Agarasa - Steamed vegan buns from Okinawa Prefecture

As yesterday was my birthday, I had a dinner at an Indian restaurant. But it was very difficult to find a vegan birthday cake. I wondered if I really had to have a cake to celebrate my birthday. I thought some other sweets would do. I went to Entetsu Department Store to look for something delicious.

In the basement, they had a food fair of Kyushu and Okinawa. I found a shop selling agarasa or steamed buns containing black sugar. They were heated and looked tasty.

I intended to buy only one as they were big. But there were also some chocolate steamed buns, which I had never seen before. So, I bought one of them, too.

When I got home, they were still warm. I ate plain agarasa first. Black sugar contained in it was sweet but a little bitter, giving a rich taste to the bun. The chocolate agarasa looked like this and was also good, but I thought the plain one was better to enjoy the taste of black sugar, which is one of the specialties in Okinawa.

Okinawa is the only prefecture in Japan that located in the subtropical zone. It has a unique food culture. The name of the shop in the food fair is Gushiken Shoten, and they have some other black sugar products in addition to agarasa. The food fair will be held until January 29. I think I’ll visit their shop again if I have time.