Rafute

Rafute is a pork belly dish in Okinawan cuisine, from the island of Okinawa, Japan. It consists of skin-on pork belly stewed in soy sauce and brown sugar.^[1] The dish is related to kakuni and Dongpo pork. It is traditionally considered to help with longevity.^[2] Rafute was originally a form of Okinawan royal cuisine.^[3]

Place of originJapan

Region or stateOkinawa

Associated cuisineOkinawan cuisine

Main ingredientsPork

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Rafute

Rafute, braised pork belly
Place of origin	Japan
Region or state	Okinawa
Associated cuisine	Okinawan cuisine
Main ingredients	Pork
Ingredients generally used	Dashi, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, sake
Similar dishes	Kakuni, Dongpo pork
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In Hawaii, rafute is known as "shoyu pork,"^[4] which is served in plate lunches. In the early 1900s, Okinawan immigrants in Hawaii introduced rafute into the local cuisine which later inspired other variations such as shoyu chicken. Okinawans owned and ran many restaurants and okazuya throughout Hawaii in the 1940s.^[5]