Rafute is a pork belly dish in Okinawan cuisine, from the island of Okinawa, Japan. It consists of skin-on pork belly stewed in soy sauce and brown sugar.[1] The dish is related to kakuni and Dongpo pork. It is traditionally considered to help with longevity.[2] Rafute was originally a form of Okinawan royal cuisine.[3]
 Rafute, braised pork belly | |
| Place of origin | Japan |
|---|---|
| Region or state | Okinawa |
| Associated cuisine | Okinawan cuisine |
| Main ingredients | Pork |
| Ingredients generally used | Dashi, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, sake |
| Similar dishes | Kakuni, Dongpo pork |
In Hawaii, rafute is known as "shoyu pork,"[4] which is served in plate lunches. In the early 1900s, Okinawan immigrants in Hawaii introduced rafute into the local cuisine which later inspired other variations such as shoyu chicken. Okinawans owned and ran many restaurants and okazuya throughout Hawaii in the 1940s.[5]
Gallery
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Rafute in Waikiki
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Rafute in Tokyo
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Rafute in Tokyo
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Rafute in Ginza, Tokyo
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Skewered rafute
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Okinawa rafute
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See also
edit- Gōyā chanpurū – Japanese dish
- Okinawan cuisine – Cuisine of Okinawa prefecture, Japan
- Plate lunch – Quintessentially Hawaiian meal
- Dongpo pork – Chinese fried braised pork dish
- Okazuya – Japanese-style delicatessen in Hawaii, many started by Okinawans
References
edit- ^ "Okinawa Food Guide". www.japan-guide.com. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
- ^ A surprising slice of Japan by Tom Downey June/ July 2013 AFAR page 38
- ^ "Okinawa Food Guide". www.japan-guide.com. Retrieved 2018-03-28.
- ^ Corum, Ann Kondo (2000). Ethnic Foods of Hawaiʻi. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bess Press. p. 78.
- ^ Matsuda, Mitsugu (1968). The Japanese in Hawaii, 1868-1967, a Bibliography of the First Hundred Years. Honolulu: Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii.
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