🍱 Aburazomen

“Aburazomen” is a local dish of stir-fried pork, vegetables, and somen noodles. It is similar to “Okinawa's somen chanpuru”, but “the Amami region's aburasomen” is characterized by the addition of dashi stock when stir-frying. The somen is integrated into the stir-frying oil and soup stock as they emulsify, so this dish goes down very smoothly. There are various theories as to why somen took root in the Amami region, which does not grow wheat or produce somen noodles. There is a theory that it was brought from Satsuma during the rule of the Satsuma domain and became popular in the Amami region because it is a dried noodle that can be preserved, but this is not certain. Since the Meiji era, “aburazomen” has spread to ordinary households and is now a popular local dish even with tourists from outside the prefecture.