Okinawan Festival offers food and fun

THIS IS the weekend when the Uchinanchu (people of Okinawan ancestry) and Uchinanchu-at-heart gather at Kapiolani Park to celebrate the annual Okinawan Festival. Local entertainers as well as those from Okinawa will join the high-energy taiko group Naha Daiko that wowed the audience at the 2004 festival. And on Saturday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. everyone is encouraged to take part in what's expected to be Hawaii's biggest bon dance!

24TH ANNUAL OKINAWAN FESTIVAL Hours: 9 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Place: Kapiolani Park Admission: Free Parking: Free shuttle from Kapiolani Community College Call: 676-5400

Of course there'll be lots of good food -- pig's feet soup, Okinawan shoyu pork, soba, yaki soba, champuru, the Okidog and, of course, andagi. The Heiwa Dori (country store) will sell foods from Okinawa -- many not easily found here in Hawaii. You'll find Okinawan sea salt, miso, fu (gluten), konbu, more than a dozen varieties of kokuto (black sugar), snacks, drinks, goya (bittermelon) tea and fresh soba air flown from Okinawa.

Bobbi Kuba of Hui O Laulima, the women's auxiliary of the United Okinawan Association of Hawaii, shared these recipes from their cookbook, "Okinawa Mixed Plate," which will be sold at the festival, too. She calls these "no-fail recipes in which the seasonings are just right --not too salty or shoyu karai" (too heavy on the shoyu).

Usagami sore (please partake)!

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Easy Hawaii-Style Okinawan Pork

6 pounds pork butt (trim fat and cut into thirds)
1 cup soy sauce
2 cups water
1 tablespoon miso
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sake
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic

In a large pot, combine soy sauce, water, miso, sugar and sake. Bring to boil and cook until sugar and miso dissolve. Add ginger and garlic; cook 5 minutes. Add pork butt, cook on high heat until sauce boils. Lower heat to medium, cover and simmer 2 hours.

Remove from sauce, slice and serve. Makes 12 servings.

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Kubu Maki (Pork Wrapped in Kelp)

1 3-ounce package nishimi kubu (see notes)
2 gobo (burdock root)
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 pounds pork butt
1 2-ounce package kanpyo (dried gourd strips)

» Sauce:
2 cups dashinomoto stock (see notes)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
6 slices ginger

Wash nishimi kubu to remove any sand or salt. Cut into 5-inch lengths.

Scrape skin off gobo with knife or peeler. Soak in water, changing water several times as it turns brown. Add 1 teaspoon vinegar to last soak. Cut gobo into lengths the same width of the nishimi kubu. Cut thicker pieces into halves or fourths.

Cut pork butt into 1/2-inch strips, the length of the pork being the same as the width of the nishimi kubu.

Place 1 piece pork and 1 piece gobo on edge of nishimi kubu and roll them up. Wind kanpyo once or twice around center and tie knot.

Combine sauce ingredients in a pan and add rolled nishimi kubu. Bring to rapid boil. Reduce heat, then cover and simmer 1 hour, until gobo and pork are soft. Makes about 40 pieces.

Notes: To make dashinomoto stock, add 1 teaspoon dashinomoto (Japanese soup stock powder) to 2 cups water. Nishimi kubu is the Okinawan name for nishime konbu, or thin strips of dried seaweed).

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Goya Nu Nimun (Cooked Bittermelon)

1 pound bittermelon
2 pieces aburage (deep-fried tofu)
1 pound pork
3 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon sake
3 tablespoons shiro (light) miso

Cut bittermelon in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Sprinkle with salt and let stand 20 minutes. Rinse and drain well. Cut into 1-inch to 1-1/2 inch slices.

Blanch aburage in hot water to remove oil; cut into 3/4-inch pieces.

Cover pork with water in large pot, bring to boil, drain and rinse. Add 3 cups water to pork, bring to boil and continue to boil 30 minutes. Remove pork and cool, saving stock. Cut into 1/2-inch squares.

Combine pork, 2 cups stock, sugar, sake and half the miso in pot. Cook until pork is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Add aburage and bittermelon and cook 10 minutes. Add remaining miso and cook 1 to 2 minutes. Serves 5.

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