Okinawa Konbu
When I was a youngster, my family had a dried-food shop in the public market. As a display, there was an array of Katsuobushi (dried bonito) out front to show what the shop featured. There were also Niboshi (small dried sardines) on display and shiitake mushrooms, Konbu and gift boxes were lined up on the counter.
The shop has long been closed, but when I was small the stock for Miso soup and for making dip for cold Somen came from Katsuobushi. As a youngster, I didn't know how useful this stock was and I longed for the "Mentsuyu" of the television commercials. When I came back home from the market, I remember my mother grumbling, "I smell of Katsu Kaja (Katsuobushi). I hate it."
The thing that gave us the most trouble in running that shop was Konbu. Konbu comes in two forms, long Konbu and Saomae Konbu. What we would get in our shop was a bundle of long Konbu weighing about 50 kilo. This would be put in the storeroom and broken up and sold at retail in vinyl bags, in the amounts required. At that time the Saomae Konbu produced in the town of Nemuro in Hokkaido was popular. Some Konbu is dried raw while some is steamed first and then dried. My mother thought the "natural" Konbu was tastiest. The steamed variety got kind of soft and pulpy when you cooked with it, she would say. Later, the more white powder the Konbu had on it, the more mature and better tasting it seemed.
Konbu is used in Okinawa in so many ways - to make tied Konbu, wrapped Konbu and Kuubu Irichi at Kuwachi on July 1, for the fish boiled with soy sauce, soups and Irichi and other dishes that are still enjoyed daily in Okinawa. Watching my mother make any number of tied Konbu from a long bundle made me happy. Her skill was like magic, I thought.
Konbu is not produced in Okinawa, yet Okinawa is famous as Japan's number one consumer of the food.
It is said that it came to Okinawa from China to become a staple of Ryukyu dietary habits. Indeed, it goes very well with pork cuisine, Okinawa's culinary forte.
The Saomae variety of Konbu enjoyed in Okinawa is regarded in mainland Japan as inferior and not used much there. It is like the young plants that have to be culled out for Konbu to mature, and it can be gotten at a low price. But its tenderness suits Okinawan cooking. It is also called "Hayani" Konbu and "Yasai" (vegetable) Konbu and is a very healthy food. It is rich in calcium, of course, plus iron, sodium, potassium and iodine - minerals that the body itself cannot produce.
It can be said that the climate and history of Okinawa have had remarkable influence in producing Okinawa's long-life foods. Whether this has been accidental or whether it was necessary and inevitable we cannot say. But certainly Konbu has played a vital role.
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