Soki Soba on Ishigaki at Akaishi Shokudo / 明石食堂 - Okinawa
Okinawa soba, a must eat dish in Okinawa
Soki soba is a type of Okinawa soba, topped with the name giving “soki” braised pork ribs. You can find Okinawa soba and soki soba all over the Okinawa islands, with all kinds of variations and local types. Although the local Ishigaki island variant is Yaeyama soba, I found it a bit too simple and bland for my taste. The soki soba on the other hand were absolutely excellent. At least at Akaishi Shokudo (明石食堂) which is an Okinawa soba specialty restaurant in the North of Ishigaki island, one of the many islands of Okinawa prefecture.
Wheat noodles without kansui
As always, a few words about the term soba. Yes, it is used all over Japan for buckwheat noodles. But it is also used since forever as a stand in for the word noodle, especially before “men” became the more dominant word for noodles over time. Okinawa soba noodles are made with wheat, but without kansui. Therefore they are technically it ramen, but rather fall under the udon umbrella. For me personally, they resemble the noodles from Taiwanese beef noodles. Less slippery and less bite than ramen, a bit more on the doughy and soft side usually.
Light tonkotsu based soup
The soup is a light tonkotsu with some dried fish elements, mostly katsuoboshi, as well as a kombu background. Honestly the soup is overall quite light and not a powerful flavor experience. Probably fitting well to the island experience, where rather light food seems to be the theme. The seasoning seems to be some shoyu and quite a bit of mirin, probably more in percentage than in a regular ramen tare. This leads to a slightly sweet slurp.
Soki braised pork ribs
The contrast to what I said are the braised pork rib soki slabs. They seem to be marinated in a very mirin heavy braising liquid, as they are quite sweet, not unlike ribs slathered in sweet BBQ sauce. They apparently are braised for quite some time, as they are almost melting away when touched, very tender, almost hard to pick up.
Long pepper on the left and koregusu on the right
An essential thing for Okinawa soba is the “ajihen”, or change of flavor while eating. Typical condiments on the table are long pepper (not black pepper), benishouga (pickled ginger, shijimi togarashi (7 spice chili mix), ichimi (chili powder) and most famously spicy awamori called koregusu. While all the others are kind of self explanatory, koregusu is a very acquired taste and definitely not for everyone. If you have never had it, I would recommend only adding it when you’re at the last quarter of your bowl, because there’s a decent chance you don’t want to finish your bowl. In carefully added small quantities it adds great complexity and spice to the rather light soup. The spiciness of this condiment should also not be underestimated. One of the rare instances of spicy Japanese food.
All in all, I can’t visit any island of Okinawa without having at least one or several bowls of Okinawa soba, with soki or other toppings. It’s just something to be eaten here, although my cravings for it back in Tokyo are limited.
More information about Akaishi Shokudo (明石食堂):
