Soft & Jiggly♪ Fresh Jimami (peanut) Tofu at Hanasho Factory Cafe

Have you ever tried fresh Jimami Tofu?

Explanations may not even be necessary for some, but Jimami Tofu is a popular Okinawan dish made with peanuts. The peanuts are mashed, squeezed, then solidified with starch.

Tender, moist and smooth, the Jimami Tofu has a wonderful texture and is a staple item on menus at izakaya pubs. The packaged Jimami Tofu offered at markets and various shops are popular among visitors to take home as souvenirs and gifts.


A café offering fresh Jimami Tofu.

There are only two locations where you can experience the wonderful taste of freshly made Jimami Tofu. One is at the Jimami Tofu Specialty Shop Hanasho found along Shintenchi Market Street in Makishi, Nahah, and the other is Jimami Tofu Hanasho Factory Café in Oroku, also in Naha.



Hanasho first began in 2013 as a Jimami Tofu specialty shop and in November 2022, they opened their directly managed café, the Jimami Tofu Hanasho Factory Café with intentions “to offer our customers freshly made Jimami Tofu that they can enjoy on the spot.” Customers can enjoy a lineup of selections at the café for breakfast, lunch and café time.


Crispy and soft♪ Enjoy some toast with your breakfast.

Toast and sandwiches are available from 9:00 to 10:30 in the morning (which comes with Jimami Tofu, salad, yogurt, and a beverage).

Highly recommended by the café staff is the BLT with Cheese with whole wheat bread.


 

The combination of the sweet scent of the bread, crispy vegetables, mild and delicious cheese, and the perfectly salty bacon is exactly what you need to recharge your body for a day of sightseeing around Okinawa.

You’ll also enjoy their toast too. The slices are toasted with the far-infrared graphite oven toaster, the Aladdin, which keeps the moisture from escaping to make the perfect toast that’s crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.


Jimami Tofu that you can only enjoy here.

The fresh Jimami Tofu that comes with the set meals is so soft and jiggly♪ You can taste the wonderful flavor of the peanuts, too.

Enjoy the Jimami Tofu with your favorite toppings like wasabi, sauce (house original sauce that is sweet and salty like Mitarashi Dango sauce), salt, or olive oil.


Customers keep coming back for the stamina-packed lunches.

For lunch, the café offers three options (which come with Jimami Tofu, Miso Soup, rice, side dish, salad, and drink bar).

The menu changes once every two months, and their lunch selections all offer fresh local vegetables. They’re all very popular and they have many local customers who have become regulars in a short time.


 

If you’re looking to boost your stamina, go for the Hanasyo Don Vol. 3.

This spicy rice bow with a delightful aroma of garlic with pork and onions is prepared Korean style. Take a spoonful of this delicious combination with the egg yolk, you’ll understand why this is such a popular dish.


Observing the experts.

At the working area attached to the store, you can see the expert hands of the craftsmen working in the mornings.



Here, you can observe some of the processes required to make the Jimami Tofu, like how raw peanuts are hand-washed, then hand-squeezed to make peanut milk, and also see the tapioca powder is added to the milk and kneaded. They say that the amount of water and the level of squeezing vary subtly, depending on the peanuts procured for that day. Seeing the process really makes you understand that the Jimami Tofu offered at Hanasho is the wonderful result of the experience, intuition, and expertise of the craftsmen gained through their years of work.


The additive-free Jimami Tofu is also perfect as souvenirs from Okinawa.

The Jimami Tofu is also available in packages. Because they don’t use any preservatives or other additives, their shelf-life is relatively short—seven days—but the special Jimami Tofu offered at Hanasho is a taste you won’t easily forget.

Jimami Tofu Hanasho Factory Café is conveniently located just a short walking distance from Yui Rail Oroku Station near the airport, so be sure to stop by on your first or even the last day on your trip to Okinawa.




Jimami Tofu Hanasho Factory Café
Address: 2F 5-1-2 Kinjo, Naha City, Okinawa (next to the Wa! Building along Naha Aeon’s street)
Telephone: 098-859-7033
Hours: 9:00 to 17:00
Closed: Sundays
Website: https://www.ji-ma-mi-hanasyo-shop.com     



Okinawa CLIP photo writer, Sachiko Tachi