hey, mike: Bitter melon burgers at JEF

A friend of mine told me that there is an Okinawan fast food chain that sells a burger made with bitter melon. Is he making this up?

— Matt Abbott

Actually, your friend is telling the truth. Okinawa is well known throughout Japan as a culture that embraces unique aspects of different cultures and societies, blends them well, adds a bit of Ryukyu flavor, and ends up with a distinctive end product that is worth more than the sum of its parts. This process, called champuru, applies to many aspects of Okinawan culture; however, it is especially evident in Okinawan cuisine.

The fact that Western fast-food chains have found a comfortable niche on the island is very well known to visitors of Okinawa—A&W (best known for its root beer) has been selling burgers and fries for over 30 years, and McDonald’s has been “super-sizing” locals for almost as long. However, not everyone knows that there is a chain of fast-food restaurants on the island that features Western favorites with an Okinawan twist—a chain called JEF.

JEF, with five locations spread throughout southern Okinawa, offers many “normal” menu items such as fried chicken and hamburgers with the prerequisite fries on the side.

However, JEF also features two menu items that most would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world—the gôyâ burger, and the nuyaruburger. Both of these sandwiches use the eminently healthy vegetable known as the bitter melon, or gôyâ, as their main ingredient.

The gôyâ burger consists of thinly-sliced slivers of gôyâ cooked in a scrambled egg patty, with cheese and mayonnaise on a bun.The nuyaruburger augments this combination with a slice of pork luncheon meat and is served on a sesame seed bun. The gôyâ burger set is sold for 555 yen, and the nuyaruburger set sells for 587 yen. Both burgers come with fries and a drink.

Although diners can pair either of these sandwiches with French fries and wash it down with a soda, they can also choose to go all the way and order a side of gôyâ rings (prepared similarly to onion rings) and a tall ice-cold cup of gôyâ juice. While this can be a deadly combination to a first-time gôyâ eater (gôyâ is called the bitter melon for a reason), every serious gôyâ addict will attest that the more gôyâ you eat, the more you crave.

Although there are several locations sprinkled throughout the southern areas of Okinawa, the easiest JEF franchise to find is the Espana Branch located at the foot of the Tomari Bridge in Naha City. To get there, turn right out of Camp Kinser and immediately hop into the farthest left lane (taking the “low road”). Take a right at the second light, and go straight for approximately two kilometers. Turn left at the intersection with the sign for “Tomari Bridge." Proceed over the bridge, through the intersection at the bottom, then over the second. The Espana Building will be on your right. JEF is on the first floor.

—Mike Daley

Got questions for Mike? E-mail editor@okinawa.usmc-mccs.org.