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Where in the World is Feeding My Ohana?!

7/10/2018

10/10/17-7/10/18.

We are back one year to the day of another very looong radio silence on blogging. Full disclosure, the awesome and favorite Feeding My Ohana husband has been doing most of the weekday cooking.

This time, it’s been ‘hella’ travel. My birdies will cringe at the use of ‘hella’ if they are reading this. But let’s be honest: that’s a side bonus for why parents do the slang-ey thing.

Spread out, travel wouldn’t be too bad, but mine always seems to come in long stretches. The speed-dating recap for the last ten-ish months goes like this:

Halong - Monterey Bay. 24 hours.

November
Vacation-to-work. Immediately.

This one was especially entertaining. 3 flights and 24 hours. Land at SFO and then go directly to an offsite. And then it was Thanksgiving.

Vietnam (Hanoi and Phu Quoc Island) for vacation—Vietnamese coffee in Hanoi and Halong Bay.
Monterey for work—Whale watching is a terrible group activity if your colleagues get seasick.

Christmas/New Year’s

Marina/Monterey—Christmas with a full house and a sunshine lunch at Roy’s Spanish Bay.
Plus, my sister/favorite-est Aunty visited too!

Yeah, we like dessert.

February
I slept at home for 8 days.

O’ahu for to lay my beloved Aunty to rest.
Philadelphia (work)—Independence Hall in 90 minutes and studying the rest of the time (truth)
Nuremberg (work)—bratwurst, butt-cold weather, my brilliant bilingual cousin and her ohana

Lit a little candle in memory of my Aunty in St. Lorenz Kirche, Nuremberg

Weekends with Friends
Truly awesome times with awesome friends. Best of all, short flights!

Portland—Salt and Straw, and Blue Star Donuts. Whoa, it’s many shades of gray here.
San Antonio—Tequila almond croissants. The Alamo is a lot smaller than I thought, and Riverwalk, bigger.

Not everything is big in Texas.

March/April
Two and a half weeks out of the house

O’ahu—taking the birdies to see the ohana
Las Vegas (work)—Someday I’ll go here for a non-work reason
Boston (work)—Café Nero several times, Flour miyage, and my New England ohana (miss you!!)

Note on photo at left: Why are there NO PEOPLE sitting out on that fine sunny Boston afternoon? Because it was 40 degrees out and windy. "Feels like 35" Gotta love New England in the "Spring."

Lives up to the hype.

June
Yay no travel in May!

Out for "only" a week in June.
1) Taiwan (work)—a fantastic team, crazy humidity, Din Tai Fung (awesome and pretty reasonable), and shaved snow.

Miscellaneous Day Trips

1) Irvine (work) —Good croissants at SJC and catching the Southwest bus

Not gonna lie, work travel can be fun, but it's still work.

And there is no place like home!

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What Has Feeding My Ohana Been Up to?!

12/15/2014

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Christmas Shirokiya Style

If you've been following FeedingMyOhana on Instagram, it looks like not a lot of cooking happened during my recent trip back home to Hawaii.

I went back this time, literally to feed my own ohana, as my parents, Aunty and sisters needed just a little more help than usual to make sure nobody got left behind or forgotten.

There may have been moments where we may have wanted to jettison certain parties, but that is for another discussion.

So what did I feed the ohana?

Get these at Trader Joe's!

First, there was the obligatory Trader Joe's goods. Dried apricots, trail mix, dark chocolate mint marshmallows (which I HIGHLY recommend), holiday Joe-Joe's and dark chocolate covered edamame. 35 pounds of suitcase unloaded on Day 1.

My parents say, "I eat anything." But in reality, this is not true. They tend toward more Hawaii/Asian food, with a lot of meat and rice. #MeatlessOneDay is more like Meatless-Someday-But-Not-Today-or-Possibly-Ever. That said, they do eat a lot of vegetables--eggplant, choy sum, bittermelon (which I bought, blech!), etc.

My parents have small dishes and use chawan a lot. I think this contributes to reasonable portion control. I made about half of what I normally make for a family of four and there was still enough to freeze for later. This is what I fed the 'rents:

Japanese Chicken Curry
Grandma Nancy's Braised Meat
Misoyaki Salmon, with salmon that one of their friends caught. While I didn't have to gut it, I had to scale it and strip out the lining of the stomach, and that was plenty.
Chinese takeout food for the extended ohana dinner--Beef sour cabbage, stuffed bittermelon (specifically requested), crispy gau gee, cold ginger chicken, and Chinese roast pork. Chinese Hawaii food at its finest.

Zippy's Chili Cheese Fries. Happy Food.

And then there were my favorites ('cause even the help gets a few hours off)

Chili Cheese Fries from Zippy's. Lunch after taking Aunty to Church. As much as I do love the Korean fried chicken there, this sub $5 item may be my new favorite

Shimazu's and Baldwin's shave ice. Nothing more needs to be said here.

Yummy Korean BBQ Meat Jun. I particularly like the chop chae (glass noodles). And they let you swap out rice for an additional side. The mini plate is easily the two-meal plate.

For the record, nobody cried, I did not gain weight despite the CocoPuffs, and took home 48 pounds of suitcase back!

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Treating the Family on O'ahu at The Pineapple Room

3/13/2014

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We had a fancy family dinner on O'ahu a few weeks ago at the Pineapple Room, the 'down market' Alan Wong's restaurant. I'm still swooning over it.

Don't be fooled by the fact that it is embedded in Macy's or that people can eat there wearing beachwear and slippers. (That is, as long as they are not having dinner with my parents, who Would Not Be Pleased. At All.)

Everyone was happy. No one complained about it being 1) too fancy 2) too expensive or 3) too touristy or 4) too hoi-polloi. Major accomplishment considering it was two sets of grandparents, picky-picky Aunty, hungry teenager, and frugal husband. Some highlights.

Tomato and Watermelon Salad with Li Hing Vinaigrette

My favorite salad.

Ever.

Ice-cold watermelon and cherry tomatoes. Paper thin cucumbers and li-hing vinaigrette. Balanced off with smooth little scoops of buttery goat cheese.

Love. Love. Love.

We also had the Minute Ahi Poke and Kochojang Gyoza. No picture because they were on the table and eaten before anyone could get their smartphone out.

Salmon and Tea Rice Elevated

This was part of the 'old-folks' (aka Earlybird Special). Furikake crusted salmon with chazuke risotto.

OK, so it sounds like salmon and tea rice, but Grandma, frugal husband and teenager licked up every last piece.

Poppa had the braised shortribs, which he approved of, though he would have liked a little more sauce.

Malasada bread pudding. Genius.

Dessert was malasada bread pudding topped with lillikoi creme brulee.

They had us all at "malasada". Then lilikoi. Then creme brulee.

The chocolate demographic enjoyed a 70% chocolate pudding. Grandma was most pleased.

While I would normally try to replicate at least some of this awesomeness, Alan Wong recipes are hard to pull off at home. I use the Blue Tomato cookbook to drool and plan my next visit rather than cook. Best to leave these to the professionals.

The Pineapple Room service is a really great balance of island-style friendly and white tablecloth attention to detail. The whole experience, especially if you dine early, is a lovely treat. Don't expect Zippy's prices, but it was well worth it when our normally thoroughly un-impressed Poppa declared, "That was good. I'm full now." at the end of the meal.

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What to Bring Back? Snacks

6/9/2013

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Hello Summer! Whenever we go to Hawaii, we always bring some of our favorites back. Some for us, and more for our friends. Here is a short summary:

Toffee-covered, chocolate macadamia nuts.
Island Princess, we love you. This is the most requested and most appreciated item. Why? They are:

1) Powdered-sugar dusted
2) Toffee-coated
3) Chocolate-covered
4) Macadamia nuts

What's not to like?! Typically, we use these as gifts, but we do save a package (or two) for ourselves.

Hawaii Hello Kitty Crackers
While these are no different from any Japanese crackers on the Mainland, the sheer variety and availability of Hello Kitty cuteness foods is simply bigger in Hawaii.

I picked these up at Don Quijote, or the equivalent of Safeway in Hawaii. You can find these at Long's Drug's in Hawaii as well.

Peanut Sesame Candy from Chinatown
Eating these means that your dentist is going to be getting a fancy new car by treating your mouth. They are slightly sweet, chewy, sticky sesame seeds-stuck-in-your-teeth goodness.

Traditional Chinese peanut variety and also macadamia nut variety.

My cousin's wife and one of my clients love this stuff. And so do we.

Coconut Senbei from Fujiya Bakery
Fujiya Bakery is a long-time Hawaii Bakery well-known for all manner of mochi and manju that they offer.

My dad's favorite peanut butter mochi is from here, but what we like to take back are the coconut, pineapple-coconut or macadamia nut wafer cookies. It's snap-crackle-pop crunchy--think of them as the same crunch of fortune cookies, but flat and flavored.

Available at Shirokiya, the Fujiya factory in Kalihi and Long's Drugs. This is something you want to hand-carry.

While one can't bring back the beach, shave ice, malasadas or haupia sweet-potato pie, these are some nice bring-backs to keep your Hawaii groove going a little longer.

Now who's ready to go on vacation?

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What to bring back? Honolulu Cookies

3/23/2013

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Carefully hand-carried home.

People often ask me what I bring back from Hawaii for o-miyage. This past trip, one of the requested items was Honolulu Cookie shortbread cookies. These individually wrapped signature pineapple-shaped cookies come in an uku-pile of flavor and chocolate dipped combinations.

My favorites are:
1) Regular. This is the purist butter macadamia.
2) Coconut pineapple. The one with the yellow square.
3) Coconut. Sprinkled with toasted coconut.
4) Dark chocolate macadamia. At left in the photo.
5) Lilkoi. This is the pink one.

Uh-oh. Not such a nice gift anymore.

However, being shortbread cookies, they are not particularly sturdy.

Even after hand-carrying them in a protected box, we had a few mishaps, as shown at left. Thus, if you are serious about bringing these back, definitely make sure you have a few extras and hand-carry them. Very, very carefully. The cookies are $1 each, so it's well worth it baby these babies.

Because once the cookie gets the point shown on the left, the only thing you can do is sprinkle it over ice cream and eat it yourself. Really not a bad fall back, but it does short the gift stash.

The other very cute item at the Ala Moana store are these mini cookie bags. This is the surfer but the rest of them are just as cute. They fit three cookies.

Upon receipt of these, my kids and I heard various high-pitched squeals of approval for the cookies and the bag's utter cuteness.

And if you check it out, remember to try the samples there!

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Avocado Poke Stacks--Haute and Home Versions

6/15/2012

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Avocado poke stacks are wondrous combination of flavors and textures. I first had these from Alan Wong at a Taste of Hawaii.

It is a piece of ahi heaven.

Poke, avocado and wonton crispies sound so simple in concept. So I set out to make a home version, using the construction guidance from Alan Wong.

Source: Chef's Table, ABC News

Avocado poke stacks--Home Version

The original Alan Wong's recipe is in The Blue Tomato Cookbook. In the interest of full disclosure, I bought the book with my own hard-earned cash, and do not receive any compensation for mentioning it here. Generally, Alan Wong recipes can be hard to do family-style because they tend toward individual portion dishes that require fine construction and finish work. This one is unusually simple but know that it does use a raw egg.

I attempted a home version to use up leftover guacamole. Instead of a circular mold, I used my trusty Spam musubi frame.

I started with my own poke recipe, but cut down the shoyu. I did switch to the sambal oelek, as per the Alan Wong's recipe instead of pepper flakes. This is a good switch and I've edited the poke recipe accordingly.

I also used Hawaii Candy brand pepper flavored wuntun strips instead of making them from raw squares of wonton wrappers.

Mayo, mustard, sambal and lemon juice

The biggest change was in the aioli that drizzles on top of the dish. I substituted mayonnaise both canola oil and the raw egg because using raw eggs just freaks me out. I also left out garlic because I like the brighter flavor of lemon and shiso leaves. As well, the guacamole had a hefty dash of garlic in it already.

The Verdict
I definitely recommend the Haute version at least once, especially if you can go to the restaurant. The portion size is just right, and it really is quite beautiful. And I'll take it on faith that the chefs know how to handle raw eggs properly.

Home version tasted great, but doesn't come close to the plating perfection from the professionals. The Spam musubi mold works as a construction device. However, the stacks are pretty substantial for an appetizer, but not big enough for an entree. And it's hard to grab and go or share.

Next Time
For round 3 of the Home version, I'm thinking it might be better to crisp up full wonton sheets to make single-serving versions. The serving size will be more appropriate, construction will be a lot faster, and people can just pick 'em up and eat 'em. Time to have a potluck to try this out. Click here for the work-in-progress recipe. The flavor is all there, but the construction needs refining.

Eat Well. Be Well.

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Very Much Home Cooking--More for Non-Picky Eaters

3/8/2012

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My Mom believes that there is a clear and absolute line between "for company" homemade food, and the more unassuming and humble food that you only make for your family. The latter category definitely includes things that make my California-raised children raise skeptical eyes. This time it was warabi and watercress soup.

Warabi, cleaned and trimmed.

Pictured at left is warabi, the Japanese name for an edible fern. The Hawaiian name is pohole. The curly parts are not inchworms. I think of "eats shoots and leaves" now when I see it. I grew up eating and liking it; ferns were no more exotic than spinach. It grows best on the damp Hilo side of the Big Island or Maui. Mom usually gets it from the Peoples' Open Market, which is what the Farmer's Market is called in Hawaii, or from my sister, who lives on the Big Island.

You won't find this at plate lunch places or hotels, and only rarely might you find it in the Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurants like Alan Wong's or Roy's.

Warabi is sold in bunches like spinach. Clean, cut and boil it. Mom makes a kind of salad using dried shredded codfish, chopped kamaboko, a little shoyu, sesame oil and shio fuki konbu (dried, salted and shredded konbu). Mom says do not even try using konbu sheets and shredding those because it is Not The Same Thing. The sheets, she says, are dashi-konbu. There's no recipe to post right now because it's chock-ful of ingredients that are quite difficult to find unless you live in Hawaii. But it's well worth seeking out when you are in Hawaii.

A full pot of watercress soup

Watercress Soup
On a 'freezing-cold' day where the temperature slipped to the mid-70s during the day, Mom decided it was watercress soup weather.

Chicken, beef and vegetable broth, ginger, garlic, sake, bit of dashi powder, pork and watercress. This is a highly requested meal, and can be easily made in non-Hawaii locales. Three phone calls later, I wrangled out a general recipe. Click here for what I did.

This is cooking, not Cuisine, but it satisfies your soul. If this is served to you, you're part of the family.

Eat Well. Be Well.

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To Be Eaten on Oahu

3/2/2012

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Malasadas and shave ice.

I've searched many a place, and these simply can't be shipped or replicated. Shave ice won't make it past the security line. I've tried, and in case you are wondering, the TSA considers shave ice to be a liquid. And malasadas simply do not travel well or re-heat. So the only solution is to indulge when you can.

Here's a 'new' shave ice place, even though it's been there for years.

These ladies rule.

Ice Garden
Othe top part of the Aiea Shopping Center. Go into the office-looking area.

99-080 Kauhale St.
Aiea, HI 96701

(808) 488-5154
Cash only

Two very sweet-looking mama-sans run this closet of a place. Don't be fooled. These chicks are full of moxie. Go before they retire, and if you can, speak to the shorter one in Japanese. Or Chinese. Or Korean. She likes that. There is no cash register and all the orders are written down with a pencil on a scrap of paper. There are prices, but what you pay is what she calculates. Don't challenge her math skills because she's way sharper than you are. Don't argue with the "suggestions," it's not for you to decide. It sounds like it should be a horrific experience, but the place is quirky/charming and so worth it.

Flan and mochi balls. Pure swoon.

Flan/custard, mochi balls and azuki bean add-ons are just amazingly ono. I'm normally a shave ice purist (no solid mix-ins), but I will go back for the flan and mochi balls. Good consistency on the shave ice and the syrups a bit less sweet to balance out the add-ins. I still like Baldwin's or Waiola for just shave ice only, but this place is definitely in the shave ice rotation.

Mardi Gras in Hawaii--Chinatown and Malasadas
Mardi Gras was celebrated with a street fair of all manner of food booths. In Chinatown. Cajun food mixed in with local food (malasada hamburgers, shrimp tacos and BBQ chicken), soccer, bands and the traditional dancers, beads and general carousing.

Honolulu's top news story on Mardi Gras.

More importantly, Tuesdays, and in particular Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) is Malasada Day. You just have to love a place where malasadas are the top story of the news cycle (see left). People (me included) were lined up for Mardi Gras malasadas and a few Catholic high schools had malasada fundraisers. As a marketing consultant, it's a brilliant campaign to eat a thoroughly indulgent food before Lent, but why not plate lunches or rice or gasp(!) shave ice?

By default I'm giving up malasadas, shave ice, Zippy's and Grace's for Lent.

Eat Well. Be Well.

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Recipe Darwinism & Willows Curry

12/15/2011

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A friend of mine said, "There is no perfect recipe. The good ones always evolve."

Willows Shrimp Curry is a perfect example.

At a library cast-off sale, I found an out-of-print "Taste of Aloha" cookbook from the Honolulu Junior League. It's a beautiful book with Pegge Hopper illustrations and throwback recipes like Punahou Carnival Malasadas, baked kumu from the old Maile Restaurant at the Kahala Hilton, or opakapaka from Hy's Steakhouse. Honolulu restaurants like Bagwell's and Michel's, circa 1980, that you went to for special occasions: prom, grandma's birthday, family reunions, and the occasional funeral.

I remember Willows Shrimp Curry as something fancy and special from my childhood, so I was looking forward to re-creating it at home. But one look at the recipe, and it was clear that some serious updates were in order. 6 tablespoons of butter, 9 tablespoons of curry powder and 1/2 gallon of coconut milk to feed 6 people? Perhaps 6 people the size of Rubeus Hagrid.

General health and time-to-prep parameters also influenced the alterations. When you are trying to get a weekday dinner going, you simply don't have time to let something sit for a few hours nor do you desire to strain a sauce before you can use it.

I streamlined to 1 can of light coconut milk, 3T of plain butter (did not clarify it) and 4T of curry powder. It took about an hour and the end result was pretty good.

It's much thicker, creamier and definitely milder than a Japanese or Thai curry. It's the kind of curry that works best with traditional accessories. We dressed it up with honey-roasted peanuts, cranberries and dried (unsweetened) coconut. Chutney would have been good too, but we didn't have it. Definitely worth repeating.

Click here for what I came up with.

What restaurants do you remember? Eat Well. Be Well.

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Honey Toast vs. Coco Puffs vs. Mariposa--A Dessert Smackdown

9/16/2011

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Honey toast @ Shokudo

In Honolulu, I've wanted to try Shokudo's Honey Toast since seeing it pop up on friend's FB check-ins. The Yelp reviews back up its popularity and inherent goodness. On the Oahu leg of our vacation, we tried it ourselves.

Honey Toast is over-rated. There I said it. Ohana, please do not disown me! It's not that it tastes bad or looks funny. But literally, it's toasted white bread, honey and vanilla ice cream. You can make it at home in about 15 minutes with a loaf of white Cherry Blossom bread, Haagen Daaz and the cute little bear-shaped squeezy bottle of honey.

And for $7.45, it's a little pricey for its simplicity. If you add chocolate, stawberry, or azuki, it can quickly become a $10 dessert. Better to go there the bar menu and side dishes.

For a pure dessert craving near Ala Moana, try Mariposa. You will pay a whole nickel more for dessert at $7.50, but these were a much better value. Delicious, big enough to share, and I could NEVER make any of these at home, let alone in 15 minutes. Warm lilikoi pudding cake, in particular, is just so fabulously ono. Just know that this is much more of a "Ladies Who Lunch" environment than Shokudo's "Young Hip Asian" bustling vibe.

A Sampling from Mariposa--all $7.50

Liliha Bakery Coco Puffs
Looking for takeout dessert? Head out early to Kalihi and grab a box of Coco Puffs from Liliha Bakery. It's a puffy pastry filled with a light chocolate pudding and topped with a dollop Chantilly frosting, which is a not-too-sweet vanilla-butter and almost caramel flavored slightly hard frosting. It's definitely one of those things where the sum is much, much greater than the individual parts. If I could figure out a way to bring a box back, I would do it every time.

Keep them refrigerated. Less than $1.50 a piece. Plays very nicely with coffee.

I'd go to Shokudo for the food and hip and bustling vibe. But for a pure dessert experience, I'd return to Mariposa for proper sit-down, or wake up early to make it to Liliha Bakery before the Coco Puffs sell out.

Eat Well. Be Well.

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Where in the World is Feeding My Ohana?!

What Has Feeding My Ohana Been Up to?!

Treating the Family on O'ahu at The Pineapple Room

What to Bring Back? Snacks

What to bring back? Honolulu Cookies

Avocado Poke Stacks--Haute and Home Versions

Very Much Home Cooking--More for Non-Picky Eaters

To Be Eaten on Oahu

Recipe Darwinism & Willows Curry

Honey Toast vs. Coco Puffs vs. Mariposa--A Dessert Smackdown

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