A taste of Okinawa

I thought I would be craving some of the things that are largely missing from my diet here a lot more than I have been (mainly peanut butter, cheese, bread, and dark chocolate).  Okinawa has one of the oldest populations in the world—for every 100,000 people 35 are over the age of 100— and some speculate that the Okinawan diet is one of the main reasons. So maybe my somewhat mandatory health kick will have some benefits :P

Things that I have enjoyed eating here:

-Okinawan purple yams! Prepared in pretty much every way imaginable, my favorite being fresh yam donuts and beni-imo (a type of yam) Icecream

-Pineapple (flashback to pineapple park)

-Grapefruit

-Goya…while I was skeptical of Goya at first, cooked and eaten with other things, it is actually pretty…tolerable…I would even go to say good, in some cases. By itself it is very bitter, but goya is also claimed as a cure-all health food in Okinawa. 

-Ramen: growing up the only exposure I had to ramen was instant packets so I was skeptical at first that ramen could be good, but it is indeed Oishi (delicious)

-Other popular cuisines include Thai and Vietnamese!

Why not sushi? Its definitely around but I’ve only had 2 pieces since I got here, I know, I am disappointed in myself too. I

Beni-imo icecream (naturally purple)