About 23 minutes by car from Naha Airport. This brown sugar canele specialty store opened in April 2018 with a cute peppermint green gaijin house storefront. The nine types of canulés made with delicious local ingredients look cute and make great gifts! You can enjoy the unique taste of Okinawa.
Point 1: What is the location of “Houkihoshi Minatogawa Honten”?
Minatogawa in Urasoe City on the main island of Okinawa is lined with stores converted from foreign residences and has become a bit of a tourist attraction, especially for young people. Houkihoshi Minatogawa Honten” is also located in a one-story foreigner’s residence in Minatogawa, which has been converted into a store.
It is a one-story building with white walls and pepper mint green painted door and window frames. It is already so cute from the outside that it makes me excited.
The gaijin residence has a new sense of style with a simple “broom star” logoed brick.
This exterior looks so Instagram-worthy that you can’t help but want to take a picture.
Point 2: What kind of canulés does “Houkihoshi Minatogawa Honten” have?
Houkihoshi Minatogawa Honten” specializes in canele. It is a new type of canele that uses Okinawan ingredients and has a sweet yet fruity flavor.
They are a little smaller than regular canele, so even children can enjoy them. The outside is sticky and the inside is moist.
The freshly baked canele are available in plain, star and banana (white chocolate, strawberry chocolate, blue/white chocolate), raspberry and mascarpone, awamori (old sake), dragon fruit and seekers, Okinawa coffee, Okinawa milk, pineapple, island strawberry, and Okinawa green tea (from Nago City).
They all have a lovely visual and make you want to eat a variety of them. The combination of sweet canulé dough and sweet and sour fruits is very innovative.
Incidentally, the top three best sellers are plain, Okinawan milk, and Okinawan coffee.
The shelf life of freshly baked canulés is short, as they lose their crispy texture, so the best time to eat them is the same day, or at most “up to the next day at room temperature,” but frozen canulés are also available, which can be carried around for about 5 hours if placed in a cool bag.
They are also available in cute boxes starting at 760 yen for 4 pieces, and you can choose to include the best-selling items or your own favorites, so they would make a great gift for an unexpected trip to Okinawa off the standard.
Point 3: “Houkihoshi Minatogawa Honten” also has cookies!
The “Broomstick Minatogawa Honten” also offers cookies in tins!
The cute star-shaped cookies come in plain brown sugar-based flavors, as well as raspberry, pineapple, and seekwasser flavors.
They used to be so popular that the quantity of purchase was limited, but now they are available without any restrictions.
They also offer tastings at the store, so it is good to be able to compare flavors before buying!
In addition to the main store in Minatogawa, Urasoe City, there is also a store in the departure lobby of Naha Airport. Having a store at the airport is great for those who have a tight time schedule to go all the way to the main store.
