feeding my ohana
  • HOME
  • FOUR LEGS
  • FEATHERS
  • GILLS
  • PLANTS
  • SUGAR
  • BLOG
    • Eating on O'ahu
    • Plate Lunch 101
    • Sweet Nothings
    • Greenhouse
  • CONTACT

Finding the Absolute Favorites--It's Not Just the Food

9/2/2010

3 Comments

 
Picture
Thanks Shutterfly's offer of a free book and my husband's thrifty ways, in two weeks, I'll have my very own Feeding My Ohana | Family Favorites hard-bound book. Print run = 1.

This turned out to be a harder task than I thought. Currently, Feeding My Ohana has over 200 recipes, and there were 18 8" x 8" pages for the book. What do you pick? Add three very opinionated at-home 'consultants' proposing their own preferences. "Why can't you put Spam musubi in there?" "But I looove broccoli salad!" "You can't seriously be thinking kamaboko sandwiches" and "I can't believe you're not putting lemon bars in"...

We came to consensus on most items, and have managed a detente for the rest, with side agreements to make the non-book ones in the near future. But why did we pick out these as our favorite? Tastes good, of course. Some of them, like tofu steaks or sesa-miso eggplant, were definitely descended from magazines and cookbooks, but we've made them our own, by adding, subtracting, or just plain changing things up a little.
Picture
But beyond flavor, most of the family favorites revolve around a good time or friends and family. Shave ice, Rainbows plate lunch and malasadas always make us appreciate going home to Hawaii. Sugar cookies in the shape of our favorite Sharks (12, 22, 15 & 20) attacking a hapless duck bring together our annual Christmas cookie-making and our family Sharks games. Even the names remind us--my Mom's Chicken Katsu in Hawaii, Christine's Clam Chowder at our annual Christmas party, Steve's Hummus from my long-time boss, and Todd's Pecan Pie every Thanksgiving and Christmas.


So what are your family favorites? What do they remind you of?

3 Comments

Ode to Plate Lunch

8/17/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
Korean Fried Chicken Mini-Plate from Zippy's
Thank you to L---, one my Facebook "like-ers" to get me pondering plate lunches. She said, "I've always wondered about the scoops of rice and mac salad. Seems like overkill." After 2 weeks at home on O'ahu eating a variety of plate lunches, I (grudgingly) agree, but only to a point. 2 scoops of rice is overkill. Mac salad is a necessity.

This got me thinking--what defines a plate lunch, why does an otherwise nutritionally-conscious, ex-pat Hawaii girl make a beeline for it as soon as her feet touch Hawaiian soil, and why on earth are there no vegetables? Heck, even President Obama has Rainbow's when he goes home to Hawaii! I've made a living doing market research, so I Googled away. Then I asked my Dad.

Here is the anecdotal history. For the entree part, Hawaiian Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese and Korean plantation workers all shared their various lunches, with not a sandwich to be found. A recent New York Times article concurs.

Picture
Choices, just in Korean food
For the rice part, according to my ever-wise and pragmatic Dad, "They used the leftover rice, but the vegetables were eaten the night before. You know, rice is cheaper than meat, so more rice and sometimes noodles makes the meat go farther." Says the man who lived through the Depression, Pearl Harbor, gas masks with his lunch pail at school, and has graduated to great-grandpoppa-dom. Lots of starch stretches out home-cooking.

The macaroni salad kicked in later, with refrigeration I suppose. It also incorporates the concept of using the left-over dinner food. I've had mac salads with carrots, peas, leftover shrimp, crab, chicken, cucumbers, tsukemono, and of course, gobs of mayonnaise. And let's face it, it just tastes good with gravy or teriyaki.

So in marketing-speak, what is the plate lunch's value proposition? 

1) It offers ridiculous, best-of-breed variety. You can choose from kal-bi, tonkatsu, garlic ahi, lau-lau, pork adobo, hamburger steak, oxtail soup...the list goes on. Even more, Zippy's has daily *and* weekly specials. And at the Korean plate lunch places, you can actually pick vegetable sides, along with your macaroni salad and chop chae (see above).

Picture
Boneless Chicken w/Sloppy Gravy from Rainbow's
2) It's a good value: Spend $5-$10 for a complete meal. $5 is a complete meal (OK, likely without vegetables) and a $10 plate lunch can usually feed at least 2 people. What can $5 buy at Starbucks? Rainbow's says it best, "generous portions of hearty, simple food with two scoops of rice and a side of macaroni salad at a reasonable price." The boneless chicken plate lunch (left), is only $6.50(!), includes two full sides of chicken, and put both my husband and me into a blissful afternoon food coma.

3) It's accessible to everyone. Served with plastic utensils on a flimsy paper plate, plate lunches are not pretentious, and you can always find whatever you're in the mood to eat. There's no right way to eat one and everyone has their favorite place to get one. Lawyers, surfers, and lawyers who surf all eat plate lunches.

Really, it's just a brilliant product--an awesome food value, consumable to ensure repeat business, marketed virally, and with a target customer base of anyone who eats. Now I'm hungry!

0 Comments

    about

    I love to eat, so I had to learn to cook. This is my personal reference and I use it daily. Looking forward, when I turn a profit, 95% of net profit will go to programs to feed the hungry.

    Picture
    Subscribe

    Picture

    categories

    All
    About
    Anis Bakery
    Apple Pie
    Apples
    Asparagus
    Bacon
    Bakery
    Beef
    Big Island Delights
    Biscotti
    Bon Chon
    Boys Day
    Breakfast
    Broccoli
    Brownies
    Brunch
    Bubble Tea
    Cake
    Cake Pops
    Cereal
    Cheese
    Chex
    Chicken
    Childrens Day
    Chocolate
    Christmas
    Cobbler
    Coconut
    Coffee
    Comfort Food
    Cookbooks
    Cooking
    Cow
    Cranberries
    Crepes
    Dessert
    Easter
    Eating Amsterdam
    Eating Atlanta
    Eating Boston
    Eating Israel
    Eating Japan
    Eating Kona
    Eating Las Vegas
    Eating Los Angeles
    Eating Nuremberg
    Eating Oahu
    Eating Portland
    Eating Rhode Island
    Eating San Antonio
    Eating San Francisco
    Eating San Jose
    Eating Santa Barbara
    Eating Taipei
    Eating Vancouver
    Eating Vietnam
    Eggplant
    Eggs
    Eggs Leftovers
    Family
    Faq
    Favorites
    Feat
    Feathers
    Fire Extinguisher
    Fish
    Fish Tacos
    Four Legs
    Four Legs
    Fried Rice
    Furikake
    Garden
    Gardening
    Gills
    Gnocchi
    Grandma
    Gravy
    Greenhouse
    Guest Post
    Hapa
    Hawaii
    Home Plates
    How To
    Hui Ilima0bbc421ed6
    Huli Suesa2da64f96f
    Imahara Produce
    Japanese
    Japantown
    July 4th
    Kabocha
    Kale
    Kamaboko
    Korean Fried Chicken
    Lamb
    Lambs
    Leftovers
    Lemon
    Leonards
    Li Hing
    Lihing44e626efbc
    Liliha Bakery
    Local Fruit
    Luau
    Malasada
    Mangoes
    Maple
    Mariposa
    Misoyaki
    Mochi
    Mothers Day
    Muffins
    Mushrooms
    Nachos
    News
    New Years
    Noodles
    Oahu
    Obon
    Ogo
    Okinawan Sweet Potatoes
    Okonomiyaki
    Onion
    Pasta
    Pear
    Pecan Pie
    Pie
    Pineapple
    Plants
    Plate Lunch
    Poke
    Pork
    Pork Chops
    Potatoes
    Quinoa
    Rainbows
    Reindeer Cupcakes
    Restaurants
    Rice
    Salmon
    Sashimi
    Scones
    Second Harvest Food Bank
    Shave Ice
    Shokudo
    Shopping List
    Shrimp
    Soba
    Somen
    Soup
    Spaghetti
    Spam
    Stuffing
    Sugar
    Sun Tea
    Sushi
    Takeout
    Tex Drive Inn
    Thanksgiving
    Tofu
    Tomatoes
    Touring Barcelona
    Touring Big Island
    Touring Boston
    Touring Israel
    Touring Japan
    Touring Maui
    Touring Nuremberg
    Touring Philadelphia
    Touring Portland
    Touring San Antonio
    Touring San Jose
    Touring Taipei
    Touring Tennessee
    Touring Vietnam
    Traditions
    Turkey
    Weekly Menu
    Weekly Menu
    What Not To Eat
    Whipped Cream

    archives

    April 2019
    July 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.