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One of the dishes that is popular in Okinawa during the summer would be Goya Chapuru ゴヤチャンプル. For Today’s Japan Photo, we shall enjoy this yummy stir-fried dish! (^～^)モグモグ

This delicious looking dish of Goya Chapuru ゴヤチャンプル was photographed by Annya Okinawa. If you haven’t guessed it yet, goya chapuru is actually stir-fried bitter gourd.

Here’s just a little more information on the word Chapuru:

Chanpurū (チャンプルー?) is a form of popular Okinawan stir fry dish, generally containing vegetables, tofu, and some kind of meat or fish. Luncheon meat (such as Spam or Danish Tulip), egg, moyashi and gōyā (bitter melon) are some other common ingredients.

Chanpurū is Okinawan for “something mixed” and the word is sometimes used to refer to the culture of Okinawa, as it can be seen as a mixture of traditional Ryūkyū, Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian and North-American culture. It is thought to come from the Indonesian word campur meaning mixture.

Long a local specialty only found on Okinawa, chanpurū has in recent years, through television shows and increased interest in Okinawan culture, spread to many restaurants on mainland Japan.