We Tried The Food From Pork Tamago Onigiri Honten
The first meal that we had upon arriving Okinawa was a set of 5 Hand-made Pork Tamago Onigiri (Japanese Rice with Seaweed, Spam, Egg and other addons) ordered from the Pork Tamago Onigiri Honten, Naha Domestic Airport.
This food item is apparently quite well-known in Okinawa among the local people as a form of comfort food and considered a must-try for tourists.
Note: if the queue here is too long and not worth your waiting, there are other branches like in the Chatan American Village (a good view of the East China Sea) and near the newly opened Makishi Market in Naha. These two branches have other special menu options as well.
Our Ordering Experience
The queue was slowly picking up when we were on our way to collect our Churaumi Enjoy Pass at the JTB Okinawa Naha Branch. And when we were done with the Pass collection, there was already a long queue but was moving fast.
Near the entrance, we were greeted by a friendly gentlemen who was lining up the queue, showing and passing the menu around as well as entertaining some of the kids there by giving away small lollipops. He saw us moving up the queue with our luggage and he pointed to a corner where we could park our luggage with the rest. He also gave frequent turnarounds to make sure that all the parked luggage were there. Very nice gesture indeed.
Once we were near to the entrance, that was where all the excitement began. A cooking corner with a glass panel for outside viewing was where the cooking process started – laying down the seaweed, followed by the rice, then the Spam and Egg then lastly the add-ons, if any. We believed the No Camera / Video Sign was meant to stop anyone from capturing shots on the preparation. Another corner inside was the cutting, slicing and drinks preparation. There were a few seating places. The English Menu was at the counter and options included buying them individually, as a set, a set with drinks or a set with miso soup.
After seeing how they prepared, we were tempted to do up one of our own. If we succeed, we may write up a post on it!
We went with a set of 5 (we got to choose 3 specials and 2 normal ones), without drinks, paid, issued with a number tag and were told to wait outside. Price was at 1,800 yen for the set of 5. Our number was called around 5 minutes later. The 5 pieces were in a cardboard box and each wrapped around by a piece of brown paper. And we were off to collect our rental car.
The 5 Pork Tamago Onigiri We Ordered
Above image from Left to Right:
- Normal Spam with Egg
- Tempura Bitter Gourd
- Tempura Prawn with Tar Tar Sauce
- Fried Tofu with Miso
- Mentaiko
The Taste Experience
- The rice looked like those Japanese Sushi Rice, a bit damp and did not fall apart easily as we bit through.
- Egg was prepared like those Tamago style – thick and sweet
- Seaweed was crunchy with every bite.
- Tempura Prawn fell out too easily so we had to quickly eat it up
- Spam was bit too salty but still not too bad. The sliced spam was grilled over a thin layer of oil and was not oily to taste.
- Most, even with the add-ons, tasted the same after we finished one and the add-ons like Mentaiko, Tofu, Prawn and some of the sauces added different taste.
- 5 was too many for us even though we ate them throughout the driving journey to our Hotel. 3 would be just nice.
Conclusion
The Pork Tamago Onigiri is definitely worth a try when you are in Okinawa and you will not get this food item elsewhere in Japan unless you buy your own ingredients and prepare it on your own.
We spotted two other Honten (outlets) in Chatan American Village (this place had a good view of the sea) and near to the Mikashi Market in Naha. There were always queues forming but not a long wait. Eating options – try the normal one first followed by the other add-on options. One and a half would be just nice for one person if you intend to try out other food later.
If you like to try them out for your upcoming Okinawa Trip, you may want to check out their Pork Tamago Menu first and make a list of what you like to try. Note that they are usually closed on Wednesdays.