Hawaii Traditions » Food

Ho Farms: Trading City Life for the Family Farm

Gail — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:00:12 +0000

Shin Ho, owner of Ho’s Farms on the rural stretch of Oahu’s North Shore, with a degree in marketing and international business you’d suspect that Ho would have ended up in a business environment. Instead, business opportunity at her family farm brought her from Los Angeles to Kahuku.

As an Operations Manager, Ho works in an office handling sales and promotional events. But as often as she’s in an office, she’s also out on the 40 acre farm checking up on the tomatoes and long beans, packing tomatoes and whatever else needs to be done. Ho’s main mission is to grow tasty vegetables with minimal use of chemicals.

Photo Credit: Share Your Table

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Hawaii Traditions: Must-try dishes in Honolulu

Gail — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 12:00:47 +0000

Hawaii’s identity as a food scene is an island of glorified plate lunches? Yes, that and many other things that makes Anthony Bourdain call Hawaii “Singapore in America” .

Hawaii maybe very Americanized and Localized and our cuisine is dominated by Asian dishes, but we also have a gift for bringing home far away dishes. A dish from the mainland gets a simple Hawaii spin on it and then it’s a must try!

Photo Credit: Metromix Honolulu

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Local Snacks: Lychee

Jan — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:00:10 +0000

Pokey dragon skin.
Succelent, sugary flesh.
Lychee juice drips down my chin.

One sneaky way to tell if you are truly “from” these islands, is the lychee test. Mainlanders often pronounce this fruit as “lee-chee”, while islanders unanimously pronounce lychee as “lie-chee”. Though, whichever way you say it, this is one fruit that people seem to either love or hate; there is no inbetween.

Lychee has a well documented history in these islands:
“The first lychee plant brought to Hawaii was imported from China in 1873 by Mr. Ching. Chock and planted on the property of Mr. Chun Afong at the corner of Nuuanu and School Streets on Oahu. It was known as the “Afong” tree and was initially considered to be the Chinese variety ‘Kwai Mi’ (or ‘Kwai Mei’), but it was later identified as ‘Tai Tso’ (or ‘Tai So’).” Growing Lychee in Hawaii. Lychee’s rough, slightly pokey outer skin ranges from a greenish brown to a deep pinkish red. Peel the thin outer layer and the firm, white fleshed inner fruit is revealed, followed by a dark brown (and inedible) pit. Lychee is sugary sweet and juicy and tastes quite similar to the native Malaysian rambutan .

For those who love this tropical fruit, most can agree on a few simple truths.

1) Lychee must be bought and eaten by the bag full.
2) Lychee should be eaten cold if at all possible.
3) Lychee is best eaten alone (if not, you might have to share your stash with someone else!)

During lychee season from May through September, you can gorge on this delicious fruit! For more information, follow these links:
She Who Eats Blog
Lychees Online.com
• Lychee Products
• Lychee Recipes
Growing Lychee in Hawaii

Photo Credit: alleygirl520 on Flickr

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Jean-George Vongerichten in a Kauai State of Mind

Gail — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:00:36 +0000

Jean-George Vongerichten is a NYC Chef with three Michelin stars at his flagship restaurants. While expanding his restaurant empire, he relies on local boy Chef de cuisine Colin Hazama to help execute Vongerichten’s contemporary American dishes and to also add local ingredients in these dishes.

As part of Hazama’s training to become Chef de Cuisine at Kauai Grill, he worked with Vongerichten in NYC at Mercer Kithcen. Back in Hawaii, Hazama worked with Vongerichten to create dishes using local ingredients substituting mainland ingredients. Hazama developed relationships with local farmers, some of them grow products just for him. There’s a lot of great products on Kauai but because it’s a small community the products never really get discovered Hazama says.

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Photo Credit: Share Your Table

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Hawaii Traditions: An eating excursion in Wahiawa

Gail — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 12:00:51 +0000

Entering the rough and tumble town of Wahiawa, the Wild West some may call it? Okay maybe not, but there are many historic buildings and small eateries with a simple decor that make Wahiawa an old town with many hidden places to visit.

Da Pokeman is a strictly take out establishment that serves ahi poke with sweet onion, and a homemade lau lau that is said to melt in your mouth. Molly Walker of Molly’s Smokehouse says that there’s no secret to her why her meats are so tasty, you just gotta love the meat! And who can forget to mention Sunnyside Bakery, they are known for making the best pies and not to mention their fried rice too. So, it’s worth a trip out to Wahiawa to see some of the historical sites while trying some of the food places that Wahiawa has to offer.

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Photo Credit: Metromix Honolulu

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Local Snacks: Cracked Seed and Li Hing Mui

Jan — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 12:00:48 +0000

I remember eating the Yick Lung brand of li hing mui—a Chinese preserved sour, salty plum—back in the 1970’s when I was a child. The brown, shriveled up quarter sized “seeds” came in a small cellophane pack with a green paper label stapled on at the top and could be had for just .25 cents. Sometimes we’d get these uniquely local treats (cracked seed as we call it), fresh—right out of the glass jars—at the crack seed store on the corner and the storekeeper would fish out lemon peel, rock salt plums and li hing mui which we would purchase by the quarter pound.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG880CKt2G4

In recent times, li hing mui has become glorified above all other cracked seed. Among the treats available to us now are li hing mui flavored everything—gummi worms, dried mango, salad dressing, shave ice and margaritas. And if that isn’t enough, you can purchase li hing mui powder by the quarter pound to create your own Iron-Chef -like concoctions.

Today, just a handful of these traditional mom and pop crack seed stores still exist in Hawaii. Here are a few to start you on your way:

Crack Seed Center, Kaimuki, Oahu

Crack Seed Shop, Ala Moana Center

Kawate Seed Shop, Hilo, Hawaii

Camellia Seeds, Kahului, Maui

Share your favorite crack seed stories with us here, at Hawaii Traditions!

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Late-night grindz

Gail — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:00:52 +0000

There are several restaurants that are open 24 hours or past 1 a.m. For those late night people who don’t want to eat pupus but have a hearty meal, there are many restaurants that serve a full meal all night long.

Some of the foods available are sushi, plate lunches, waffles, and korean food. So for those night owls that want to have a nice hearty meal at the wee hours of the night can enjoy a few of these late-night places:

Anna Millers
Mac 24/7
Sorabol
Sanoya Rahmen
Liliha Bakery and Coffee Shop
Shokudo Japanese Restaurant
Like Like Drive Inn
Eggs ‘n Things
Miki’s
Fook Yuen Chinese Seafood Restaurant
Wailana Coffee House
Taiyo Ramen
Zippy’s
Sushi King

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Photo Credit: pineapplejuice

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Local Snacks: Saimin

STA — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:00:46 +0000

When it comes to comfort food, nothing comforts more than a piping hot bowl of saimin. Always predictable, consistent, and unpretentious, saimin has a simple yet refined taste. When friends from Japan come to visit Hawaii, first stop, (I hate to say it) Zippys, yes, Zippys. Food of choice? Saimin. With all the complexities of Japanese ramen, the taste varying from region to region, the broth (shoyu, shio, miso, tonkotsu), the noodles, the garnishes, one would expect only the finest food would satisfy such discerning taste buds. Nope. What my Japanese friends crave is a simple, unassuming bowl of saimin. And why not? Locals have long known that a bowl of saimin can go a long way in curing just about anything. Sick? Hungover? Depressed? Tired? Cold? Confused? Conflicted? Saimin’s the answer. Order a bowl and let the steam clear your head. OK, OK, maybe saimin is not the panacea of choice but it sure comes close.

Born from the melting pot of our local color, saimin (from the Chinese: sai – thin, min – noodles) is a harmonious blending of various cultural influences, each contributing to create a symphony of sensory pleasure. Can anything be that good? YES. The broth is light and simple, the noodles are thin and chewy, and the toppings seek to only enhance the pleasure. A BBQ stick or a teri-burger on the side? Perfection. A local creation, saimin can be considered our state dish much as the Pua Aloalo or hibiscus is our state flower and the Nene, our state bird. It is a symbolic representation of the sugar and pineapple plantation laborers: the Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese, and the Hawaiians. As they shared their food with one another, each contributed to the communal bowl of noodles and thus, a food group was born.

Now where we locals go to satisfy our saimin craving is a deeply personal thing. There are few components to saimin but the broth is of utmost importance to my local taste buds. Boulevard Saimin and Like Like Drive Inn have the shrimp broth I crave. Other well established saimin eateries include the obligatory Zippys, voted best saimin by Honolulu Magazine [check out more best foods categories] , Shiro’s Saimin Haven & Family Restaurant, a literal haven for saimin lovers who will be overwhelmed by the variety of saimin choices (you order by the bowl number), almost sixty total. Lesser known saimin diners include Shige’s Saimin Restaurant in Wahiawa, Palace Saimin in Kalihi, and Jane’s Fountain to mention a few. Not in the mood to go out, then stock up on Okahara’s frozen saimin, a local franchise that supplies not only groceries but also McDonalds as well. Perhaps what draws us to saimin is its simplicity; plain, uncomplicated, just like local people.

What are your favorite saimin eateries? What hole in the wall spots are you hiding from the rest of us locals out fear of over crowding YOUR little piece of saimin heaven? If you are willing, please share them with us here at Hawaii Traditions.

Photo Credit: James Rubio

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New iPhone app: What Chef’s Eat

Gail — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:00:20 +0000

Don’t you ever wonder what and where Chef’s like to eat? Well now there’s a new iphone app that will tell you just that. A combination of high end eateries and mom and pop places makes up the list of what chef’s eat.

Some of the Chef’s included in this iphone app are, Roy Yamaguchi, Alan Wong, Dean Okimoto and Ed Kenney. What Chef’s Eat will continue to expand with top picks from more chefs on Oahu and neighboring islands in the future.

Photo Credit: Share Your Table

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Ethel’s Grill is a place of local legend

Gail — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:00:44 +0000

Ethel’s Grill, a small local food establishment in Kalihi fills the room with businessmen, top chefs and dock workers daily. This small hole in the wall place seats just 22 people, their walls are decorated with hand prints of sumo wrestlers.

The food at Ethel’s Grill shares the style of two food cultures, Japanese and local style comfort food create their menu. Owner’s Ryoko and Yoichi Ishii bought Ethel’s Grill 32 years ago. People say that the great hole in the wall places are a disappearing thing these days, what Ethel’s does is to help preserve a facet of what makes Hawaii unique.

Photo Credit: Share Your Table

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