It was only 100 years ago that the kingdom of Okinawa was incorporated into Japan, and the southern islands still maintain their own distinctive culture, language and cuisine. Okinawan cooking tends toward stronger and spicier flavors than Japanese food, and is more heavily influenced by Chinese cooking styles.

Pork is a very important ingredient, and every part of the pig is used, from pig's feet and pig's ears to pork tripe. Other ingredients include local seafood and native tropical vegetables and fruits. Black sugar and awamori (an Okinawan brandy-like liquor made from rice) are used in cooking along with soy sauce and miso (fermented soybeans). Kooreegusu is a condiment made from red peppers marinated in awamori.

Stir-frying is a common cooking method, and Okinawan chanpuru is basically a stir-fry using some combination of tofu, leeks and eggs plus other ingredients - Okinawan menus will usually have a number of chanpuru dishes listed. Another typical dish is rafuti, pork stewed in miso, soy sauce, sugar and awamori, which is very similar to a Chinese dish called kakuni. Toofuyoo is a strongly flavored super-concentrated tofu concoction that's eaten in tiny bites as a snack while drinking - it's a bit like Velveeta cheese that's been compressed until it's reached an incredibly dense state. A popular foreign-influenced dish is taco rice - basically a taco that uses rice instead of a taco shell.

Here are some menu items you might run across. Many menus list the Okinawan term first, followed by a Japanese explanation.