Old man mumble

In the Okinawan dialect, 'nabera' refers to a sponge gourd, also known as loofah.
Nabeera (loofah) is a vegetable that, along with goya(Bitter melon), adds color to Okinawan summer dining tables. While goya has recently become popular nationwide as a summer vegetable, it seems that its image as a scrubbing brush is so common that it has not been able to establish itself as a food ingredient. In Okinawa, loofah has been harvested while young and eaten as one of the summer vegetables. The main dishes are nabeera nbushi, nabeera champuru, miso soup ingredients, and ohitashi, among others.

When preparing nabeera, peel the skin thickly. If you don't peel the skin until the flesh turns white, as shown in the photo below, the outer fibers will remain hard, leaving strings in the nabeera and making it unpleasant to eat. Additionally, since young nabeera has soft seeds, they are left intact during cooking.　Nabera has a subtle, refined sweetness. While goya is also a good choice for this summer, which is expected to be extremely hot, it might be worth revisiting the traditional loofah as well.