is an
Okinawan stir fry
Stir frying () is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and t ...
dish. It is considered the representative dish of
Okinawan cuisine.
Chanpurū generally consists of
tofu combined with some kind of
vegetable,
meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
, or
fish.
(such as American
Spam
Spam may refer to:
* Spam (food), a canned pork meat product
* Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages
** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages
** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
or Danish
Tulip),
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
, ''moyashi'' (
bean sprouts) and ''gōyā'' (
bitter melon) are some other common ingredients. Spam is not typically used in mainland Japan; but it is more common in Okinawa due primarily to the historical influence of its introduction by the US Navy. ''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 Okinawan,
Chinese,
mainland Japanese,
Southeast Asian
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
and North American culture. The term originates from the
Malay and
Indonesian word ''
campur'' (pronounced "cham-poor"), meaning "mix".
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.
Types of chanpurū
Gōyā chanpurū is the quintessential ''chanpurū''. It consists of ''gōyā'' (
bitter melon), egg, tofu, and either
Spam
Spam may refer to:
* Spam (food), a canned pork meat product
* Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages
** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages
** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
or thinly sliced
pork.
It often also includes vegetables such as carrots.
Tofu chanpurū is tofu stir-fried with vegetables and Spam, bacon, thinly sliced pork belly, or canned tuna. Unlike tofu from mainland
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, Okinawan tofu is firm and does not fall apart when stir-fried.
It is considered best form to crumble the tofu into the frying pan by hand, so as to avoid uniform cubes.
Māmina chanpurū is a version of chanpurū that contains ''
moyashi'', or
mung bean
The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract G ...
sprouts.
Fu chanpurū is made using ''
fu'', a kind of wheat gluten. It is stir-fried with vegetables and a meat as above.
Sōmen chanpurū (''somin chanpurū'' in
Okinawan) includes sōmen, very thin
noodles. They are stir-fried lightly in oil with green onions and meat as above.
See also
*
Champloose
*
List of tofu dishes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chanpuru
Japanese fusion cuisine
Okinawan cuisine
Pork dishes
Spam dishes
Tofu dishes