first try bitter gourd,
you may be put off by the taste.

But the bitterness grows on you.

You start to crave it in the summer.

The seeds are very bitter, so remove the seeds and cut into thin slices.

Bitter gourd helps to ward off summer fatigue.

If you like bitter gourd, you might like to cut it into thick slices.

But thin slices are easier to eat.

Yellow and red bell peppers make a striking color contrast.

Stir-fry the ingredients in vegetable oil.

Once the bitter gourd is slightly tender, add the other vegetables and continue stir-frying.

Start with the bitter gourd, which is quite hard.

They take longer to cook.

They look like cucumbers,
but they're quite hard.

Yes, they're surprisingly hard.

Once the bitter gourd is slightly tender, add the other vegetables and continue stir-frying.

Now you just add the pork miso.

It's so handy.

The pork is already cooked through, but the fat melts adding a rich flavor to the dish.

I've never come across anything like it.

We just take it for granted.

Once you've mixed everything together, reduce the heat to low and add the beaten egg.

Scramble and mix evenly and it's done.

This dish is eaten on a daily basis.

The people of Amami would like to preserve it for future generations.

Thank you for showing me how to cook
these amazing dishes.

It was my pleasure.

I hope you like them.

It's delicious!

The sweetness of pork belly and the sweetness of "sotetsu miso,"

it gives a complexily, so when you try this "butamiso," it feels as you won't get tired of this ever.

I'd now like to try this.

Oh, this is so good!

I'm glad you like it.

We eat it all the time.

There's nothing fancy about it, but it's packed with the wisdom of our ancestors.

And that's what makes it such a unique dish
that can only be enjoyed in Amami.

Let me try the pork fat.

It's the best part of the dish. The islanders love it.

I bet it makes a perfect rice topping.

How is it?

It melts in your mouth. A perfect marriage.
Where are the drinks?

I know how you feel.

Hisadome also holds cooking classes and lectures to pass on the local cuisine to future generations.

I'm always thinking of how to interest younger people in preparing Amami cuisine so that it won't die out.

Young people may want to learn,

but their mothers may not want to teach them or may not even know how to cook local food.

So I'm trying to fill the gap in order to encourage more youngsters to cook.

Despite a complex history, its unique food culture has withstood the passing of time,

and has been handed down from one generation to generation.

It remains so colorful and strong.

I hope the islanders will continue to make the most of the bounties of nature,

cultivating local ingredients to keep their food culture alive.

Thank you so much for explaining about Amami.

And thank you for watching.

I'm planning on finding out more about Amami, so I hope you'll join me again.

Until then, bye bye.