TASTE OF OKINAWA
http://www.allurekorea.com/2019/02/19/taste-of-okinawa/

"North American Indians

When Euopeans arrived on the North American continent several hundreds years ago, the Native American ' old way of life began to change. The appearance of  Europeans led to disaster for the Indians. They lost their land, their sense of identity, and their lives to the newcomers. As the white moved west, they took over more and more of the land for themselves and destroyed much of what they took. In European culture, people thought it was important to have as much wealth and own as much private land as possible. This idea was in contrast to Native Americans' great respect for nature and their belief that air, sun, water, and land were common to all people, so nobody could "own" them. When whites hunted the buffalo almost to extinction, when the govement moved whole Indian nations to reservations on strange new land or sent Indian children away to school and didn't let them speak their native language, the Native Americans lost their sense of identity. Thousands and thousands also lost their lives--in widespread wars
and in epidemics of disease such as smallpox, measles, and thberculosis, which were nonexistend in North America before the Europeans came.
Today there are about 2 million North American Indians--members of over 500 tribes. Many live in urban areas, but approximately 35% live on reservations.
After a long history of conflict, broken promises, and disastrous decisions by the goverment, many of these people live in terrible conditions. Native Americans have the shortest lives, the highest death rate of babies, and the highest dropout rate of high school students of any U.S. ethnic group. The rates of heart disease, alcoholism, and proverty are way above the national average. The poorest country in the United States, for example, is the one that includes the Pine Ridge Reservation of the Oglala Sioux, in South Dakota; 63% of the people there live below the poverty line.
Nevertheless, in recent years, many Native Americans have experienced a newfound pride in their rich cultural roots. Young people who don't know much about their ancestors' way of life are taking a new interest in learning the traditions. In some cases, where a tribe's language has been almost lost as the people learned English, the younger tribe members are studying the language from the last elderly person who remembers it. Many urban Indians try to return to
"the res" whenever possible to spend time with their families and to keep in touch with their traditions.
In both the United States and Canada, native peoples are having "wars" once again--this time in court, where they have succeeded in several legal battles. They are fighting to win back their land, water rights, fishing and hunting rights, and, perhaps most important, the right to self-government. In the United States, in 1971, Congress agreed to give $962 million and 40 million acres to the 60,000 native peoples of Alaska. In 1988 Congress finally kept an 1854 agreement and gave $66 million and 300 acres of valuable land to the Puyallup Indians of tacoma, Washington. A major victory has occurred in Canada, where the government in Ottawa has turned one fifth of Canada's territory over to 17,500 Inuit ("Eskimos")
A startling change is taking place in many U.S. reservations after a 1988 law and a series of court decisions. Tribes can now be largely self-governing, and many have decided to open gambling casinos. The White Mountain Apaches of Arizona have opened a ski resort and other businesses in addition to their casino, and these provide more than 1,000 jobs for tribal members, so they can remain on the reservation instead of moving to a city to find work. The 300 members of the Mashantucket Pequots of Connecticut take in almost $1 billion a year from their gambling casino. This gives them housing, health care, education, and political power. Some people say that the "hunting ground" of today is the gambling casino!"

Ponzu Sauce (Japanese Citrus Dipping Sauce) Recipe

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2016/06/ponzu-sauce-recipe.html

Ponzu sauce is a classic Japanese citrus sauce that can be used without the addition of soy sauce, but is most commonly served with soy included. It's a great dipping sauce for cold noodles, salads, dumplings, grilled meats and fish, cold sliced meat or fish, or any number of other dishes.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar (1 ounce; 30ml)
• 1/2 cup mirin (4 ounces; 120ml) (see note)
• 1 (3- by 3-inch) piece kombu (about 1 ounce; 30g) (see note)
• 1/2 ounce (15g) shaved katsuobushi (see note)
• 1/2 cup yuzu juice, or equal parts lemon and lime juice (4 ounces; 120ml) (see note)
• 1/2 cup light soy sauce (4 ounces; 120ml)

                                        

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, mirin, and kombu in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in katsuobushi. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer and discard solids (or reserve to make a second batch, using some additional katsuobushi in the second batch). Allow liquid to cool completely.
   
   
2. Combine steeped mirin, citrus juice, and soy sauce. Ponzu will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Okinawa Cooking, Part 3 of 3: Simple Champuru

Ingredients: somen
ginger, shiso (シソ leafy greens),
spring onions or chive,
katsuobushi (dried fish
flakes), ponzu soy sauce,
sesame oil, koregusu

Finely mince the ginger, shiso, onions and spices.
Boil the somen and strain thoroughly.
Mix the sesame oil and ponzu soy sauce into the somen, then add the prepared mixture and top with katsuobushi. Add just enough koregusu (a local specialty made by pickling hot peppers in awamori, the famous Okinawa liquor) to make things interesting.
http://www.outdoorjapan.com/magazine/column_details/74?language=english