Okinawa Exile #5: Everything But the Squeal/ 沖縄＃５：鳴き声以外すべて

Warning: This post is not for the faint of heart or stomach. グロに注意！

My time here in Okinawa is winding down. It's been quite a time. I've waxed lyrical on the fruits of the island's seas and fields, but I can hardly leave without my own homage to the favored fruit of Okinawan pastures: the pig.
もうそろそろ沖縄からの出発。楽しかった。海と畑の恵みについてたくさん書いたね。でも帰り前にもうひとつの大事な大事な沖縄名物について語れなきゃ。。。つまり、豚。

I have porked my way up and down Okinawa, from sôki in Yambaru to rafutii in Naha. Trotters, ears, rectums, wombs, ribs... Okinawans pride themselves on eating every part of the pig but the squeal. My own rounded-out rump is a porcine manifestation of the delicacies I've enjoyed. But which part to cook for you, my beloved public?
 豚を島の北から南まで、鼻から足まで、鳴き声以外すべて食べさせている。豚の料理を作ろうと思ったら、どっちの部分を作ればいいか、悩んでいた。

Last week, at Sakaemachi Market, the answer stared out from behind the butcher's display case:
でも、先週の栄町市場で、悩みの解決を発見：

Eat me, it implored.

ぼくを、食べてって。

Glaring with its empty, piggy eyes...

この眼で。

So I bought a pig face. A little internet research yielded this recipe for cured, rolled face. I figured I'd attempt an interpretation, given my limited kitchen.

それで、豚の顔を買った。塩付けて巻いた豚顔にしようと。

So I got a tongue, too, and brought my pig face home. I unwrapped it, and we contemplated each other.

舌も買った。

It was not easy to handle this pig face and tongue. The texture was unfamiliar, and the smell of freshly scrubbed flesh was very raw to me. The tongue was slippery and evocative of...

このようなもので、グロというのは確かで。。。

....well, you tell me.

If I'm going to eat meat, though, I feel a responsibility to use and respect the entire animal. From snout to tail. So I picked up that pig by the tongue...

でも、お肉を食べることが好きだったら、動物の体の全体を尊敬し、使うべきだと思う。

And got to cutting.

だから切るしかない。

The tongue meat was firm and bright.

中身は赤くておいしいそうで。

I chopped it into bits and mixed it with salt, brown sugar, onions, and garlic. I put it in the fridge to cure for a few days.

塩、黒砂糖、タマネギ、ニンニクにつけた。冷蔵庫に入れた。

For the pig face, I turned it flesh-side up...

顔を。。。

... and rubbed in black pepper, salt, and brown sugar.

コショウ、塩、黒砂糖で。

I gave it a real good facial scrub.

エステのようだ。

Then rolled it up and hogtied it...

糸で巻いた。

Then, I also added it to the fridge (warned the roommate) and cleaned up the evidence...

顔も冷蔵庫に。（ルームメートにお知らせもした。）

The next day, I decided that I wanted to add some turmeric and citrus to the cure. It took me a little while to steel myself to touch the face again, though... I prefer to think of myself as generally steel-stomached, but the face didn't really feel like meat to me yet. I'm still a very amateur cuiseur de chair, after all. Finally I unrolled it again...

すぎの日に、レモンとウコンも入れたいと思って。。。

After adding the turmeric and citrus, I rolled and tied and wrapped it up again, returning it to the fridge.

それを入れて、また巻いた。

I gave the face and tongue about four days to cure. In the meantime, I had plenty of time to think about pigs. It didn't hurt that any kind of eating around town kept the general dosages of pork high.

このまま四日間。その間豚について考えた。

I recalled my father's story of the most legendary pig slaughtering of his home village in Hungary. After the War, some methods the slaughter changed: a blow torch became standard equipment for burning off the fur, for example. Other traditions remained, namely the one that allowed all grown men (and probably some children) to drink palinka from well before dawn on the day of a slaughter. Since time immemorial, by the time the pig was laid low, a few villagers would passed out right alongside it.

父の出身の村はハンガリーの田舎で、豚を殺すの祭りのような時期でした。ですので朝早くから強いお酒を飲みながらその行為をした。戦後のハンガリーに豚の毛となくするためにブロートーチを使うのが普通になったらしい。

One year, either because the hog was exceptionally spirited or the peasants especially drunk, the slaughtering was difficult and taking a long time. Someone pointed out that the pig could be put to death painlessly by administering gas from the blow torch.

ある年、豚が特に強いか村民が特に酔ったかわからないけど、豚殺しがなかなか難しかったらしい。それでだれかがナイフよりブロートーチからのガスのほうが早いじゃないかと発言した。結局ガスで豚を殺すことができた。

And so they killed the pig. But when they put the flame to it's hide to burn of the hairs, the pig exploded.

It was devastating at the time, since a pig -- from tip to tail -- meant meat for several families over the winter. And I know I just laid down a line about respect for the body of the animal, etc. But that respect doesn't preclude a wicked smile from playing on my face when I imagine my belovedly lumpen predecessors crouching to avoid flying bits of exploding hog.

でも毛を燃やすときに、ガスも含めた豚が爆発した。まっ。変な話けど、豚で考えるとね。。。その話も思い出す。

(I invite you all to share your favorite pig slaughtering stories in the comments section.)

Back to the pig face. It emerged four days later from it's esthetic treatment.

それでそれで、四日間後。

I diced the cured chunks of tongue.

舌を細かく切った。

And removed the cured ears from the face, and slivered them up.

耳も顔から離して、細く切った。

I scrubbed my face.

顔をきれいに洗った。

Placed it flesh-side up on the cutting board, and added the ear slivers.

それで、顔に耳。

On top of this, I added the diced tongue.

その上に舌を。

Taking the greatest care to not let any savory bit escape, I wrapped it up for the final time.

巻いた。

My knots are a bit clumsy, but it seemed like they were fast.

Into the pot! I added soy sauce and brown sugar...

鍋に入れて、醤油と黒砂糖と。。。

And a bottle and a half of awamori (distilled rice liquor).

泡盛も当たり前。

And I simmered it and simmered it and simmered it for about five hours.

５時間ほど煮た。

It emerged a deep brown...

After it cooled a bit, I wrapped it in cotton cloth and added even tighter strings.

出してからタオルに巻いて、できるだけきつく巻いた。ぐっと。

It was less a pig in a blanket than a pig in a corset. The recipe recommended hanging this little piggy in the fridge overnight, so I jerry-rigged what I could as the mini-fridge would allow.

また冷蔵庫に。今回このように。

I warned the roommate.

またルームメートにお知らせ。

It was a fitful night. If everything worked out, the rolled face was supposed to emerge as a lovely, sliceable loaf of pig flesh. But I worried. First thing the next morning...

その夜は心配だらけで。朝に起きたら。。。

 I freed it from its bondage. And put it to the knife.

包丁で切れば。

To my great relief, it was easy to cut it into luscious slices of pig, all shot through with tongue and ear.

悪くない！

Salty, sweet slices of piggy pigness.

豚豚豚。

The plan was a brunch of pig face sandwiches, salad, home fries. I had made some pickles overnight to spice up the sandwiches.

ランチに豚顔サンドイッチの予定で、お漬け物も作った。

Carrots marinated in miso and brown sugar.

みそと黒砂糖で人参。

And goya -- bitter melon -- in rice vinegar and brown sugar.

お酢と黒砂糖でゴーヤ。

I also made a sweetly sour sauce from the pork drippings, adding onions, rice vinegar, and brown sugar and caramelizing it on the stovetop.

豚汁をお酢と黒砂糖でソースも作った。

So: with slices of pig face...

それじゃー豚顔スライスと。。。

And pickles on hand...

漬け物の準備もできて。。。

We began to build brunch sandwiches.

 サンドイッチタイム！

Mayonnaise.　マヨネーズ。

Pig sauce.　ソース。

Pickles.　漬け物。

Pig face.　豚顔。

Greens.　サラダ。

Fold.　折る。

Oh... and I also added a fried egg.　卵もどう？

Bite. Chew. Repeat.　噛む。

Stuff your face!

豚に顔合わせて、ありがとう！いただきます！

Thank you, pig. With all humility: Itadakimasu!

Okinawa Exile #4: Going Native / 沖縄＃４：ソールフード

So I've fallen in love with the market across the way from my temporary lodgings in Naha, Okinawa. I get my daily provisions there, I take my morning coffee there, I shut down the bars there. Today I was eying a dress made of Okinawa-print cloth, designed for women at least double my age. I wasn't quite sure how my friends would react to me becoming a complete cultural transvestite, and adopting the affectations of a geriatric native of Naha.
最近、このあたりの市場に夢中。今日でもおばさん向きのお店でワンピースもいいねと思って、気をつけないとまるで那覇のおばちゃまのふりをするかも。

But an honest curiosity in local food is always a welcome gesture. As I bought supplies from a small dry goods stall, the woman exclaimed that I was attempting the dishes she grew up with.
でもどこに行っても、そのところの食べ物。。。つまり、そのところのソールフード（「心の食事」で直訳すれば変かな？）についてしゃべるとしゃべりがスムーズにいくと思う。

My only experience with Okinawan cuisine before I arrived here on this trip was at restaurants in Tokyo, who would play jangly sanshin folk songs and serve copious amounts of the trademark Okinawan vegetable, goya:
沖縄に来る前、東京にあるお店のゴーヤチャンプルしか知らなかった。

Goya, amiable enough in appearance, tastes like a bitter zucchini. Quite bitter. As a friend once described goya: "I think we can all agree that it's controversial." The taste is not to everyone's liking. But some who try to understand the longevity of Okinawans like to celebrate the goya for it's medicinal benefits and great nutrition.
ゴーヤを好き人もいれば、嫌い人も少なくない。苦いね。

There's been quite a fashion for Okinawa in Japan lately, and I've met a little camp of Japanese from the main archipelago who've removed themselves to the more relaxed pace of the island life. But they remain well aware of their position as outsiders, one noting that many Tokyo inhabitants who have poured southward trying to stand clear of Fukushima are bound to be surprised to be met with as much mistrust and animosity as with friendliness.
最近沖縄ブームあるかも。那覇でも、神戸や長野から沖縄に引っ越してきた若者に出会った。沖縄ののんびりの生活がいいと思いながら、沖縄と日本の複雑関係をよくわかる人々です。

There is a long and often unhappy history between the modern Japanese state and Okinawa, which was an independent kingdom, invaded by the early Japanese state, and finally abolished by the modern incarnation of the Japanese nation. The Japanese military were brutally indifferent to loss of civilian life in Okinawa during WWII, and the prefectural government estimates that over 100,000 were killed during the final Battle of Okinawa. After the war, the Japanese government gave over Okinawa to American military occupation until 1972, which forced entire villages off of their land to make room for bases. Some of these people ended up in as far-flung places as Bolivia, which I just learned from a local bar Mama-san. That Bolivian peasants were dislocated because of Okinawan farmers who were dislocated because of U.S. Cold War policy in East Asia is a perfect encapsulation of the complexity and inter-connectivity of the mid-Twentieth Century.
確かに沖縄と日本の間に植民地の歴史もある、世界第二次戦争でも、沖縄戦は特にひどくて、日本の軍隊の権力で多くの沖縄の人は犠牲になった。戦後でも沖縄はアメリカの軍隊に占領されて、基地のために移った村もあった。


And all the above is just a quick sketch of why the Okinawan people have complex feelings toward their current inclusion, still on the periphery, of the Japanese nation. There is certainly an image of warm, friendliness -- maybe an equivalent of the "Aloha Spirit" -- at work in the tourist areas. There is much much more to know about Okinawa than awamori and goya, if one has the courage to inquire, and if the Okinawans you meet are prepared to talk.
ですので、ゴーヤチャンプルは沖縄の代表になっても、それより複雑で理解したい歴史がある。

But since it is so complex, and not going to be worked out in a hurry, we may as well start with goya, and eat it in it's most famous incarnation: goya champuru.
このブログで うまく説明もできず、それでソールがまだわからなくても、まずはソールフードで挑戦します。

Champuru is the Okinawan term for a kind of stir-fry. Goya champuru is a hearty pan-fried dish of tofu, eggs, pork, vegetable, and -- of course -- goya.
 ゴーヤ チャンプル：基本的にゴーヤの炒め。

 Cutting goya renders the bright, crisp flesh.

I cut my goya lengthwise first:

And then removed the seeds and spongy middle:

Cut it up:

I had already sauteed some onions, turmeric, carrots, and Okinawan bacon:

To this I added my goya and some unpretentious -- but delicious -- local tofu:

Everybody in the pan!

With eggs:

And mix!

It was done so quickly that I had time to make another champuru I'd seen around: fu champuru.

それにフチャンプル... 

Fu are rounds of wheat gluten:

To make fu a delicious stir-fry morsel, I first soaked it in water with dashi (fish stock):

Then drained it and soaked it in egg:

I fried the fu, then added the same mixture of carrots, onions, turmeric, tofu, and some greens:

The butcher had given me an extra pig liver (you'll see why next post), so I did a miso-based stir-fry, too:

It is humble fare, but delicious, and very satisfying. Certainly simple, although it sustains a culture that has a very complicated relationship with the past.

I know I've been getting wordy lately, and perhaps been using this more as a platform for me to work out my own feelings and my own thoughts more than I should, and maybe I'm asking for more patience from those who read this than I ought. But one feeling that has yet to abide is my appetite. And the feeling that I am so fortunate to indulge it.

最近このブログでことばや説明が多すぎるかもしれません。複雑な時期に複雑な考え。それでも、変わらないものは食べ物の必要さ。それで、心込めて、今日も食べることができることで：いただきます。 

So, with all humility, I eat this food:

Itadakimasu!