[Okinawan Jushi and Kachiyu]

When I go to an Okinawan restaurant, I can't help but order “jushi.” Rice cooked with finely chopped pork has just the right amount of fat to give it a nice sheen, and it's packed with ingredients. The flavor of the ingredients is thoroughly infused into the rice.

The cooked-in-rice style of jushi is formally called “kufa jushi” and was originally considered an essential “festival dish” for ceremonies and celebrations. Examples of kufa jushi include “unke jushi,” made with ginger leaves for the Obon spirit-welcoming ceremony, “unke,” and “tunji jushi,” made with taro for the winter solstice. In recent years, it has become widely enjoyed as a home-cooked dish and is also served in various restaurants such as cafeterias, Okinawan soba shops, and hospital cafeterias. It is also served at cooking classes and events, ensuring that its tradition continues into the modern era.

Alongside Okinawa's steamed rice dish “jushi,” another dish that has been enjoyed as a home-cooked dish for a long time is “kachiyu.” While jushi is a festive dish for special occasions, kachiyu is a daily dish that accompanies everyday life. It is simple to prepare—just add a generous amount of katsuobushi and the appropriate amount of miso to a bowl and pour hot water over it—yet it is highly nutritious and gently nurtures the body during busy mornings, when one has no appetite, when feeling unwell, or on hangover mornings. It is truly “Okinawa's instant nourishing food.” Another charm is that families enjoy various arrangements such as adding umeboshi or ginger in addition to miso. Interestingly, Okinawa has the highest consumption of katsuobushi in Japan. The katsuobushi used in Okinawa is almost 100% “hadakabushi,” which is rough katsuobushi without mold cultivation, giving it a unique flavor.

Today, I tried making jushi using Suzuki's Hagama Rice Pot. The more effort you put into it, the more delicious the rice becomes. This winged rice pot, created by a Banko ware craftsman after over 50 years of research, is a special item designed solely for cooking delicious rice. The Banko ware clay pot, which slowly conducts heat once it's placed over the fire, ensures even heating even on high heat, resulting in fluffy, glossy rice. Even with a hearty mixed rice dish like jushi, each grain stands out, and the flavor spreads with each bite. The time spent waiting for it to finish while monitoring the heat feels like a little luxury.

Serve the freshly cooked jushi with kachiyu. Both dishes highlight the natural umami of the ingredients, with the broth from the pork and shiitake mushrooms and the flavors of the ingredients shining through without the need for chemical seasonings, creating a natural, comforting taste that warms the body. We highly recommend trying this menu for a special meal at home during weekends or summer vacations when you want to enjoy Okinawan cuisine.

Jushi

Ingredients:
2 cups rice
100g pork belly (in this case, pork loin for tonkatsu)
1/4 medium carrot
1/4 piece of fried tofu
2 tablespoons dried hijiki (soaked in water)
2 shiitake mushrooms (finely chopped)
Chopped green onions (to taste)

(Seasonings)
*Sake 1 tablespoon
*Mirin 2 tablespoons
*Soy sauce 2 tablespoons

Pork broth *Combine to make 2 cups

Preparation:
1. Soak the hijiki in water and drain.
2. Cut the pork into 1 cm cubes, add a little sake and water, and heat over medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, skim off the foam, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it cool slightly.
3. Cut the carrots into short strips using a vegetable peeler, cut the fried tofu into 2 cm wide strips and then into thin strips, and finely chop the shiitake mushrooms.
4. Place the washed and drained rice in a rice cooker, top with the hijiki, pork, carrot, fried tofu, and shiitake mushrooms, add the seasonings and pork cooking liquid, and cook.
5. Heat over medium-low heat, bring to a boil, then reduce to very low heat and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the steam for 10 minutes to finish. Garnish with green onions or other toppings as desired.

Suzuki's Hagama Rice Pot
https://www.shokunin.com/en/suzuki/
Hakusan Porcelain's Hirachawan
https://www.shokunin.com/en/hakusan/hirachawan.html
Seiryugama's Rice Bowl L
https://www.shokunin.com/en/seiryu/chawan.html
Appi Urushi Studio's Owan #3.8
https://www.shokunin.com/en/appi/wan.html
Wajima Kirimoto's Sugiwan
https://www.shokunin.com/en/kirimoto/sugi.html
Wadasuke Seisakusho's Rice Scoop Holder
https://www.shokunin.com/en/wadasuke/shamoji.html
Azmaya's Rice Scoop #6.5
https://www.shokunin.com/en/azmaya/miyajima.html

References
https://www.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/syokubunka/k_ryouri/search_menu/menu/47_4_okinawa.html
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AB%E3%83%81%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A6%E3%83%BC
https://www.yamaki.co.jp/special/the_kachuyu/about.html (Kachiyu)
https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/homecook/search/recipe/00012978/ (Reference recipe)
https://delishkitchen.tv/recipes/476508531894256039 (Reference recipe)