Local Chinese Evolution

When Anthony Bourdain came to Hawaii, one of the most authentically local things that was served to him, was a Chinese style onaga (local red snapper) stuffed with lup cheong (Chinese sausage).  When I saw Lanai & Kaleo serve it to him, I was really excited because it's one of my favorite fish preparations and it is totally local.   You really wouldn't really find this preparation in any other Chinese community in the world (especially not in China).  But it reflects evolution of Chinese cuisine local to the Chinese in Hawaii.

Honey Walnut Shrimp at Golden Duck Restaurant

Mayonnaise is not, after all, a typically Chinese condoment.   But you will typically find it at dim sum accompanying the deep fried shrimp dumplings.   It is also the key to one of the most beloved Chinese dishes in Hawaii, honey walnut shrimp.   The sweetness of the honey glaze and the creaminess of the mayonnaise works so well with the salty shrimp flavor.  Of course what brings that dish alive are the little candied walnuts with their sweet, roasted crunch.  It doesn't seem very Chinese at all, yet when you taste it, it still tastes very Chinese.  The lup cheong and oyster sauce mayonnaise preparation that Bourdain tried, and which I made for New Year's Dinner, has a similar impact.  But unlike the honey walnut shrimp, it's difficult to find in the restaurants.  So here is my interpretation of the classic dish, so that you can try this at home kids.

So here's what you need:

 Ingredients for My Lup Cheong & Oyster Sauce Mayonnaise Stuffed Salmon

• A fish.  In my case I used a big side of salmon, because I think this peparation works best with strong buttery flavor of salmon.
• About half a bag of lup cheong (Chinese sausage)
• Some doong gu (black shiitake mushrooms)
• About half an onion
• Some Mayonnaise
• Some hau yau (oyster sauce)

So here's what you do:

Whenever working with doong gu or shiitake, the first thing you have to do is soak it to rehydrate them.   I used about a big handful of dried mushrooms.  You just have to eyeball how much will fit in your fish.

Slice your onion in half, and then slice up the half pretty thinnly.   I would recommend about a 1-2 mm thickness.  The reason for the thinness is because unlike sauteeing the onions, baking in them in the fish won't really cook them too much.  It'll be just enough to take the sharpness of the onion sting out and convey the onion flavor to the rest of the stuffing, but they will still retain most of the their crunch.  So a thin slice will better.  I sliced up a whole onion, but I realized afterwards that only about half would fit in my fish.

Slice up your lup cheong. Unlike the big chunks I used in my lup cheong stuffing, I would again recommend using a thinner (slanted) slice.  Like the onions, the thinner slices will both fit better in the fish and cook better in the relatively short cooking time.  Also like the onions, as the lup cheong cooks the lup cheong flavor should be infused into the whole dish.

In a bowl mix up some mayonnaise and some oyster sauce.   Notice the amounts I'm giving you?   That's because this is where your personal interpretation and artistry should come in.  I threw in about 3 spoons of mayo and a couple big dollops of oyster sauce.   Keep tasting and mixing until you find the right balance for yourself.  Remember oyster sauce can be very salty, but the creaminess of the mayo also cuts it.  You've just got to figure out the right ratio.

Now you want to make a few incisions into the side of the fish.  You do NOT want to cut all the way through, but only about half way through the fish.  The cuts should be down the spine of the fish and outwards from the spine.   The reason for this, is partly so the fish will absorb more flavor, but mainly so the fish can stretch more (ie. it will be easier to fold the filet in half).

Flip the fish over and lay it in the pan.  The cut part will be on the outside of the fish, and the cut part will be on the inside (as you pick up the fish it will make more sense to you by how much easier it will be to fold thanks to those cuts).  Layer in the lup cheong, the onions, and the mushrooms (be sure to drain off the water from the mushrooms first). 

Now you can start slathering on that oyster sauce mayonnaise.   Don't be afraid to use your hands to make sure everything fits in the fish and is evenly distributed (just be sure to wash them first).  

Finally flip fold the top half over and wrap it around your stuffing (again don't be afraid to get your hands dirty).   If you've got any of that oyster sauce mayonnaise leftover, you can brush it along the top of the fish to give it a nice glazing.

Pop your fish into the oven, and bake it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Sounds pretty short doesn't it?   But many fishes, especially salmon, taste better when they're more on the rare side.  That's why sashimi and seared preparations are so popular.  If you overcook a salmon, it will get very dry and tougher.  It's better to err on the rare side than the overcooked side.  Additionally, if you have any leftovers, this gives the fish a little more room for reheating.

It's pretty simple isn't it?   The total time is only about 30 minutes (most of which is simply the baking time).  Cooking doesn't necessarily have to be a long and arduous process.  Often the tastiest dishes can be simple and fun to prepare. 

Dreaming up simple and fun dishes is essential to keep my son interested in creating something in the kitchen.  I remember how my Po Po used to make pie crust dough for my sister and I to play with, rather than playdough.   Remembering the fun of having that soft squishy, cold dough in my hands, I figured my son would really enjoy rolling up his sardines in Pillsbury crescent dough to make his sardines en croute.   My Po Po while letting us play, was secretly training us to have some skill in the kitchen.

When I called my son over from the TV to wash the rice for his other dish, my wife commented that when I said to "wash the rice", she said I sounded a lot like Mr. Miyagi.   That somehow, if he does something simple as wash the rice, I was secretly training him in kung fu or giving him some magical powers that would just appear one day.   Little does she know how right she really is, as dedication, passion, and perserverance are the heart of true kung fu.

Hauoli Makahiki Hou

For many years, New Years dinner in my family was simply a repeat of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We tried to find ways to make it a little more distinguishable, but somehow didn't succeed too well.  That isn't to say that it wasn't good, but with a big feast just one week prior, it was a little less special.   I always wanted to have a goose instead of turkey for Christmas, as seen in all the old English stories, but while whole turkeys go on sale from Thanksgiving, finding a whole goose on island is nearly impossible and quite costly if you do.   I remember when my mom would make a turkey for Christmas and a big crown roast for New Year's.   Her crown roasts, were so succulent, and festive looking with the shiny foil atop each bone.   But unfortunately, when less lucritive times hit after the 80's were done, mom's superstition kicked in saying that the crown roasts didn't bring in enough good luck for us and stopped making them.  

So we continued to try to find a way to distinguish New Year's from Christmas, when my dad saw a special on an Italian American holiday tradition called, "The Feast of the Seven Fishes", where every dish at the meal is a seafood dish.   As soon as he mentioned it, it was classic "eureka" moment for my family.  For one thing, pretty much every member of my family is a big seafood fan, one of the few foods we all really agree upon.  For another, it coincided with the Japanese tradition of sashimi that is so prevalent in the islands.  It's also highly symbolic to the Chinese, as the word for "fish", yuu, is a homonym for the word for "abundance" (also yuu).  So having a feast where each of us contributed one fish dish, seemed highly appropriate, and a fantastic way of welcoming in the new year that we've adhered to ever since.

My Mom's Lobster, Scallop and Shrimp Platter

As the matriarch of my family, my mom's dish is usually the centerpiece of our meal, even if it isn't a turkey or a crown roast.  What she came up with this year was spectacularly mouth watering, in both appearance, aroma, and taste.   Her preparation was actually quite simple, with some basic broiled lobster and seared scallops and shrimp.   The cooking time, technique, and seasoning were all quite minimal, as she wanted the natural flavors of these highly prized seafood items to speak for themselves.   However, everything was in her gorgeous presentation, which just screamed festive and abundance.  Unfortunately, the lobster I had, had a horribly mushy texture almost like mashed potatoes.  As my mom's preparation is typically flawless, I can only assume that she got a bad lobster from Costco.  It was a little inauspicious for me, but as we had so much food, it really didn't matter.  Conversely, her scallops and shrimp were both totally sweet and crisp. 

My Mom's Oyster Sauce Asparagus & Mushrooms

My mom also felt that we needed to have some vegetation on the table.  While not strictly a seafood dish, she did stir fry it with Chinese oyster sauce (hau yau).  So it still retained some of that concentrated oyster flavor in the dish.

My Aunty's Chinese Style Braised Uhu

My aunty also went with a classical approach to seafood.  In her case, probably the quintessential classic Chinese preparation for a whole fish, steamed with shoyu, green onions, and ginger.   Just for fun she added some shiitake mushrooms to the mix as well, and instead of steaming, she kind of braised the fish, but it essentially tasted the same.  The fish she picked was, a local Hawaiian uhu, or parrot fish (so named because of its beak-like mouth).   This fish when done right, like my aunty did, has an especially smooth texture.  Chinese refer to this ideal texture as waat (or "slippery"), and it is considered by the Chinese to be the most desired texture a fish can have.  My aunty's was just perfect in this regard.  Of course on an uhu, the best bite, the most waat part, are the cheeks and forehead.

My Lup Cheong & Oyster Sauce Mayonnaise Stuffed Salmon

My own contribution to this fish extraganza was a more modern, local Chinese, classic, a baked salmon stuffed with lup cheong and oyster sauce mayonnaise.  This is the dish that when Anthony Bourdain tried it, he said he didn't even want to guess at its geneology, he only knew that it was good.   Of course, its mixed up cultural heritage is so representative of what we're all about in the islands.  My aunty had almost made a salmon as well, but luckily found out what I was doing and switched at the last minute.  But what I especially liked was the contrast between my aunty's classical approach and my modern one.   It was like you could taste the evolution of Chinese flavors in Hawaii, right on our table.  

My Wife's Shake-n-Bake Catfish

My wife decided to go with another classic flavor for her fish, but one from the heart of Dixie.   She made a Shake-n-Bake catfish.   While Shake-n-Bake is usually done with chicken or pork, catfish is perhaps the favorite fish of the South, and the Southern style seasonings in Shake-n-Bake went perfectly with the catfish.   The only problem was, after she baked it, it was nearly an hour before we got to eat (waiting for Mom and Aunty to finish their last minute preparations).  So her normally crunchy Shake-n-Bake got soggy on the bottom.   Unfortunately, since all fish dishes are very quick, and should be done right before serving, the timing on this meal was just terribly difficult.  But while it lost its crunch, it lost none of its flavor, which was like eating Southern comfort.

My Uncle's Fishcake Stuffed Shiitake Mushrooms

Instead of making a dessert, like he usually does, my uncle opted to contribute a fish dish of his own  In his case, he stuffed big black shiitake mushrooms with fish cake.   I remember my Po Po making this dish ages ago, and it was like a reminder of times gone past for me.   The texture difference between the fish cake and the mushroom was interesting, as they didn't totally blend nor did they totally contrast.  

My Dad's Barbie's Special Tuna Salad

As this whole Feast of the Seven Fishes was his idea, even my dad likes to contribute something to this meal.  Of course, his cooking ability is really limited to mixing and plating, kind of akin to what my 4-year old son can do.  So he usually just arranges something pretty with canned fish and crackers.  But this time he went all out, and looked up something from the Internet called Barbie's Tuna Salad, which he said had really excellent user reviews.   However, he left out the ingredient which made the tuna salad really unique, the curry powder, as he was afraid that my son wouldn't be able to eat it.   To me, this really took out the heart of what made Barbie's so unique and interesting to begin with.  Without it, I think I preferred the tuna macaroni salad my son made last week more.  Thankfully, he added some of that curry powder back in to spice up the leftovers, and the difference was like night and day.

My Son's Ikura & Konbu Basmati Rice

In keeping up with his training in the culinary arts, I again had my son wash and cook rice.   This time, however, it wasn't as a sous chef for my dish, but to help him mix one of his own.   My son adores ikura (salmon roe).   Whenever we have sushi, the one thing he always wants to have is the ikura.  At first, the connotation that all my little boy wanted to eat was caviar was a little disturbing.  But apparently this isn't so uncommon, as we attended one of my friend's weddings, as they introduced the young ring bearer we found out that his favorite food is ikura as well.  As much as he adores ikura, my wife loves konbu (the sweet salty sea kelp).  It's probably from all the little toothpick samples we used to enjoy as kids from Shirokiya.   So this New Year's, I decided that they should both have a treat, and pick up some trays of ikura and konbu from Daiei (Don Quixote).  Then I let my son complete his dish by mixing it all together.   The basmati rice we used was far less sticky than the white calrose you would normally use, but then this made it easier for him to mix well.  Additionally, the fragrance of the basmati rice seemed to give more complexity to the relatively simple dish.   Simple but a real treat for my family.

My Son's Sardines En Croute

While I was dreaming up things for my son to cook, I came up with something else that I thought it would be fun for him to make.  Thinking back on the Italian roots of this meal, it dawned on me that sardines (which my wife also loves), would be something easy and tasty.  But how to serve it?  He could place it on crackers, but that would be a little too simplistic, even for him.  Then I thought of "pigs-in-a-blanket", and it dawned on me that instead of vienna sausages, we could wrap the sardines in Pillbury cresent rolls.   Just to add a little more Italian kick, and a little color, we decided to roll in some sun dried tomatoes as well.  The result was like a miniature sardines en croute.   My son actually had more fun rolling up his sardines, than mixing his rice, and the resulting little morsels were just delightful.

The only thing that seemed to be omitted from our fantastic seafood meal was sashimi or at least some local style poke, but with all that variety it really wasn't missed.  What we really did miss was my sister, who had already gone back to the mainland.  As much as we love and miss her, she's gotta have her own adventures without us cramping her style.

New Year's Dinner 2009

It is always really interesting to see the range of interpretations my family comes up with, even when focusing on a single ingredient like fish.  It is a factor of both our great kapakahi heritage and the spectrum of our own personal styles.   The other great thing is that we came up with a total of 9 dishes, and 9 (gau) is another homonym in Chinese for abundance and longevity.  Although it's based on the feast of the 7 fishes, having 9 dishes was even more auspicious for us, and hopefully will be reflective of the upcoming year.

SushiFest - Part V: The Supreme Sashimi

New Year's is upon us, and we have finally arrived in the what for my generation has always been, "The Future!"   It is the year 2010.   When we all live in the sky in apartments that are so far above the ground you never see it.  When we all drive flying cars, which run on garbage in our Mr. Fusion.  When we frequently take vacations on the moon at Luna Park.  Wait.  What do you mean we don't have any of those things yet?   Are you saying television lied to me??  Dang it!  Then again, my flip top cell phone looks remarkably like Captain Kirk's communicator (and when my wife has her bluetooth earpiece in I'm constantly reminded of Uhura), the automatic sliding doors at Ala Moana cound certainly pass for the ones on the Enterprise, and my tablet PC looks bears a striking resembalance to the padd that Yeoman Rand carried.   So we're getting there, we're getting there.

Meanwhile, I guess we'll just celebrate New Year's the old fashioned way.   In Hawaii of course, that means a literal ton of fireworks.   Having so many Chinese families in Hawaii, you just have to have a 20,000 string of  firecrackers to scare off the bad spirits, with little bits of red paper all over your driveway to welcome in the blessings of the new year.  I was always particularly fond of those little ground blooms, that spin and look like red, yellow or green ladybugs. These days, fountains have gotten so complex, that they look like a little fireworks show in your driveway.   But I have never had any lack of a fireworks show.  Where I live, somehow every other family in the valley has gotten their hands on illegal aerials.  I really don't know where they get them from.  All I know is that, despite the illegality of it, you simply cannot stop the firmly entrenched tradition of it.  This is something I'm glad about, because from my parents' house, you can see practically the entire valley.  Every New Year's, we're treated to the most spectacular aerial fireworks show around, all at around eye level for us, just about 180 degrees all around us.  It's absolutely amazing.   Of course the smoke is also amazing.  It's as thick as San Francisco fog, and the thundering booms mirror that of a warzone.  But I wouldn't have it any other way.

However, while the rest of the country is singing Auld Lang Syne, and are focused on the crystal ball dropping in Time's Square, New Year's in Hawaii has always been more of a Japanese holiday than an American one.   In fact, aside of Obon, it is probably the biggest Japanese holiday of them all.  Rather than religiously watching Dick Clark's countdown, the Red and White song competition (also called Kohau Uta Gassen) has always been a yearly tradition in my family.   While most anime fans are familiar with J-Pop music, it is the Red and White competition that fostered my love of enka style music.  My favorite was always Saburo Kitajima (famous for playing the Chief of the Megumi Fire Brigade on Abarenbo Shogun).  His crooning is as unique and unmistakable as Sinatra, and to me it just isn't New Year's without hearing it.

Practically every other door is adorned with a kadomatsu (or a bamboo & pine arrangement).  Like the firecrackers to the Chinese, the kadomatsu to the Japanese is a way of warding off evil spirits and welcoming in the blessings of the new year.   Besides the traditional decoration at our doorstep, many businesses and homes are scrubbed spotless, and all debts paid, to start the New Year clean.   Thankfully, being Chinese, like getting an extension on your income taxes, we get a reprieve from all that cleaning until Chinese New Year, about a month later.   But perhaps nothing is more iconic of New Year, than a stack of mochi with an orange on top.

Mochi Variety from Kansai Yamato

Mochi is essential to the Japanese for New Year's.  Just like gao for Chinese New Year, the stickiness of the mochi is meant to symbolically bind the family together for the New Year.  Back in high school, I actually got to try pounding the mochi myself (in tandem with a partner of course).   Swinging that giant hammer over your head is worthy of Looney Tunes, but it's much heavier than it looks.   I would just as soon leave it up to the experts.   In Hawaii, that usually means picking up a pack of Hawaii Candy from Longs.   But we also have a true mochi specialist, right in the Makai Market food court at Ala Moana, called Kansai Yamato.  Just like Mana Bu's who makes nothing but musubi, Kansai Yamato makes nothing but mochi.  This fanatical dedication to making one, and only one product, naturally yields nothing less than absolute mastery and perfection in their craft.   The mochi at Kansai Yamato, is simply the perfect texture.  Soft and sticky, and nothing like the hard, chewy, dried up nonsense you can pick up at some places.  Their variety pack even has flavors that you wouldn't even find in Japan.   Besides the traditional an dango (the white with azuki bean filling) and kinako an (the shoyu brown one), you can get brilliant local flavors and colors like cruncy peanut butter, mango, melona, and guava.   Each one is distinctly local tasting and different from each other, but all of them are just mouth watering.

Besides mochi, the other crucial thing you must have at New Year's is of course sashimi.  Fresh fish is so important to the New Year's celebration that a quarter of the island seems to pack itself into tiny little Tamashiro Market on New Year's Eve.  Not only is everyone frantic to get a piece of fish, they're willing to pay several hundred dollars a pound for the really premium quality fish.   I wouldn't be surprised if Tamashiro makes half its dividends on New Year's alone.   Of course, once you get it home, you really must know how to cut the fish properly too.   This is a precision task that takes years to master, so if you're not up to the task, I would recommend finding a sushi chef that really knows his stuff.   My very favorite sushi place, would have to be Yanagi Sushi, at the downtown end of Kapiolani.

Family Roll at Yanagi Sushi

If you my wife, she will tell you that sushi may be my all time favorite food.   I'm completely addicted to it.  In my quest for the perfect sushi, I've found innovative makimono rolls, battleship shaped gunkan passing by on the conveyor belt, perfect bowls of poke, ingenius temaki hand rolls with supremely crunchy nori, and the master sushi chefs that serve you with an obsession for the perfect bite.   But when it all comes down to it, Yanagi Sushi is the one place that I would consider my absolute favorite sushi restaurant.  On my birthday, it usually tops my short list of places I want to go.  I'm definitely not alone in this regard, either.  When you walk in to this unassuming little restaurant, the walls are lined with the most photographs of patrons I've ever seen adorn a restaurant, many of them big celebrities.  

Sashimi Deluxe at Yanagi Sushi

While Yanagi makes some fantastic sushi rolls, it is actually not the sushi (which by definition requires the sweet vinegar rice), but the sashimi that is my favorite thing there.    Their Sashimi Deluxe platter may be one of my favorite meals in the whole world.  Every item is super fresh, premium quality, and masterfully cut to bring out its own magnificent natural flavor.  The oyster is plump and briney, with a full intense oyster flavor.  Every piece of ikura (salmon roe) is bursting crisp little sphere, none of which are dry or shrivelled.  The ika (squid) is crisp and clean, and doesn't have that slimey pastey film that bad quality ika has.   The ebi (shrimp) is blanched so fast that it has an ever so slight crispness, while retaining all of it's raw natural sweetness.  I especially love the piece of shiso, which has such an intoxicating perfumey fragrance, that perfectly complements the flavor of the fish.  I would rather have shiso than wasabi any day.  But what makes this platter so perfect, is how well they do the core triumvirate of sashimi, the ahi, hamachi, and salmon.   All 3 of these incredibly buttery.  The natural fat and fish oils in each piece of fish makes it so rich and flavorful.  Eaten with a nice hot bowl of steaming, slighly sticky, plump, calrose rice, the fish flavor just melts like butter on hot bread.  The ahi, salmon, and hamachi each has its own distinct flavor, and I adore each one.   Despite how elite and prestigious the sushi at Sushi Sasabune is, I think that the flavor of the fish at Yanagi even surpasses it.  The shrimp is sweeter and the flavor of the hamachi is much stronger.  Besides that the atmosphere is a lot more relaxed and unpretentious, and the price is much more affordable, so the overall experience is just far more enjoyable.

Even though my family isn't Japanese, in Hawaii each of our cultures has become so integrated with our super-culture, that we just couldn't welcome in the new year without all the Japanese elements.  It is tradition that I look forward to enjoying year after year for decades to come.

SushiFest - Part IV: A Matter of Convenience

After the surprising upset that 7-Eleven enjoyed during my Char Siu Bao Challenge, I thought we should take a closer look at the unseeming little convenience store.  Actually, I do like taking mainland visitors to 7-Eleven.   The mere fact that they have char siu bao to begin with, is a prime indicator that the 7-Elevens in Hawaii are not anything like their somewhat ghetto counterparts on the mainland.  In fact, from what I understand, our 7-Elevens are run much more like the 7-Elevens in Japan than the ones on the mainland.   This would explain the surprisingly high quality Japanese (and local) convenience store snacks you can easily find at 7-Eleven, including our iconic spam musubi.

Spam Musubi from 7-Eleven

When visitors come from the mainland, I love taking them to 7-Eleven, just to unhinge their notion of what a convenience store can be.   Ours are clean, well stocked, and not the magnet for muggings and robberies that the ones on the mainland are.   Instead of ancient hot dogs that have been rotating on their warmers for and inestimable amount of time, the products we have are usually made fresh that day, with a timestamp to prove it.   Sure there are familiar favorites, like Slurpees.   But there is a wide variety of dim sum, musubi's, sushi, and crack seed.   The best part of course is being able to get any of these items, at any time of the day.   When hanging out with my friend Erich in college, we would often make 1AM Jones Soda runs, frequently in remote parts of the island, just to enjoy our availability to do so.  

Admittedly, I love a Slurpee as much as the next guy.  In fact, when I was little, I generally liked Slurpees better than Icees.   As great, as a strawberry / coke mixed icee was, the air to liquid ratio in an icee always yielded a product that was just a little too insubstantive for my taste.   By that reasoning, I always preferred the slushies over at the Jolly Roger in Kahala (where Kahala Zippy's is now), to either Slurpees or Icees, especially the grape slush floats.   Mixing the vanilla ice cream with purple slushie created a beautifully thick lavendar drink that was as creamy as it was icy, and the blending of those textures was always so provocotive to me.  However, since Jolly Roger closed many years ago, the Slurpee is a worthwhile replacement.   Indeed, the there have existed many more flavors of Slurpee than any of the others, including lychee, pina colada, and banana.  

Okinawan Sweet Potato Manapua from 7-Eleven

What makes our 7-Elevens so interesting however, is not the Slurpee that can be found anywhere, but the plethora of local food they serve.   I've discussed how a spam and egg musubi make a terrific breakfast on the run.  Their redondo's hot dog musubi and lup cheong manapua are far more local representations of the hot dog than a Big Bite.   In fact, in addition to the basic manapua, which was surprisingly well received by the manapua taste testers at my mom's office, they've got a wide assortment of manapua fillings.  My wife is particularly fond of the somewhat elusive, Okinawan sweet potoato manapua, with it's sweet, creamy, purple filling that has just the perfect smooth texture.   But the one local snack item that 7-eleven does particularly well, is their sushi hand rolls.

Sushi from 7-Eleven

Surprisingly, I like the sushi hand rolls at 7-Eleven better than just about any temaki sushi, at even the most exclusive sushi restaurants.   Just what makes them so good?   It's the rather ingenious way of wrapping the rice and the nori separately while it is sitting in their refrigerated display.   Like the McDLT, which was famous for keeping the "hot side hot and the cold side cold", keeping the rice and nori separate insures that the nori stays crispy.  Let's face it, from the moment the sushi chef touches the nori to the rice, it begins to get soggy.  It depreciates even faster than a brand new car.   But this is brilliantly minimized by the sushi wrapping system at 7-Eleven.

Unwrapping Sushi from 7-Eleven

To open a sushi from 7-Eleven, you first break the seal on the side.  Then unroll the nori, exposing the rice which is wrapped in the inner cellophane.  Then, you peel back the inner cellophane to expose the nori envelope.  Finally, you roll the rice yourself into the waiting nori, and lift it off of the outer cellophane.  Whoever designed this system was a packaging genius.  The very first bite into the handroll, as your teeth puncture the nori and sink into the rice below, is almost like having your friend hold up a sheet of paper while you punch holes through it with your fingers.  It yields the most incredibly satisfying crunch, that no other sushi has anywhere.  The only thing I have to worry about is my cats, who are adore the nori even more than I do.  From the moment I break the seal on the outer cellophane, they appear out of nowhere and instantly shove their faces into mine, hoping for a bite.

Sushi from 7-Eleven

The rice is also nothing like what you'd expect from a convenience store sushi.   Sitting in a refrigeration unit all day, you'd expect the rice to get cold and hard.   But somehow, the units are at exactly the right temperature, that while the rice is chilled, it never gets hard.  It is still perfectly soft rice (softer than some room temperature rice at other sushi restaurants I know of), with just a subtle hint of the sushi vinegar (not nearly as overpoweringly sour as other sushi restaurants I know of).   With good rice and good nori, the sushi is just superb.

Sushi from 7-Eleven

7-Eleven also has a great variety hand rolls to choose from.  My favorite is their classic tuna salad with cucumber.   I would rather have this than any tuna sandwich any day.   They also have a nice salmon salad and a crab & avocado California roll that comprise their core line-up.   However, in addition to their regular triumvirate, I have seen flavors like shoyu tuna, spicy tuna, konbu, kalbi, bbq chicken, wasabi tuna, and many other special, transient offerings.

Ito En Oi Ocha Green Tea from 7-Eleven

Of course to wash down all of this sushi, a Slurpee just wouldn't do.   But again, 7-Eleven offers up an appropriate accompaniment.  They have a wide assortment of the yummy drinks from Ito En.  The different local fruit flavors of Ito En's Aloha Maid, like guava and passion orange, are classic island favorites.   You wouldn't even want to drink a Starbucks's Frappuccino bottle after tasting Ito En's Royal Mills Iced Cappuccino.  There's not even a comparison, the Iced Capps knock the Frapps completely out of the ballpark.   But to accompany the yummy sushi, it's got to be Ito En's Oi Ocha green tea.   Although, it's available at 7-Eleven, I have to buy their green tea by the caseload from Costco.  It has such a nice, perfectly balanced roasted tea flavor that is just so refreshing and easy to drink when chilled, I go through it like water.

Sushi from 7-Eleven

7-Elevens in Hawaii really are a unexpected find when it comes to local food.   What you'd think is a matter of convenience, really becomes a matter of local pride.

A Big Fish Story

Being surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, it's no wonder that fishing and seafood is a big part of our culture.   Even if you aren't a big angler, you probably enjoy a good fresh catch.  For many decades, one of the most popular shows on TV was "Let's Go Fishing".    Not only did good ol Hari Kojima catch the fish, but he also taught you the best ways to prepare it as well.   To this day, I can still hear the catchy "Let's Go Fishing" tune in my head, and I can fondly remember Hari standing behind his guest chefs with his hands folded behind his back, blinking almost unnaturally frequently.  As Hari (and the show) got older, Ben Wong took over the reigns, and it was renamed "LGF" and later "Hawaii Goes Fishing", but the show was never the same.  It's long lived popularity though, was a testament to how much we love fish in Hawaii.

There are a few exceptions of course.  My Po Po, for example, just couldn't stand the smell of fish.  To her, fish was just too sang (a Chinese word that means overly "fishy" smellling, something fresh fish should never be).  She would have to cook it practically every night for my Goong Goong, but she never ate it herself.   Once when she was was a little girl, she caught a nasty cold.   Naturally, her father (my Tai Goong), went and spent a good amount of money and made her some fish jook.  She told him that she couldn't eat it, and he called her ungrateful.  So she tried to eat it, and wound up throwing it all up anyway.  So my Po Po pretty much avoided fish all her life.  But she is one of the few exceptions to the rule around here.

Everyone in Hawaii has to have at least one good fishing story right?   So, here's mine.  I love seafood, but I never learned how to fish while I was growing up.  So one day, when she was home on vacation, my sister-in-law decided to take us deep sea fishing.  Not knowing much about fishing myself, I imagined us gently rocking in the middle of some calm deep blue waters, lazily lounging with our hats over our eyes waiting for a fish to bite.   Yeah, that's not what happened at all.   Deep sea fishing basically involves high speed trolling with almost roller coaster like up and down motion.   From the moment I left the pier, I was throwing up into a bucket, and spent pretty much the duration of the trip flat on my back, moaning for it to end.   My wife on the other hand, found her sea legs after a little while and was up and about on deck waiting to snag a fish.  In fact, she successfully reeled in 2 1/2 fish!   Now this is where you scratch your head and ask, "how do you catch a half a fish??"  Shouldn't fish necessarily be caught in whole number increments?  Well, as she was pulling the fish in, a big shark came up and bit off the lower half of the fish, leaving her to reel in the upper half of the fish.  I've got friends who love fishing (one in particular has even caught a 500 lb. marlin).  But none of them can make the claim that they've caught 2 1/2 fish.   So although it's really my wife's catch, I was along for the adventure, and am happy to bask in her fishing glory.

For those of us, who love fish, but really can't stomach trying to catch one ourselves (literally), where do we go to get the best fish on island?    Well, Tamashiro Market is of course the de facto place for any kind of seafood here.   Even Hari Kojima himself, was originally a fish cutter with Tamashiro.  For a while, Tamashiro would even cook them up for you, offering some fresh fish lunch plates.   Unfortunately, the window of opportunity to buy one was very short, and I've never gotten to taste them myself.   I have mentioned how well the fish is prepared at Kaka'ako Kitchen, but as those dishes are salmon and catfish, they don't really reflect what's in our local waters.   The ahi katsu at Sugoi is just plain awesome, but being covered in brown gravy makes you kind of lose sight of the fish itself.   The biggest filets of the freshest ahi and freshest mahi mahi on island can be found at Ray's Cafe.   My only complaint with Ray's is that, although the fish quality and fresheness is just supreme and you can taste the flavors of the fish itself, it's not quite seasoned enough with any other flavors.  For the freshest, best prepared fish in town, that is also seasoned well to bring out the fish flavor, you need to look for a specialist.  Basically the shop that serves fish and little else.   The one that immediately comes to mind is Nico's at Pier 38.

Nico's has all the visible indicators of a great fish place.   For one thing, it's located right on Pier 38, overlooking the water.   The close proximity to the water gives it not only wonderful ambiance, but the feeling of authenticity when it comes to fish.   Adding to that authenticity is the fact that they share a building with Pop Fishing & Marine, a major commercial fishing outfitter.  It gives you the distinct impression that the major fishermen, get their supplies from Pop, head out to sea to catch the fish, and bring it right back to Nico's to be served.  Finally, the lunchtime crowd around Nico's is always so packed, that they have to give you those little vibrating pagers to let you know when your food is ready.  All of which leads to high expectations about the food.

Furikake Crusted Seared Ahi from Nico's at Pier 38

The food at Nico's is just superb.  For one thing, they are one of the few plate lunch places, like Kaka'ako Kitchen, where I actually prefer getting the green salad rather than a mac salad.  It is partly due to their zesty lemon miso dressing, but it's primarily because you get a nice serving of Waimanalo greens, and not some dinky iceberg lettuce.   But the star attraction of course is the fish.   The classic furikake crusted, seared ahi is definitely my favorite dish there.  The fish is as local, fresh, and high quality as Ray's, and it is as well prepared as Kaka'ako Kitchen's.   I really can't give it any higher praise than that.  The ahi is just perfectly seared, not overcooked like in some places which makes it dry and tough, and almost like canned tuna.  This is still moist and tender, with a very generous coating of furikake.   Add to that a wonderfully creamy, garlic aioli, that really compliments the flavor of the fish.  My only complaint would be that the portions you get don't compare at all to Ray's (notice how you only get 1 scoop of rice and not 2).   But it's worth it for one of the most perfect fish lunches on island.

Nothing compares to the satisfaction of hauling in your own fish, but if you're in a pinch for lunch and are craving fish, Nico's is the place to go.   Just tasting the fish there, gives you the feeling of being out on the water, a perfect escape in the middle of a long work day.

Stuffed to the Gills

As my Christmas gift to you, I thought I'd throw up my "recipe" for the Chinese style lup cheong stuffing that I concocted.  Technically, this is a dressing and not a stuffing, because it never actually gets "stuffed" inside of the turkey.   However, if you call it a "dressing", people immediately think of salad dressing, and thanks to Stove Top the word "stuffing" has become standard nomenclature.   It's a pretty simple recipe, which was good, seeing as how my Christmas day was busy enough, and I needed something easy enough to put together between opening presents and visiting relatives.  

Stuffed Duck from Golden Duck Restaurant

The classic approach to Chinese stuffing is seen in Cantonese stuffed duck.   The stuffing consists of barley, minced mushrooms, ginkgo nuts, and occasionally some water chestnut.   It's a very earthy mixture.   The only thing is that I don't really care for barley.  I adore the duck that surrounds the stuffing, it is perhaps the most tender duck preparation of them all.  And the skin.  The skin is just melt in your mouth to die for.  The most buttery, outrageously soft skin anywhere.  But I just don't care for the stuffing inside of that duck, mainly because I just don't like the texture of barley.   So I came up with my own recipe for Chinese stuffing based on an entirely different Chinese flavor set, lup cheong (or Chinese smoked sausage) and hau yau choi sum (oyster sauce choi sum). 

So here is what you'll need:

Ingredients for my Chinese Style Lup Cheong Stuffing
• 1 package of lup cheong (or Chinese smoked sausage) - Don't buy the brand from Costco, it tastes funny
• 2 bundles of fresh choi sum - It may seem a lot, but remember vegetables shrink a lot when you cook them
• 1 bag of unseasoned bread crumbs or stuffing mix
• 1 can of sliced ma tai (or water chestnuts)
• some doong gu (black shiitake mushrooms)
• some ha mai (the little dried shrimp)
• some hau yau (oyster sauce)
• some shoyu
• and 1 can of chicken broth

Here's the prep:

Soak the dried doong gu in water.    You pretty much always have to do this when cooking with doong gu, in order to rehydrate them.   The water itself is pretty useful too, as it will contain all the flavor of the mushrooms.

Slice up the lup cheong into little 1/2 finger digit pieces.   If you want your stuffing chunkier you can make them a little larger.

Slice up the choi sum in the same lengths as the lup cheong.  

Here's what you do:

First fry up the lup cheong.   Ideally, you want to use a non-stick pot, because then you can just toss them in without any additional oil.   The oil from the lup cheong itself will come out, and you can use that to saute the rest of your ingredients.  You don't need to use really high heat either, around 75% heat will do.  Now, you really want to pay attention here.   Because it was Christmas and I was so rushed, and I wanted to take pictures to put up here, I wasn't watching the pot like I should have been.   You need to keep stirring this dish, otherwise things start to burn.  So my lup cheong got a little charred.   It wasn't so much that you could taste the burn, but it was more black than I wanted it to be   You really just want a nice dark red color, just as it begins to char.

When the lup cheong is ready.  Turn the heat down to about 50%.   You can throw in your ha mai and your waterchestnuts.  Drain off most of the water, and you can throw in your mushrooms as well.   Pour in the shoyu and oyster sauce to taste.   Be careful when putting in that oyster sauce.   It's very strong stuff, and if you put too much of it in, your stuffing will come out pretty salty.  Stir this around for a few moments to let it saute together.

After a few moments of cohesion, toss in all of your choi sum.   The 2 bundles is going to seem like an awful lot, and will probably fill the pot to the brim.    But keep in mind that vegetables seriously shrink when you cook them.   So just stir everything around for a while, and very soon your vegetables will be on par with everything else.

Now turn down the heat again to about 30% and cover the mixture with your chicken broth.   1 can ought to be enough to just cover all of the ingredients.   If it isn't you can add more, but remember, if you add too much your stuffing will be too soggy.  

Finally, add about half the bag of stuffing mix.   That should be just about the right ratio of breadding to stuff.   If it seems too salty for you, you can always add more bread, but if it seems to bland, there really isn't any way to take the extra breadding out.   So add it in small increments until the ratio looks right.  Keep mixing until you've got a nice stuffing consistency.   Then turn the heat down to about 10%, and cover and let it simmer for a few moments.   This makes everything meld together into a cohesive mixture.

Congratulations, you've just made Chinese Lup Cheong Stuffing!

Cooking is fun isn't it?   My mom said told me she is often surprised that in Chinese families, it is the men who are the better cooks.   That's because Chinese men really like to eat, so they have a passion for cooking and creating something that tastes good.  It is a passion that I want to instill into my boys.   That's pretty much how it panned out at Christmas, when I helped my first son make his first tuna macaroni salad.  He entusiastically gobbled down his own creation with pride and joy.

Mele Kalikimaka

The Chistmas holiday is always jam packed for us.   It really begins on Christmas Eve.  Other children can't wait for Christmas morning to rush down to the Christmas tree and tear into their presents.  But when I was really little, my parents would let me wait up until midnight on Christmas Eve, and then open all of my presents.   This was a holdover from my dad's childhood, because when he was little and times were tougher his parents worked at their business, Goo Laundry, every single day of the year, Christmas included.   So he would have to open his presents at night rather than in the morning.  As a result, I never really had to wait for Santa, because on the stroke of midnight, I would have my presents in hand already.  Christmas Day was then spent, first at my mom's side for lunch with more presents, and then at dinner with my dad's side and more presents still.   It was a really hectic schedule, and as I grew older, we eventually conslidated everything to Christmas night (which meant that we now opened presents later than everyone else who did Christmas morning).  When I got married, things changed again, and when I had kids things changed yet again.   I think it's something that every young couple in Hawaii faces, simply because whereas on the mainland going home to family means travelling to different cities, in Hawaii its a matter of a 15 minute drive and you've got to juggle both sides of your family.

My Strawberry Sugar Free Jello Christmas Cookies

This year, Christmas Eve was thankfully quite peaceful.  After an early dinner with my wife's family at Golden Duck, and checking on Santa's status via NORAD, we were able to tuck our kids in to bed and have a quiet night for just the two of us.  We turned off all the lights except for the Christmas lights and settle in to snuggle and wait for Santa.  But in waiting for Santa, it dawned on me that we didn't have any cookies for him (or ourselves).   In years past, I would really enjoy the ready to bake sugar free cookies from Pillsbury, but recently I haven't been able to find them in any of the stores.  I'm not even sure that Pillsbury still makes the sugar free ones.  So I had to settle for a sugar free recipe from the Internet.  Unfortunately, while I may be a pretty decent cook, baking is a complete mystery to me.   It may be because cooking to me is all about improvisation and artistic interpretation, whereas baking requires rigid adherence to a set recipe.   My wife is a far better baker than I am, and my feeble attempt at baking cookings was both laughable and nigh unedible.  They had a bizarre doughy center, that resembled sticky mochi within stale bread.  My wife likened them to something Dr. Seuss would've cooked up.   But at least they smelled good, filling the house with a comforting strawberry baking smell.   So we had cookies and some sugar free hot chocolate.  We put on a little fireside music from Hapa.   And we settled in under the Christmas tree to open our presents to each other.   It was so very romantic.   Let me tell you, a lit Christmas tree on Christmas Eve is so much better than mistletoe (which is usually infested with nargles anyway).  

Christmas day was another story.   For me, the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve meant tearing into my presents, but in my wife's childhood it meant attending Midnight Mass.   Since the advent of our children however, Christmas morning mass has been much easier.  So we all got up (way too early for me), to head off to church like good little sheep.  Then we went over to her parents house to open presents there.   Following which, we had lunch at Tsukiji Fish Market (which was packed to the brim with people).  Then we came home and let our kids open our own presents to them.   After which, I just crashed for an hour or so (which was bad because my wife really need the sleep even more than I did).   Only to wake up just in time to cook our dishes for dinner, before heading up to my parents house for Christmas dinner and opening even more presents.   It's a frankly a little exhausting, a little overhwelming, and by the end you're running on nothing but pure adrenaline.  But then again, it's Christmas, and if your biggest problem is how to cram in time with all the people that love you, you're in pretty good shape.  In the end, you're left with nothing but a a feeling of joy, love, and happiness.

Our Christmas Feast 2009

Christmas dinner in my family, is essentially Thanksgiving dinner, Part II.  Like Thanksgiving, each of us cooks something to bring to the table.   In order to try to not repeat ourselves, we attempt to bring something a little more seasonal to the table.  It's usually winds up being all kapakine, but at least it gives us a big variety of styles and given the expertise in the kitchen my family has, it's always scrumptious.

My Mom's Turkey

In the past, my mom has made honey glazed hams or some beautiful crown roasts to differentiate Christmas from Thanksgiving.   But since my sister moved to the mainland, and hasn't been home for Thanksgiving, we've been having turkey again at Christmas, just so she has a chance to enjoy it as well.   None of us ever complain about it, because my mom's turkey is simply the best in the world.   While other turkeys can easily get dry and tough, my mom's is always supremely succulent and flavorful.   And of course, it gives me a second chance to enjoy my precious turkey tail.  Besides, as Mel Torme sang "A turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright."

My Mom's Christmas Bun Wreath

To add a more Christmasy element to her contributions, my mom also baked a festive Christmas wreath of buns.  They were nice and herby, and as visually appealing as they were tasty.  

My Chinese Style Lup Cheong Stuffing

Since I knew my mom was making turkey, I decided to make stuffing, but not just any stuffing.  I decided to give it a local spin, and make a Chinese style, lup cheong stuffing.   For one thing, I figured that the red and green of the lup cheong and the choi sum would make it a little bit more visually festive than the usual Thanksgiving-esque earthtones of regular stuffing.  Besides that, you gotta cook to your audience, and naturally my family really enjoyed the Chinese flavors.  For me, the contrast of the strong Chinese flavors like lup cheong, ha mai, and hau yau (oyster sauce), against the traditional Americana of the turkey and mashed potatoes, is in minature what our lifestyle is all about.

My Sister's Chiles en Nogada

My sister, being home from the mainland, brought to the table some new (and frankly quite foreign) flavors with her Chiles en Nogada, a Puebla dish that she learned from the SF Gate.  Like me, she chose the dish because of the green and red colors of the chiles and the pomegranate seeds (which really were strikingly beautiful).  However, unlike mine which was filled with familiar comforting flavors, hers was an excursion into some vastly unfamiliar territory.   The pork tenderloin was quite tasty with a Mexican spiced crema sauce to it.  Like how you usually see pork chops served with applesauce, her cubes of pork were offset by cubes of Korean pear.  But whereas the Korean pear is sweet familiar flavor, the pomegranate seeds on top are certianly not.   All of which were kicked up with the spiciness of the chiles.   It was my first time ever trying fresh pomegranate seeds, whose bright red colors are so vividly alluring.  They are sweet, but with a bit of a bitterness to them as well, and I frankly don't care for the hard seeds within.   In fact, whereas in my dish everything kind of softens and converges in texture, hers was a complete rocky road of pork cubes, pear cubes, and hard little pomegranate seeds.  It was tasty and brilliantly executed, but at the same time underscored the different person she's become and a reminder of how we've grown apart since she's been gone.   It's something I try very hard to get used to, and I really try to get to know the person she is now, but it isn't always easy.

My Wife's Cauliflower Medley Casserole

While my sister and I are quite different the way we were when we were kids, my wife and I seem to grow more like each other over time, the way that all married couples take on each other's traits.  This Christmas, she walked in to Foodland, not having any idea what to cook, and just looked around to listen to the food for inspiriation.   For someone who rigidly sticks to the recipes, this was something that just put a smile on my face.   What she saw, were all different colors of cauliflower; orange, purple, green brocoflower, and the original white.   So it dawned on her to make a classic casserole out of all of these different colored cauliflowers.  It was at once beautiful, tasty, and inspired.   Of course the whole day, she was worried that it would be a lame dish, after all it was "only cauliflower".  But as I expected, everyone loved it.   My uncle even said that he could discern the slightly different flavors of each different color (some being more bitter than others).  I'm not sure if this was a trick of the mind or not, but it was creamy, cheesy, and delicious.

My Aunty's Mashed Potatoes with Potato Skins

My aunty of course made her awesome traditional mashed potatoes.   This time, she opted for a little bit of cream of mushroom in it just to give it an even more creamy texture and just the hint of mushroom flavor.  It was just a little so as not to overpower the awesome potatoey goodness of real potatoes.  This time, she also decided to remove the potato skins instead of mixing them in as I usually request.  But she baked them separately, giving them a fantastic crispiness, akin to that of stomping on dried leaves.  They were a fantastic contrast in texture and color as garnish, with even more potatoey goodness to add.

My Aunty's Stuffed Mushrooms

Aunty also decided to thow in a few stuffed mushrooms.   With mushrooms and potatoes, she was basically catering to my wife with her favorite foods.   The mushrooms were plump and mouthwateringly juicy, and a perfect little side dish.

My Son's Tuna Macaroni Salad

Finally, to indoctrinate our traditions into my son, as well as to pass on my passion for cooking (and to keep him busy while I was trying to cook my dish), we again tried to bring him into the kitchen for his own contribution.   Of course, being only 4 years old, we were limited as to what would be safe for him, keep his attention, and not overstretch his abilities.   So I thought back to my own beginnings as a cook, and pulledout a Hawaiian classic, macaroni salad.  As it basically just involves a lot of mixing, it was perfect for him.   He just sat there mixing, while I helped him throw in some macaroni, mayonnaise, tuna, peas, a touch of pepper and a little relish.  The result was a dish that he could proudly call his own, and that the family could gush over in front of him.   He actually enjoyed eating it as much as he did making it, having 3 big servings, before rushing off to tear into his presents. 

My Uncle's Okinawan Sweet Potato Pie

To top it all off, my uncle, made a fantastic Okinawan sweet potato pie.   Somehow the texture of the purple Okinawan sweet potato was a little better to me than the regular (orange) sweet potato pie he made for Thanksgiving.   The consistency was a little firmer and a little more even, while the filling he made for Thanksgiving was slightly on the mushy side for my taste.  Besides the even texture, the purple of the Okinawan sweet potato is always such a beautiful, striking color to me.  It was the perfect way to top of the evening, after opening all of those presents and putting some exhausted babies to sleep.

Christmas may be plain exhausting and a little unduly stressful, but it also means family, and food, and a literal feast for every single one of your senses.   It always fills me with an inescapable sense of magic and wonder and excitement that I thoroughly enjoy sharing with my boys and the rest of my family.