A Comforting Difference: Rafute Pork — Blog 3

 When my Dad went on a business trip to Okinawa, he brought back a pack of vacuum-sealed Rafute Pork and some Sea Grapes. To explain it simply, Rafute Pork is a type of braised pork cooked in brown sugar and soy sauce, originating from Okinawa. 

Image from Japan Taste

Since I had some instant Japanese ramen at home, I decided to cook up a concoction of the Rafute Pork, Sea Grapes, and noodles (which is very unauthentic BTW) and it tasted amazing. However, the Rafute Pork tasted slightly different from the type of braised pork that I was used to. Since braised pork originated from China, my family is used to eating Chinese-style braised pork, which has a more savoury and herby taste. In Jonas’ article, they stated how “It is a well-rehearsed lament of the new migrant that they at tenant to find key dishes or ingredients like those from ‘home’.” I believe that, in Okinawa, they utilised native ingredients such as brown sugar to put their own twist into this dish. This was why the sweetness of Rafute Pork initially caught me off guard. I was ready to remove it from the dish — but on second thought, I decided to give it another try. Despite the similar texture, both dishes had drastically different taste profiles, which highlights how different regions adapt and innovate explained dishes to create new, exquisite dishes that could potentially be a new part of their culture.

This also raises the question of whether it was my cooking that made it taste strange to me. As seen in the image, there are often bitter-gourd or cucumber slices accompanied by the Rafute Pork. Perhaps I was not truly getting an authentic Rafute Experience. But of course, every new culinary experience holds deep cultural context, and I would love to explore more in the future as a foodie. 

My own rendition of Ramen & Rafute pork


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