Aloha Oahu Part II: What Locals Eat

POKEs by lbs at a local supermarket

What is truly Hawaiian native food, I still am trying to figure out.  Polynesian descendants have lived off the land, the sea and arrivals from boat.  I did visit several places where locals eat in and out of Honolulu to try to find out.

Helena's Hawaiian Food

On the way to Pearl Harbor, we hung a right to Helena's Hawaiian Food. Operated by Helena's son, the Pipikaula short ribs are well known.  The short ribs are soy sauce, Hawaiian salt marinated and hung dried before getting submerged in the deep fried oil.  They were crispy on the outside and tender within.  Luau squid has a gentle coconutty, sweetness to it with a hint of stewed squid.  I had expected the bitterness similar to spinach but there was none.  The  fried butterfish collar was another special item.  Crispy, salty skin with succulent fish meat,  it was satisfying.

Ono Hawaiian Food

I asked a taxi driver who makes the best Hawaiian food in Honolulu.  Our ex-chef taxi driver recommended Ono.  Looking around the tables at Ono Hawaiian Foods, one could guess that the best dish to try is the pork Lau Lau. Pork butt and salted Butterfish, wrapped with the Lau leaves, are steamed to perfect tenderness.

BTW, the poke here is as simple as it gets.  Sea salt and seaweed makes the Ahi tasted clean, fresh and sweet.

Young's Seafood Market

Young's Fish Market is a seafood market with an eatery on the side of the store.  The beef stew was creamy, spicy and hardy.  The place sells poi by the bag.  Poi is a cooked, mashed taro root. Growing from Hawaiian soil, taro has been the staple since Polynesians migrated to the island.  It does have a soup consistency, but a bit thicker than east coast potato soup. The poke octopus here was tender, spicy and briny good.  The eatery also makes Chinese style roasted meat.  We walked in as the crispy pork belly arrived at the counter. This seafood market sure crisps the pork belly well...who would have guessed.

Giovanni's Spicy Shrimp

Up and around the North Shore, surfers and sea turtles hang out at this time of the year.  If you drive a bit further beyond, you will discover the shrimp trucks, sprawling along the shrimp farms. There are Giovanni, Romy, Fumi, etc. We had the spicy shrimps at Giovanni's shrimp truck.  It was intense with chili, garlic and vinegar.

Ted's Bakery Haupia pie

The sweet ending to this trip was the Haupia coconut chocolate cream pie from Ted's Bakery. Just  imagine that one bite of layered coconut, chocolate and whipped cream dancing a tango in your mouth.  It was an island in one bite.  Ted's also serve Hawaiian lunch plate with Galbi, Mc&Cheese and Garlic Shrimp.  Across from the "Pipe Line", favorite surfers hang out at this time of strong wind and high waves.

Earthy comfort is how I like to describe Hawaiian food.  Riding with the waves has a parallel meaning of going with the flow.  If you have to deal with volcanoes, sharks, whales and strong currents during many days in your lifetime like Hawaiian, the basic instinct will shape your need to take  life one day at a time, alongside the powerful earth and sea.  Walking slowly, barefoot on the sandy water and wearing loose clothing have a whole new meaning.

Mahalo Hawaii!

Teera

Aloha Oahu Part I: Kings of Hawaiian Fusion

Waikiki Beach, Oahu

In the middle of the Waikiki hotel strip, reminiscent of Miami South Beach, I was not sure if I was to order a Mojito or a Mai Tai. But once you are surrounded by Hawaiian shirts, then you start to realize that the second language here is not Spanish, but an aggregate of Hawaiian, Japanese, and Chinese. I had a chance to taste some great food here. Honolulu is an urban city with great world-class restaurants. Regional fusion is the vision for Roy Yamaguchi, Alan Wong and Hiroshi Euroasian Tapas. If traditional food is what you are looking for...turn around and go back to the main land!

Roy Yamaguchi' s bar seating is a great people watching location with the nice weather as a norm. The dinning area is inside and separated from the outdoor crowd with the view of the kitchen 180 degrees. The signature drink at Roy's is a pineapple martini with preserved pineapple. This drink can run right through your head after one...strong stuff. 

Roy's Beef Carpaccio

Roy's appetizer was the winner for me. Carpaccio of the local beef, sprinkled with watermelon, pickled onion, micro greens and citrus dressing. A Beautiful presentation, the flavor was playful on the tongue and a perfect portion. Another signature dish is a Misoyaki Style Butterfish (Black Cod) with Sweet Ginger Wasabi Sauce and Forbidden Rice that is to die for. The Butterfish is not local to this water, but from Alaska.  You will often see it on the menu.  It is a local favorite. The preparation was a sweet melt in your mouth, lightly seasoned, but rich on your tongue. 

Roy's Misoyaki Butterfish

On the other hand, my husband had the bacon wrapped scallops which he said were dry and tasteless, a dish that you would expect from a catering function in the 80s.

Bacon Wrapped Scallop at Roy's

At Alan Wong's, located on the 3rd floor of a building, the restaurant has a view of Honolulu and the mountain beyond. Further into a questionable Honolulu neighborhood, it is the luck of the draw at Alan Wong's seating arrangement, for 2 of us. I felt like we were sitting in the middle of the traffic streams, with 4 doors opened on both side of us. Who designed this place? Without a careful thought out plan, I must say, I felt unwelcome and the food had not even arrived yet. With all that fuss, the restaurant can't always choose the right hostess or the right architect. The best Mai Tai in Hawaii is here.  I need to warn you. All of the ingredients are produced locally on the island. The simple syrup is infused with ginger and orange with a hint of vanilla. The local rum, pineapple and lime are a decadent combination, no need for an umbrella nor a Tiki vessel.

Alan Wong's Loco Moco

My husband's favorite appetizer was at Alan Wong's, Mini Loco Moco with Unagi and quail egg. Traditional Loco Moco is a Hawaiian lunch plate. It is composed of rice, hamburger patties, brown gravy and fried eggs. Here, the patties were made with grilled eel topped with fried quail eggs and thick sweet sauce.

Alan Wong's Poke

I had spicy Poke Ahi with avocado and crunchy noodles. Poke is similar to Tuna tartar, but traditionally prepared with Ku Kui nut and seaweed. It was a bit on spicier side for the Tuna (a spicy comment coming from me is rare) and almost a dinner portion for me. The texture was great though, cold spicy raw tuna with sweet, luscious avocado and the crunchiness of fried wonton noodles. I just could not taste the Ahi.

Alan Wong's Onaga

For the main course, I had Ginger and Panko crusted Onaga (Hawaiian long tail red snapper) on a bed of creamed corn and drizzled with black sesame seeds. The fish was cook well, but I am not sure about the crust. The grainy texture of ginger sprinkled with Panko on the fish did not do it for me. Ginger ought to be infused or eaten young. The fish was bland. The cream of corn reminded me of corn chowder. Maybe I had too high expectations. He is after all, supposed to be the Top Chef of Hawaii.
Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas was the most fun for me. We had little plates of awesome fusion food. The place has a great selection of wines that are paired very well with Asian food. There were foi gras sushi, Carpaccio of Hamachi, tofu salad, sous vide Kona lobster, stewed pork belly, and a sweet ending with Hawaiian vanilla bean panna cotta dessert. Everything was prepared to perfection.

Himachi Carpaccio

Foi Gra Sushi

Kona Lobster

Pork Belly

Tofu Salad

Hawaiian Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta

Maybe Honolulu feels like it is not far from South Beach Miami or Venice Beach of LA, but one thing for sure, the food has its own unique style and flavor. How could it not? It is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It can reach one arm to the abundance of Alaska and California and another arm to the exotics of Asia. It is truly a gate that filters the far east before reaching the mainland. Most of all, it learns to absorb the rawness of influx, one wave after another...Can you imagine when these islands become the destination of the best tasting seafood cuisine in the Pacific? I, for one, cannot wait...

Cheers,
Teera

The Water Dragon has arrived

Noodle Stir-fry

Dragon represents majestical power in Chinese culture.  It is auspicious during the dragon year for starting a new business. This year, 2012, Water dragon brings calmness, harmony, balance, and diplomacy. Let us be blessed with that moving forward.

My grandmother's ritual for the Chinese New Year celebration is to start with paying respect to the ancestors. There must be a whole duck, a whole chicken, a head of a steamed pig, longevity noodles, and dumplings. My aunt reminds me that there needs to be 2-5 types of fruits as well, especially orange and Asian pear, representing prosperity. Incenses are burned with faux money as a gift for those who have passed to another world. Wisdom comes with age. Ancestors have helped establish where we are. Be sure to have remembering and respecting the ancestors on your “to do list” this Chinese New Year.

I decided to start the celebration with making the soy sauce chicken and noodle stir-fry. The kids will have a chance to light the incense and be reminded that their Chinese blood is well within them during this 15 days celebration.

Soy sauce chicken

Soy Sauce Chicken:
In a stock pot or any pot that will fit a whole chicken, add:
1 cup regular soy sauce
1/2 cup dark sweet soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4cup of rice wine
1 tbspn of Szechwan pepper, 10 cloves, 2 cinnamon stick, 5 star anise, 6 cardamom. (You can substitute the spices with Chinese 5 spice powder. I like my whole spice version. It gives me control over the amount of each spice.)

5 slices of ginger, 6 cups of water
Bring the ingredients to boil

Add 1 whole chicken and boil for 10 min. Then simmer on medium heat for 30 min.  Rest the chicken in the sauce until serving

5 spices

Stir fry Noodle:
Blanch Chinese egg noodles in boiling water for 3 min.
High heat, in a wok, add 2 tbspn of canola oil

Add 1 tbsp chopped garlic
Add 1 cup quartered Shiitake mushroom, chopped baby Pok Choy (about 2 bundles)
Add 2 tbsp of oyster sauce
Add noodle
Stir, cover for 5 min.
Serve with the Soy sauce chicken and chili sauce.

Remember to pay respect to your ancestors with the food first and then feast. Happy Dragon Year!

Teera

From the Cupboard to the Silk Road

Have you ever wondered how these ancient commodities like dried apricots and prunes find themselves sitting there at the back of your cupboard, feeling unappreciated? Their history traces back to more than 3000 years ago, growing in Armenia and China. They traveled and were traded through south Asia, Persia, the Mediterranean, and north Africa...the silk road and they still are with us today...in a health mixed nut or fruit cake. OK...so I am not really happy about where they are associated with at the moment. Talking about being cooked twice, once in the sun to grow and the second in the sun to dry, these fruits deserve some applause!
I must admit that I often forget about them until mid winter arises. Fresh fruits off of South American boats are easy to find in winter, but they cannot be compared with the taste of dried apricots and prunes once they become a component that transforms a dish. This is the moment of the season when the intensity of dried fruits can shine, leveling the playing field with spices and endure the heat that beats down the stew meat.

Here is how I like to honor the fruits: Lamb stew

Soak 12 prunes, 12 apricots in 1 cup of white wine
Cut 1 1/2 lb of lamb shoulder into 1 1/2 inch cubes
Season with salt and 2 tbspn of ground coriander

Sate 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 3 cinnamon sticks, 3 orange peels in 3 tbsp of olive oil until softened and fragrant, in a stew pot
Add the lamp and sear on both sides
Add water until it barely covers the meat
Close the lid and cook on medium high heat for 1 hour

This is when your house will be infused with the sweet cinnamon and pungent coriander perfume. Talk about fusion along the silk road. Lamb will lose its gaminess and gain its civilization through the process.

Add the soaked fruits and its soaking liquid
Add 2 cups of baby carrots and 1/4 cup of honey
Cook for another 45 min.
Serve with couscous

For me, this recipe is the vessel that transports me back through time...or at least it makes me feel like wrapping myself in a silk Sari and drinking mint tea while having this caldron of fruits and spices. Plus most prunes are California native and apricots are Turkish grown. I like to get some of those Mediterranean antioxidants in me.

Cheers!
Teera

When it is COLD outside

Warmth is underrated I think. One would think that after living in the cold weather of the US for over 20 years I would have gotten used to the cold...no, not really.
Snow and ice are undoubtedly beautiful. I personally like to enjoy the cold in front of the fireplace, holding a warm cup of tea.
I also like to warm the house up with food. There is something very comforting about roasting and braising, circling ourselves with the rising fragrance of spice and radiating heat that put its arms around you from the cooking vessel.

Short ribs are a special cut of meat. Combining it with chili is like an emulsion of a long lost friend. I am crazy about chili, but for the short ribs it has to be the dried ancho chili.
It is sweet and smoky. I add a local honey to the dish to tame the ancho down. It is a comfort full of hugs.

This is what you will need to do:
Soak 4 dried ancho chilies in luke warm water until softened
Discard the seeds and stems
Grind the chili with 6 cloves of garlic, 1 head of yellow onion and 2 adobo chili

In a dutch oven, sprinkle 10 short ribs with salt and pepper and sear both sides on high heat Add the chili mixture
Add 6 cups of water
Add 1/4 cup of honey

Simmer on medium heat for at least 1 hour  

Serve with roasted butternut squash and a Grenache.

Cheers!
Teera

Battistella's, A Growing Cajun in Raleigh

After getting back from New Orleans, our children had a craving for beignet.
We decided to give Battistella's in downtown Raleigh, a try.
The only day the restaurant serves the fried dough is during Sunday brunch...so that is the day we marched in. This Louisiana native chef sources his ingredients locally and from throughout the Southeast US.  It is amazing how abundant we are locally with fresh produce.  We were surprised and delighted to see the special on the board:

Grilled andouille sausage, egg, NC hoop cheddar cheese po-boy
Served with chicken sausage shrimp gumbo

Fried Georgia quail
Over popcorn rice with crawfish étouffée sauce

What is the verdict?
Gumbo is your best bet here. A spoon full embodied with spice and a kick of the heat like a snap of a reptile at the end.
The andouille sausage and egg po boy was a perfection. The warm dose of eggs dripping over the spicy meat, who needs hollandaise sauce!
The quail was dusted with cornmeal and deep-fried. Imagine eating a whole chicken of dark meat without eating the full size chicken. The quail meat was succulent and the skin was cornmeal crisp. It got a thumb up from our son who loves crispy skin of all kinds. The etuoffe was a bit thick for my taste. The cream, maybe, was added a bit too early and the roux was dense.

What about the beignet? The Sunday special? The beignet was a disappointment. I have seen it done where the dough is spread out thinly in a rectangular shape, risen and fried. The concoction here was literally a fried ball with a clumping of powdered sugar. Our children were the first to tell us that it was good but not as good as Cafe Du Monde!

Nonetheless, I am glad to find this joint and cannot wait to try his BBQ North Carolina shrimp...if it comes on the menu. Oyster in and around the Northern Neck, Virginia are hoping to be crusted. And a blue crab boil, done New Orleans style...please think about it? Having had Cajun food, at Acadiana in Washington, DC, which is the best Cajun food in DC according to the Washingtonian magazine, Raleigh has found its bargain. This gem... he is raw and real...so embrace your adopted child.  I surely will become the frequent taster.

Cheers!
Teera

A Fresh Start

Drum in the New Year!

Fish symbolizes abundance in the Asian culture. To start the New Year with fish on a family gathering table is required. Plus, the holiday feasts create the need for unclogging the butter and the saturated fat from your system before your heart stops pumping. Let us get our flow back.

One of my aunts, whom I had mentioned in the last blog entry, has lived in New Orleans for close to 40 years. You may wonder how did she get there. During the early 1970s there were needs for nurses, doctors and engineers in the US and she got recruited. A fresh start in a foreign land, would you have refused? With 2 pieces of luggage and $2000 in their pocket, my aunt and her husband arrived in Kansas City. She worked while her husband bussed tables.
After my uncle got accepted to the Tulane Law school in 1973 they arrived in New Orleans. She worked, raised her son, went to more schooling, graduated as an anesthesiologist and has lived in New Orleans since then. With so much energy and determination in her veins, I wonder if she can be still in her retirement...
 

New Year is a new beginning. My aunt and her husband started their retirement this year...another page has turned. While visiting her she gave us a feel good feast...She is a health and homegrown devotee, similar to my mom. Her neighbor had gone fishing in the gulf and came back with 30 black drum fish. Drum is a fish that can handle both fresh and salt water, abundant in the Gulf and bay. My aunt got a hold of about 5 of them. She stuffed them with lemongrass and oven roasted them. She grows Thai herbs and lime in her backyard. I suppose New Orleans weather is perfect for tropical plants.
I was the saucier for the dish (usually that's my job in the family). This sauce is a typical Thai sauce to accompany seafood.

Here is how:
Depending on the size of the fish, stuff them with fresh lemongrass, wrap in foil and roast them @ 375 degree for at least 45 min.
The sauce:
Grind: 10 Thai bird eye chili (Prik kee Nu) and 4 large Garlic clove in a mortar and pestle. (Grind in the food processor if mortar and pestle are not available)
Add 1/4 cup of lime juice, 1/4 cup of fish sauce
1/4 cup of chopped Fresh Coriander
A pinch of sugar

In addition to fish, my aunt made a roasted chicken salad. She had to work, go to school, and raise a child. Who would know better than my aunt that...simple is not enough, it has to be quick and full flavored as well.
You can roast your own chicken or get them from the grocery store.
Here is how:
1 roasted chicken, pulled to bite size
4 stalks of julienned lemongrass
4 bulbs of julienned Shallots
1/4 cup Toasted rice powder

1/4 cup of Laotian mint

Flavoring with Fish sauce (Nam Pla), Lime, sugar, chili powder
Add 1/4 cup of coriander leaves (Pak chee) before serving
Mix together and serve with green salad and rice.

Larb Roasted Chicken

Note that there is no oil, butter or bacon involved with the above recipe.
To the new beginning, Happy New Year everyone!

Cheers,
Teera 

7 New Orleans Saints (Continued...)

 
Let us continue....  
Saint number 4: BBQ shrimps and raw oysters at Pascal's Manale
A hidden Gem in the Garden district, a few blocks off of St. Charles Avenue, this Italian relic is not to be missed. Gulf oysters are a dollar a pop...sweetly chilled. The BBQ shrimp is covered with butter and spices. The shrimp fat dripped into the sauce, accompanied by lofty French bread.  It is mandatory to get down and dirty without utensils for the full experience.

Saint number 5: Sucre...the Uptown sweet
This Magazine street joint could not have been more livelier with kids climbing on the gelato case and adults drooling over the macaroon and cakes.  Further uptown, not too far from the trolley route, there are fancy foot works at this place "Sucre".  The sidewalk seats are perfect under the oak trees… it makes you just want to sit, eat, drink a latte, and watch the world go by....

Homemade seafood boil

Saint number 6: Seafood boil
Shrimp, crab, and crawfish, they do them differently in New Orleans. My aunt and uncle complain about the ways up north. The flavors must be integrated. Sink those puppies in a warm spicy bath...no dipping or dunking around...

Pho

Grilled pork chop

Saint number 7: The Other French influence
Vietnamese are probably the largest French influenced, Asian minority in New Orleans. Good too, because French "Pot au Feu" is nothing in comparison to "Pho". A clear broth of beef stew with five spices, eaten with basil, bean sprouts and a squeeze of lime.  I have eaten it in many pho restaurants. You have not been to New Orleans until you have a bowl of this comfort. Don't forget the grilled lemongrass pork chop.

Triangle...Can you handle the Bayou flavors?

Teera

7 New Orleans Saints

Gulf Shrimp

The Sugar Bowl has its flaws. The Hokies kicker does steer a bad Karma, causing its loss.  It can drive one crazy.  But the Bayou delicacies will not steer you wrong. It will absorb all the glorious pain...Skip the pretties like The Commander Palace, Cochon, August, Emeril and go to where the locals go to eat and “let the good times role”.  My aunt has lived in New Orleans for close to 40 years. My cousin was born and raised here.  (I will tell you more later). They guided my way through the ordinaries.
It is surreal, listening to Japanese techno music, drinking sake on Frenchmen Street when a Hurricane and Jazz rhythm are drumbeats away on Bourbon Street... filled with the 1st timers. Creole or Cajun, Sassafras rules the depth of Gumbo like the gator rules the bayou. The Delta always floods with newcomers, constantly coming in with new flavors.
After spending a few days with family and friends in New Orleans, the tastes linger. To describe any food musts when you are in New Orleans will take me a few sessions. Until then, let us scratch the surface and sink our teeth in.

Cajun Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Saint number 1: Gumbo and Po Boy
Creole or Cajun, the difference is minuscule. I prefer Cajun, no tomatoes in the alligator broth. We stopped at a hole in a wall, seafood market called Perino's on the West Bank. Surrounded by heapings of Gulf shrimp displayed on ice, the shrimp and oyster po-boy weas sweet and succulent. The chicken and sausage gumbo was just what I needed...as green as the bayou and as fierce as the green reptile, living in it.

The Line

What else?

Saint number 2: Willie Mae's Fried chicken
Let me tell you; it is the best chicken ever. The line was about one hour long. This little joint in the 9th ward makes my heart weeps out, crying for joy. The crunchiness of the battered skin, the spiciness texture and the plumpness of the dark meat...it is worth the wait. The rice and beans have a hint of tanginess. The 9th ward has earned its resurrection.

Saint number 3: Cafe Du Monde Beignet
The layer of crisp, soft fried dough with powdered sugar is simple. But with the Jackson Square nearby and the jazz surround sound, the concoction is divine with the earthy chicory.