Since most Okinawan kitchens lacked ovens until very recently (and many still do), residents tend to steam, rather than bake, traditional desserts. Steaming bread produces a spongy, angel food cake–like texture, which is at once sweet and pleasing. This Okinawan sugar cake, called agarasa, is a famous local specialty that can be enjoyed as a dessert, as a snack, or with morning coffee or tea. It’s traditionally made with Okinawan black sugar, which has a caramel flavor that is unmistakable.
1 cup brown sugar
3⁄4 cup hot water
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2⁄3 cup soy milk
In a large bowl, mix brown sugar and hot water until sugar dissolves.
Add flour, baking powder, and soy milk to the dissolved brown sugar.
Mix until you get a crumbly texture.
Spoon the dough into a loaf pan, cupcake tin, or ramekins.
Steam for about 15 minutes in a steamer basket, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
The Blue Zones Kitchen fuses scientific reporting, National Geographic photography and 100 recipes that may help you live to 100. The Blue Zones’ food tradition is going the way of the dodo bird, thanks to the encroachment of the American Food Culture.
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