🍱 Sokijiru

Pork is cooked without wasting any part of it, and for this bone-in meat is frequently used. Clear soup with bone-in ribs that have been simmered to softness is called “soki soup ”(sokijiru), as well as “soki bone soup”. “Soki soba”, in which Okinawan soba is added to stewed pork ribs, is popular outside the prefecture, but within the prefecture, sokijiru is more popular. Pork ribs on the bone have a good balance of fat and meat, and also smells good, so cooking it as a simple soup allows you to directly enjoy the flavor. The key to making it delicious is to let it simmer thoroughly until the meat becomes so tender it begins to fall off the bone. It is made with daikon in winter and winter melon in summer, and well-known as the taste of home cooking. In the past, people would butcher the pig they raised at the the end of the year, and celebrate New Year's with pork dishes like “sokijiru”. In modern times it is an indispensable dish for New Year's in Okinawa Prefecture.