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