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A finished bowl of Okinawa soba
Serves5 servings
CuisineJapanese (Okinawan)
East Asia

Okinawa Soba: Wheat Noodles with Braised Pork Belly in Pork and Bonito Broth

How to make Okinawa soba for 5, a wheat noodle soup with no buckwheat, topped with braised pork belly, fried round kamaboko, wakegi and red pickled ginger. Follows the Okinawa Dietetic Association's recipe, with clearly marked editorial additions for the pork stock it leaves unmeasured. Not kitchen-tested.

Level: Intermediate

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 19

Boil the pork belly whole

A whole piece of pork belly boiling in a pot
Bubbling and color don't show that the pork is done. Use the thermometer.

Put 4 cups of water and the whole 400g piece of pork belly in a deep pot without rinsing the meat. Check the water level and add a little more to allow for what will boil away. If the pork sticks out of the water, add enough to cover it.

Bring to a boil and skim off the scum. Keep at a small, steady boil with the lid off, for about 40 to 50 minutes as a guide. Check the thickest part with a thermometer: the center must be at least 75°C for at least 1 minute. If it hasn't reached that, keep boiling.

Keep the knife, board and tongs that touched the raw pork away from the cooked pork and the serving tools.

STEP 22 / 19

Strain and measure the pork stock

STEP 2

Lift out the pork with clean tongs. Strain the cooking liquid, remove the fat and scum, and measure out 3 3/4 cups. If you are short, add water to reach that amount. Don't add any extra liquid to the broth.

STEP 33 / 19

Slice the pork

Slicing boiled pork belly about 1cm thick and about 5cm wide
Slices about 1cm thick and about 5cm wide

On a clean board, cut the boiled pork into pieces about 5cm wide and about 1cm thick.

STEP 44 / 19

Add the braising seasonings

Pouring the combined seasonings into the pan of pork
The seasonings go in with no added water or stock

Put the pork slices in a pan. Combine the sugar, mirin, 5 tbsp soy sauce and awamori, then pour them over the pork. Don't add water or stock.

STEP 55 / 19

Braise the pork

Pork belly slices simmering in the seasoning sauce
Braise the slices in the sauce alone

Simmer the slices in the sauce, turning them as needed, until they have taken on its flavor. Watch the pan so the sugar doesn't scorch.

STEP 66 / 19

Make the bonito stock

STEP 6

Bring 4 cups of water plus about 1 cup to a boil. Add the 24g of bonito flakes, simmer over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, and turn off the heat. Leave it to stand for a while, then strain through a cloth. Measure out 3 3/4 cups.

STEP 77 / 19

Combine the two stocks

Pouring stock into a pot to combine pork and bonito stocks
Combine 3 3/4 cups of each stock

Pour the pork stock and the bonito stock into a pot.

STEP 88 / 19

Bring the broth to a boil

The combined stocks at a boil
Bring the combined stocks to a boil

Heat the combined stocks until they come to a boil.

STEP 99 / 19

Season the broth

Stirring the seasoned broth with a spoon
Season a little at a time, tasting as you go

Add a little salt and a little soy sauce, stir and taste. Adjust to taste, then keep the broth hot.

STEP 1010 / 19

Wash and cut the wakegi

Cutting wakegi into small rings
Wash first, then cut into small rings

Wash the wakegi well under running water, then cut it crosswise into small rings on a clean board.

STEP 1111 / 19

Slice the kamaboko

Slicing fried round kamaboko on the diagonal
Slice on the diagonal

Cut the fried round kamaboko on the diagonal.

STEP 1212 / 19

Warm the noodles

Cooked Okinawa soba noodles warming in hot water
The noodles are already cooked, so this step only warms them

Pass the cooked noodles through boiling water.

STEP 1313 / 19

Drain the noodles

Draining the warmed noodles in a strainer
Drain well before they go into the bowls

Lift the noodles out with a strainer and let the water drain off.

STEP 1414 / 19

Put the noodles in the bowls

Placing the warmed, drained noodles in a bowl
Noodles first, with no broth yet

Divide the noodles among 5 bowls.

STEP 1515 / 19

Add the pork

Placing braised pork belly on the noodles with clean tongs
Use clean tongs, not the ones that touched raw pork

Using clean tongs, place the braised pork on the noodles.

STEP 1616 / 19

Add the kamaboko

Adding sliced fried round kamaboko to the bowl
The kamaboko goes in beside the pork

Add the sliced kamaboko to each bowl.

STEP 1717 / 19

Add the wakegi

Adding small rings of wakegi to the bowl
Add the washed, cut wakegi

Spoon the wakegi into each bowl.

STEP 1818 / 19

Add the red pickled ginger

Placing red pickled ginger in the bowl with chopsticks
The last topping before the broth

Add the red pickled ginger to each bowl.

STEP 1919 / 19

Pour in the hot broth

Ladling hot broth over the arranged noodles and toppings
The broth always goes in last

With all the toppings in place, ladle plenty of hot broth into each bowl. Serve right away.

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Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 1

Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Role
Cooked Okinawa soba noodles (ready-boiled, not dried) 1kg The wheat noodles of the bowl
Pork belly, one whole piece (sanmainiku), weighed before boiling 400g Boiled whole, then sliced and braised; also gives the pork stock
Water for boiling the pork 4 cups, plus more as it boils down Becomes the pork stock
Sugar 45g Braising the pork
Mirin 1 2/3 tbsp Braising the pork
Soy sauce, for the pork 5 tbsp Braising the pork
Awamori 1 2/3 tbsp Braising the pork
Thick-shaved bonito flakes 24g For the bonito stock
Water for the bonito stock 4 cups, plus about 1 cup The extra cup makes up for what the flakes absorb
Pork stock (the strained pork cooking liquid) 3 3/4 cups Half of the broth
Bonito stock 3 3/4 cups Half of the broth
Salt, for the broth a little Seasoning to taste
Soy sauce, for the broth a little Seasoning to taste
Fried round kamaboko (age-maru kamaboko) 75g Topping, sliced on the diagonal
Wakegi 15g Topping, washed and cut into small rings
Red pickled ginger (beni shoga) 50g Topping
0 / 0

Okinawa Soba: A "Soba" with No Buckwheat in the Bowl

What this bowl is built on

Thick wheat noodles, a broth of pork and bonito stocks, and four toppings: braised pork belly, fried round kamaboko, wakegi and red pickled ginger. Everything goes into the bowl first, and the hot broth goes in last.

The name misleads almost everyone at first. Soba usually suggests buckwheat, but according to Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), the noodles of Okinawa soba are made with wheat flour and kansui, with no buckwheat flour at all. The broth draws on pork and bonito. MAFF describes the dish as everyday food across Okinawa Prefecture, eaten both at home and in restaurants.

This version is the pork belly bowl published for 5 servings by the Okinawa Dietetic Association. It starts from ready-cooked noodles, so the work goes into the pork and the broth. You can find more dishes from the same country on our Japan page.

This recipe has not been kitchen-tested

We have not cooked this version, measured its temperatures or tasted the broth. The amounts below are written for you to follow and judge in your own kitchen.

What We Added to the Recipe, and Why

The association's page gives the noodles, toppings, braising seasonings and 3 3/4 cups of bonito stock. It lists no amount for the pork stock or for water, and it does not explain how to make the pork stock. Its method simply says to bring the pork and bonito stocks to a boil. Without an amount, the broth can't be reproduced, so we filled that gap as an editorial decision.

The additions:

  • Pork stock amount: 3 3/4 cups, equal to the bonito stock. Two other soups from the same association, inamuduchi and nakami soup, each use 2.5 cups of pork stock and 2.5 cups of bonito stock for 5 servings. The Ryukyu cuisine site below uses 2 1/2 cups of each in its nakami soup.
  • Pork stock method: we boil the recipe's 400g of pork belly whole, then strain the cooking liquid and use it as the stock. The association does not say to do this; it is our reading. Ryukyu Cuisine's guide says 100g of pork bones or meat yields about 1 cup of stock, so 400g gives roughly 4 cups, although that guide's main example is bones simmered for about 2 hours. A school lunch recipe published by Uruma City also uses skimmed pork cooking liquid as pork stock, for a different dish made with pork shoulder.
  • Boiling guide: 40 to 50 minutes, taken from the association's preparation of pork belly for kufa-juushii, a different dish that uses only 100g of meat. Time is only a guide here, and the thermometer decides when the pork is done.
  • Bonito stock method: taken from the Ryukyu Cuisine guide.
  • Pork weight: we treat 400g as the weight before boiling. The association's page does not say so outright.

The method also runs in our own order of pork, broth, then bowl, split into more steps than the association's four, so the numbering below is not theirs.

The weakest point is the ratio. Equal parts is not backed by any Okinawa soba recipe we consulted, and the two we compared both lean toward pork:

Recipe Pork stock Bonito stock Note
This article 3 3/4 cups 3 3/4 cups Bonito amount from the association, pork amount added by us
Okinawa soba, Ryukyu Ryori no Kihon (supervised by Kayoko Matsumoto) 6 cups 1 cup 5 servings, with homemade noodles, pork bone stock and 200g pork belly
Okinawa soba, Cookpad "Chimu Don Don Okinawa" 2L 1L 3 to 4 servings, a 2:1 ratio
Kufa-juushii, Okinawa Dietetic Association 2 cups 1.5 cups A different dish

We chose equal parts because it leaves the association's bonito amount untouched and gives a sensible volume of broth: 7 1/2 cups for 5 servings, close to the 7 cups in the Matsumoto recipe. How it tastes is unconfirmed. We did not move any noodle, topping or braising values from these other recipes into this one.

Ingredients for 5 Servings

Cooked Okinawa soba noodles, pork belly, wakegi, fried round kamaboko, red pickled ginger, braising seasonings, pork stock and bonito stock set out separately
The components of the bowl, set out by role. The vessels do not show amounts or a ratio.

Measure both stocks with the same cup.

Equipment

  • Food thermometer
  • Deep pot for the pork
  • Strainer
  • Cloth for straining the bonito stock
  • Pot for the bonito stock
  • Pot for the broth
  • Pan for braising the pork
  • Saucepan or pot of boiling water and a strainer for the noodles
  • Separate knife, cutting board and tongs for raw pork, and clean ones for cooked pork and serving
  • Measuring cup and spoons
  • Kitchen scale
  • 5 serving bowls and a ladle

Choosing What to Buy

Noodles: the 1kg is the weight of ready-boiled noodles. Don't use 1kg of dried noodles, and don't try to convert the amount by weight. We give no conversion for dried noodles in this recipe.

Kamaboko: use fried round kamaboko, browned outside and pale inside, rather than a pink-and-white spiral fish cake.

Green onion: wakegi is the topping used. If you can't find it, green onion is a reasonable choice; wash it the same way.

Awamori: this Okinawan spirit goes into the braise, and we make no claim about how much alcohol remains after cooking. See the FAQ if you'd rather not use it.

Allergens: the bowl contains wheat, soy and fish. Check the labels on the noodles, kamaboko and seasonings.

Method: Pork, Then Broth, Then the Bowl

Cook the pork through, and measure it

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare advises home cooks to heat meat to at least 75°C at the center for at least 1 minute. Check the thickest part with a thermometer. Boiling time, meat color and bubbling can't confirm this, and neither can the photos below. Keep tools that touched raw pork away from cooked pork and serving tools.

Troubleshooting

Problem What to do
The pork's center is below 75°C, or hasn't held there for 1 minute Keep boiling and measure again, even if 50 minutes have passed
The pork is sticking out of the water Add water until it is covered, and keep the lid off
You have less than 3 3/4 cups of pork stock Top up with water to reach 3 3/4 cups
You have more than 3 3/4 cups of pork stock Leave the extra out of the broth so the balance stays as written
You only have dried noodles This recipe gives no conversion, so don't substitute 1kg of dried noodles. Follow a recipe written for dried noodles
The broth has gone too salty Next time, add the salt and soy sauce in smaller amounts and taste between additions

Variations Across Okinawa

These are different bowls rather than adjustments to this recipe, so we give no amounts for them.

  • Pork-only broth: MAFF notes the broth is often made with pork stock alone.
  • Soki soba: the topping changes to soki, or pork spareribs. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force publishes a separate recipe using cartilage soki.
  • Vegetable soba: MAFF mentions soki, cartilage soki and vegetable toppings among more recent examples.
  • Miyako soba and Yaeyama soba: MAFF names these as regional styles within the prefecture.
  • Koregusu at the table: this condiment of island chilies steeped in awamori is optional, according to MAFF. Add a little at a time to your own bowl.

An Everyday Bowl, and a Name Worth Explaining

MAFF describes Okinawa soba as a dish handed down throughout the prefecture, with thick noodles of wheat flour and kansui. Its broth is built on pork bones and dried bonito, and the standard toppings are pork belly, stick kamaboko, green onion and red pickled ginger.

MAFF also words the dish's beginnings as what is said to have been the start, so we don't present a firm origin story here. Nor is this recipe the one correct version. The same MAFF page publishes a homemade noodle recipe with its own pork thickness and braising liquid, and Okinawa's regional and household bowls differ. This article is one home version built on ready-cooked noodles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Okinawa soba contain buckwheat?

By the definition used here, no. The noodles are made with wheat flour and kansui, according to MAFF. Check the label on any noodles you buy.

How is it different from soki soba?

Soki soba is topped with soki, or pork spareribs, rather than sliced pork belly. It needs its own recipe, so don't simply swap the meat in these steps.

Can I swap cooked and dried noodles at the same weight?

No. The 1kg here refers to ready-boiled noodles, and this recipe doesn't convert it to dried.

What size cup should I use?

The Okinawa Dietetic Association doesn't state its cup size. Using the same cup for both stocks keeps the ratio the same. The Ryukyu Cuisine guide, which we used for the water and bonito amounts, defines 1 cup as 200ml. With a 200ml cup you get 750ml of each stock, 1.5L of broth in all, or 300ml per person.

Can I make the pork stock from bones instead?

Yes, as a different method. The Ryukyu Cuisine guide gives 1kg of bones or meat, 10 cups of water plus extra for what boils away, and about 2 hours with the lid off. A Cookpad post under the name "Okinawa Prefecture" gives the same method, although the page doesn't confirm it is an official prefectural account. These steps use the pork belly cooking liquid instead, and we haven't worked bone stock into them.

Can I leave out the awamori?

The Maritime Self-Defense Force's soki soba page notes that its recipe uses mirin and cooking sake instead of awamori. That is a different recipe, so we can't give you tested amounts for this one, and leaving it out will change the sauce.

Why not rinse the pork first?

The Ryukyu Cuisine guide and the Cookpad post both say to rinse meat quickly before making stock. We left this out because the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare warns about cross-contamination from raw meat.

Can I judge doneness by time or color?

No. The 40 to 50 minutes is only a guide, and color isn't a measurement. Use a thermometer to confirm at least 75°C at the center for at least 1 minute.

Sources