Waikiki Eats: Aloha Friday Lunch Buffet at the Oceanarium

These folks at their tables don’t look a least-bit interested in the aquarium’s entertainment. lol

OK, you’re not gonna’ find Nemo or Spongebob Squarepants wishing you a happy birthday in the Oceanarium’s 280,000 gallon, 3-story indoor saltwater aquarium in Waikiki anytime soon. But you will find plenty of entertainment and subject for conversation as you gaze at over 70 different species of marine life swim across the other side of the towering glass windows of the tank which makes up the entire inner-wall of the restaurant.

While all of us have been here on our own for various functions throughout the years, never has our office gang come to the Oceanarium together for any of our annual birthday functions. So granting his own request, we brought Diner E here for the Aloha Friday Lunch Buffet (just this past Friday) in celebration of his birthday.

An Oceanarium Diver feeds the fishies fresh lettuce leaves

As you seen in the first photo, Spongebob had the sign-waving job covered! Of course that’s just a Photoshop fantasy, but you can have a diver hold up a sign (for a fee) in the tank with any special message you’d like. “Happy Birthday!” “Congratulations!” “Will You Marry Me?” or even, “I want a divorce”. lol

These fish went into a feeding frenzy over the lettuce

Here’s the deal…

Aloha Friday Lunch Buffet
11am to 2pm (on Fridays only)
$15.50 adults, $8.50 children 5-10 years old, $9.50 seniors 65 years and over

Salads & Appetizers
Fresh Island Tossed Greens, Chef’s Assorted Specialty Salads, Island Sashimi, Fish and Tako Poke, Lomi Lomi Salmon, Potato Macaroni Salad and Fresh Fruit.
Daily Entrées
Chef’s selection featuring Miniature Pork Lau Lau, Island Chicken, Beef or Pork Specialty, Catch of the Day, Noodles or Pasta, and Hot Vegetable of the Day.
Far East Specialties
Chirashi, Hosomaki, Futomaki, California Roll, Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura, Nimono and Miso Soup.
Desserts
Pastry Chef’s selection of tasty treats featuring: Okinawan Sweet Potato Pie, Lilikoi Chiffon Pie, Custard Pie,
Chocolate Haupia Cake, Chef’s Special, Mochi, Assorted Petite Pastries, Almond Float and Zenzai

With that said, here’s a few plates that some of da’ gang chose at the buffet line that landed on our table…

Clockwise from top: Potato Salad, Steamed Monchong, Shrimp Tempura & Dipping Sauce, Charashi Rice, California Maki Roll, Roast Pork, Sashimi, Tako Poke & Ahi Poke

None of us knew what the heck this fish was called. It was quite strange-looking.

Clockwise from top (10 o’clock): Miso Soup, Tako Poke, Ahi Poke, Pickled Ginger, Sashimi, Wasabi (choke), Shrimp Cocktail, Cucumber Maki and California Maki

One of the larger rays makes a round

Chowfunn noodles, Steamed Monchong with Lup Cheong!, Chirashi Rice, California Maki, Shrimp Tempura, Oden (you’re supposed to put that in a bowl!), and smoke-roasted pork (they said this was awesome!)

Mini Laulau…

These laulau weren’t so “mini”. More full-size if you ask me! Enough that Diner “AC” split one with me. The execution was excellent as well, using a really fatty, generous piece of pork, wrapped in REAL Luau leaves and steamed in Ti Leaves. Of course, no can touch Young’s or Ono’s, but for what it’s worth, solid. I think all it needed was a little more Hawaiian Salt, some poi on da’ side and this would have been perfect.

Some desserts…

Almond Float…

Yeah, most of the choices on the entree dishes above were the same. That’s because we all have similar tastes in what we like! There certainly were many other choices available that you must see, pick and choose for yourself here at the Oceanarium’s buffet.

Now you ask, was this lunch buffet worth $15.99? Absolutely! I was most impressed with the freshness of the Tako Poke, Ahi Poke and Sashimi. You see that second plate (the round one)? That’s mine. Minimal starch (rice) and maximum fresh seafood. Go for da’ gold!

Any complaints? Well, primarily that they kept running out of the popular items, not having a replacement immediately ready. This was especially problematic for the Tempura station. They were bringing new pans out in very small batches, which didn’t take even minutes before they were attacked and cleaned out. lol Not that their Tempura was anything special either. Not bad, but not great. As you can tell by the batter, speed more than attention to detail is the name of the game. But hey, for just $16, including everything else offered, what can you expect?

Service is typical buffet restaurant style, and I must say, they were quick to take away our finished plates, while keeping our water glasses full. So kudos to the Oceanarium staff on that.

As for the aquarium, the tank had a couple of large rays, standard size eagle rays, most of the typical Hawaiian reef fish, but no sharks. Also gone were the massive Ulua they used to have. The largest fish (besides the rays) in there was one Awa. I don’t recall seeing any eels or lobsters on the bottom, but than again, none of us really were paying that much attention to the tank, and more into enjoying our lunch.

Of course, this is a great place to bring kids, and they do have lower prices for the keiki.

Here’s The Oceanarium’s current prices:
• Breakfast Buffet (Mon-Saturday 5:30am-10am): $17.50 per person, $7.75 children 5-10 years old
• Nightly Dinner Buffet (4:30pm-10:00pm) $34.95 adults, $15.25 children 5-10 years old
• Saturday Brunch Buffet (11am-2:30pm) $21.95 adults, $11.50 children 5-10 years old
• Sunday Brunch Buffet (10am-2:30pm) $26.95 per person, $11.50 children 5-10 years old
• Aloha Friday Lunch Buffet* (11am-2pm) $15.50 adults, $8.50 children 5-10 years old, $9.50 seniors 65 years and older

*The lunch menu on all other days except Fridays are served ala carte (not buffet) off the menu.

So if you’re tired of Todai, Willowed out, or mad at Makino Chaya, consider Aloha Friday at the Oceanarium!

Oceanarium Restaurant
2490 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96815
Phone: 808-921-6111
(located lobby level of the Pacific Beach Hotel in Waikiki)
Open daily from 5:30 a.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Dinner 4:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
website

The Tasty Island Rating:

(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)

Waikiki Eats: Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin

Kurobuta Pork Loin Katsu

While ramen shops from Japan continue to spring up all over Honolulu, Tonkatsu specialty restaurants have yet to catch on here. McCully Shopping Center used to have one (I can’t recall the name), but that was short lived, and unfortunately I never made it there in time to try it before they closed up. Currently there are only two specialty restaurants that I’m aware of. That would be Cafe Imperial Tonkatsu House, located on Kapiolani boulevard, and what we have here at Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin in Waikiki.

Being a first-timer at the place just this past Saturday, I went for their top dish (pictured above) and ordered the Kurobuta Pork Loin Katsu, which for $36 came as a teishoku set…

Click image for top view

The set includes a bowl of premium-grade white rice, cucumber tsukemono, sesame seed condiment and a bowl of Miso Soup, although we substituted the latter for Tonjiru for an additional $4, which I’ll explain a bit later. The red “bowl” with the Tonkatsu sauce in the center is actually the lid from the Tonjiru, which serves dual purpose here.

My girlfriend ordered the “standard” Thick-Cut Pork Loin Katsu…

Thick-Cut Pork Loin Katsu

This also came as a teishoku set with the same side dishes, but for much less cash at $23.

Thick-Cut Pork Loin Katsu set with Tonjiru on the bottom-right (only available on Saturdays)

Where there’s tonkatsu, there must be sauce, which has a permanent home in the condiments station placed at the center of each table…

Ginza Bairin’s house-made Tonkatsu Sauce

That wood ladle, which sort of resembles a tobacco pipe, is just like the one I remember was used in the Tokyo Tonkatsu shop we frequented. Except the shop in Tokyo also had a wooden sauce pot, whereas here it’s made of glazed ceramic.

Another difference I noticed was the thickness of the pork’s cut. The shop in Tokyo pounded their meat flat, which not only tenderizes it, but helps it to cook faster and thoroughly. I suppose because they’re using a higher quality meat at Ginza Bairin, they can cut it thick without any compromise.

Kurobuta, which translates to “Black Pig” is considered a premium-grade pork imported from Canada. It’s known to have a finer fat marbling and shorter muscle fiber, which makes it more tender and flavorful.

Here’s a piece of my Kurobuta Katsu…

So how was the Kurobuta Katsu? Excellent. While it wasn’t tender enough that I could cut it with my chopsticks, as the Honolulu Advertiser claims, it did stand out in that regard, and also was very flavorful and moist. While I’m glad I tried it, for the price difference, next time around I’d order the standard Pork Katsu, which is considerably easier on the wallet, and not THAT much less in great taste. I tried my girlfriend’s “standard” version and it was almost as good.

Actually, I thought the cut was a little too thick, making the ratio of pork-to-panko a little too much. Not that this a bad thing, just not what I’m used to. I’d also prefer it sliced into thinner pieces. If you look at the second Katsu plate pictured, you can see that entire cutlet is sliced just 5 times, making each section very thick and very wide.

As for the panko crust, it was noticeably on the coarse side, which I can agree with. Especially being that the pork was cut thick, that extra texture helped the panko contribute more. After all this is a CUTLET.

As most Tonkatsu fans will attest, the critical factor in this dish is the sauce. It could be the greatest cut of pork in the world, but if the sauce isn’t right, it just isn’t going to work. Well, I’m happy to report that Ginza Bairin NAILS it. There’s a “freshness” about their house sauce that you just can’t get in a store-bought bottle. Sorry Bull Dog. If you know what Bull Dog tastes like, it’s like that but better. Theirs has a perfect balance of sweet fruit, acidity and zest, that compliments without overpowering the tender pork cutlet. It’s a little thinner than I expected, but that actually worked, as it enabled the sauce to penetrate into the meat better, instead of just coating the outside. Then you get the added flavor and texture from the sesame seeds and POW! My SPAM Musubi meter was hitting the redline!

You can also buy their sauce over-the-counter in bottles for $7 each.

Something new to my tonkatsu dining experience is this fantastic idea of adding ground sesame seeds to the sauce…

The toasted white sesame seeds are brought to the table in this mortar and pestle, which you grind up yourself to release the oils (flavor) in them. Then you can either mix it with your sauce, or dip the katsu into the sauce, then into the sesame seed to give a coating, which is how I did it. I tell you, if haven’t tried katsu like that yet, you must. It’s so good! I’m certainly adding sesame seeds to the table the next time I make tonkatsu.

Ginza Bairin uses premium cotton seed oil from a fresh batch every day, which is said to “highlight its award-winning texture, aroma and flavor”. This, along with the quality of the rest of the ingredients (and Waikiki location of course) is what explains the higher-than-average price of admission here.

“Saturday is SPECIAL Tonjiru Day!” as it says on the menu, which is when we visited, so we substituted miso soup for Tonjiru ($4), which is like miso soup on steroids…

Tonjiru

“Ton” is pork, hence Tonjiru uses thin strips of pork in it, which gives it a richer, heartier flavor than “plain” miso soup. While it does have miso, it’s not as pronounced, leaning more towards the dashi side, while being accented by the flavors and substantial solid presence of gobo, daikon, carrot, potato, konnyaku and negi. It’s delicious on it’s own, but I didn’t think it complimented the Tonkatsu as well as Miso Soup. I like how Miso Soup balances the meal, buffers the palate and settles the stomach, where as the Tonjiru is a little too complex. I’d really enjoy it in a larger bowl as a meal by itself, but not as a side dish with Tonkatsu.

That cotton seed oil must have helped lighten the dish, because I actually still had room for dessert. So we ordered the Azuki Bean Ice Cream to share…

Azuki Bean Ice Cream (featuring Bubbies), $3.50

Aren’t those the coolest spoons! This dish is made up of premium vanilla ice cream from Bubbies!, sweet mochi balls and sweet azuki beans, with a sprig of fresh mint. I don’t care for Azuki beans on its own, or in Shave Ice for that matter, but with the ice cream and mochi, the sum of its parts made this dessert simply delicious! it was the perfect finishing touch to an absolutely fantastic Tonkatsu lunch.

Not only was the food great, but so was the ambiance of the restaurant. It’s quiet, clean and actually very new-looking. There’s counter seating on one side…

And table seating that take up the rest of the place…

In charge during our visit was Chef Mitsuru Yoshida…

Out of respect, I won’t post the picture on this page, but if you care to, click here to see how clean and stylish even their restroom is! Our server was quite proud about that. lol

Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin is located on the ground floor of the Regency on Beach Walk hotel…

which is located on Beach Walk, the street just before the old Mitsukoshi building where Planet Hollywood is.

Parking is available next door in an APCOA lot with validation for just $1.

Other menu offerings include their Pork Loin Katsu Don and the original Bairin Pork Tenderloin Katsu Sandwich. And If pork isn’t on everyone’s mind, there’s a few other items to choose from, such as Jumbo Black Tiger Shrimp Katsu, Wafu Chicken Karaage & Chicken & Vegetable Katsu.

In closing, we thoroughly enjoyed our Tonkatsu meal and dessert here. While the prices are on the high side, the taste and quality of what’s served is exceptional, as is the service and ambiance. While it may not be a practical place to take the entire family, it would be a great choice to entertain business associates or a special date.

Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin
255 Beach Walk
Honolulu, HI 96815
808-926-808
(Take-out phone orders welcome

Hours:
Lunch 11am-2:30pm
Dinner 5pm-9:30pm
*Closed for lunch on Sundays

Click here for menu (52kb PDF document)

The Tasty Island Rating:

(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)

Related Links:
• www.pj-world..com/bairin – company website
• At Tonkatsu Eateries, Try Pork at its Finest – review by The Honolulu Advertiser
• Designer Katsu – review by Honolulu Weekly
• Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin – review by NattoKun
• Tonkatsu Ginza Bairin – reviews on Yelp

Hurricane Popcorn in a Jiffy

Hurricane Popcorn

Jiffy Pop

With the the summer blockbuster movie season in full swing, I thought it was a fitting time to discuss popcorn.

Just as unique as SPAM Musubi is to the islands, another similar east-meets-west local favorite is “Hurricane Popcorn”. If you go to a movie theater here, chances are you’ll see the locals combining mochi crunch (a.k.a. Arare or Rice Cracker) with popcorn in their cardboard box tray.

According to Hawaii Popcorn Company, registered trademark name owner and maker of “Hawaiian Hurricane” Popcorn, it was created in 1991 in Kaneohe, having their beginnings serving this delicacy out of a pushcart.

Let’s take a closer look.

It comes in a box of three 6 oz. packages…

Each package looks to be ready for resale, including complete information on back and a peg-hook puka (hole)…

Unpacking it, you see it’s like a kit…

This “kit” includes a bag of standard-sized, plain, unsalted microwave popcorn, a packet (in silver) of Mochi Crunch and Furikake, an artificially-flavored butter packet and a folded empty plastic mixing bag to combine everything.

Here’s the contents of the mochi crunch and furikake packet…

Mochi Crunch is a lightly sweetened, soy sauce-flavored rice cracker. Furikake comes in a variety of combinations and ingredients nowadays, but the one used here is a very basic sweetened nori (dried seaweed) flakes (teriyaki style) and sesame seeds and that’s it.

You simply nuke the microwave popcorn bag on high, which takes about 3-1/2 minutes. Then you let it cool so it doesn’t melt the plastic mixing bag. After about a minute to cool down, transfer it into the mixing bag, along with the mochi crunch and furikake and butter…

The instructions recommends to mix the dry ingredients before adding the butter (flavored, colored oil), which is what I did, and it combined evenly like a charm. Nice. You gently shake it around while holding the top of the bag closed.

And voila, Hurricane Popcorn!…

Hurricane Popcorn is like the non-meat equivalent to SPAM Musubi. It has the same complimentary contrast the nori provides, which in this case, instead of rice is popcorn, while the Mochi Crunch acts like the SPAM, providing that savory, robust element. It really is a perfect, genius match!

The best part of eating Hurricane Popcorn is at the end, where the Mochi Crunch-to-Popcorn ratio is much higher due to the mochi cruch falling to the bottom…

This is the point where you don’t share the bowl. lol

Popcorn tends to bring out the kid in us, where speaking of which, remember Jiffy Pop? I used to LOVE Jiffy Pop! I was shopping at Safeway on Kapahulu last weekend, when I came upon the popcorn section and spocked Jiffy Pop on the shelf. Wow, they still make that? Awesome! So I picked up a couple of ’em to try once again…

This Jiffy Pop was $2.50 each, and there was just one flavor: butter.

Is that a teflon coating on the bottom?…

Here’s the instructions, which are under the cardboard lid label…

I remember as a kid, I always wanted to sabotage (but never did it, because I knew better) the foil by puncturing it before my sister started popping it lol…

So I followed the instructions precisely, and within under a minute it started popping away, taking just about 2-1/2 minutes to finish, which is “jiffy” indeed, beating out the microwave stuff by a minute!…

Another thing I remember was being afraid the thing was gonna’ explode on the stove, and I must confess, I kinda’ got a little nervous, even now. lol

There you have it, Jiffy Pop!…

I was rather disappointed in the quality of the popcorn with this Jiffy Pop. It’s manufactured by Con Agra, which might explain their lack of focus on this product vs. if it were manufactured by say, Orville Redenbacher. It was a little too salty and soggy and chewy in texture. Not horribly, but enough to desire better.

Still, it was fun making it, and certainly something you should try (again) just for old time’s sake. Even better if you have children. You’ll get a kick in their reaction as the foil grows with every explosive kernel. I can almost guarantee at least one of them will get scared and hide or run away. Lotta’ fun!

Well, it’s a Saturday, and I just might make it over to the Consolidated Ward to catch Bat Man: Dark Knight, tempted to smuggle in a “Hurricane Handy-Pack” of Furikake and Mochi Crunch!

Related Links:
• www.HawaiiPopcornCompany.com
• Jiffy Pop (Wikipedia)

Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones

The pickled mango, which was supposed to follow the shoyu mango topic previously posted, is still pickling. In the mean time, just thought I’d virtually share with you a box of these scrumptious Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones we received today from one of our vendors. Mahalo HH+R!

These scones are absolutely fantastic! Especially with a cup ‘o joe. The cream cheese, which you can see sort of incorporated into the dough in that cross cut, adds this richness to an otherwise light and flaky pastry, giving it this completely unique texture and flavor profile that’s decadent AND redeeming, all at the same time. Of course where there’s cream cheese there’s blueberries, which in this case adds just the right amount of contrast. The “tight” sugar glaze drizzled on top is literally “icing on the cake” that would be missed if it were absent, further reinforcing that what makes up the sum of its parts, when added all up, equals greatness.

A box (or several) of these would make a great Omiyage (gift) if you’re looking for an interesting new idea to take back to family and friends on the neighbor islands or abroad.

They’re from from Chef Kelvin Ro’s Daimond Head Market & Grill on the corner of Campbell and Monsarrat, former home of Burgerland.

www.DiamondHeadMarket.com

Tasty Island Rating:

(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)

There's Pickled, Then There's Shoyu Mango

Shoyu Mango

Gosh, it’s been AGES since I had Shoyu Mango, a snack I used to love as a kid. Just saying the name, let alone looking at it makes my mouth water. The way I remember making this “back in the day” was just shoyu and vinegar, using semi-ripe mangoes. I’ve also seen this robust/salty/sour “sauce” used in the same fashion with tangerine wedges and, believe it or not, Vienna Sausage straight out of the can. Whoah!

Of course things are different now as an adult – especially eating habits – making shoyu or even pickled mango, today, something I really have to be in the mood for.

The Shibata Mango tree at mom’s place is a late-bloomer this year, with matured, fully-grown fruit only now reaching their harvesting stage.

Shibata Mango Tree

While I much prefer a sweet Hayden or Pirie for eating plain at fully-ripe stage, Shibata mangoes are perfect for pickled mango when still green due to their larger size, tangy flavor and fibrous flesh.

(green) Full-grown Shibata Mangoes

Notice there’s a few Shibata here that outsize the 4-3/4″ diameter Kikaida DVD next to it. There’s been some come off that same tree in the past that measured closer to 7″, which perhaps a Godzilla DVD would best be suited for THAT size comparison. lol

Also notice a distinct one-sided curved shape the Shibata have.

Here’s what one of those larger ones looks like in cross-cut view…

(green) Shibata mango, cross-cut view

This Shoyu Mango dish was actually a spin-off project to pickled mango that I had been preparing the other day, using a batch of Shibata I recently harvested. While peeling and slicing them, I noticed a couple fruits were at the perfect semi-ripe stage, so those were separated and used for the Shoyu Mango…

Those darker yellow slices are pefect for Shoyu Mango, so I separated those into another bowl

Since I had all the ingredients and cooking utensils out and ready to go, I figured go for it. As mentioned earlier, the recipe I remember from the “old school” was simply shoyu and vinegar. But that was then and this is now.

Based on measuring carefully, and taste-testing to my current personal preference, this is what I came up with on the Shoyu Mango dish I’m presenting here today…

Shoyu Mango

1 or 2 Semi-ripe (more ripe than green) Mango (Shibata shown), sliced in bite size strips
1/2 cup Rice Vinegar
1 cup Shoyu (I used Aloha brand)
1/2 cup granulated white sugar

Heat vinegar, shoyu and sugar in pot to dissolve sugar and combine flavors, then let cool. Pour in a serving bowl with the sliced mango and serve.

The reason I added sugar was to counter the tartness of the Shibata, which helped it quite a bit. Of course, that’s just my taste buds. If you you like it more salty, acidic or sweet, adjust the ratio accordingly. Some folks also add black pepper and/or Hawaiian chili pepper, and God knows what else, but I think simple is best.

Shoyu Mango

How did it taste? Pretty much how I remember it as a kid. Sweet, sour, salty and bold. Very bold. That’s why I say you have to be in the mood for it. To be honest, it kinda’ hit me like a brick wall. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but I just wasn’t ready for the kick this thing’s got!

If you have childhood memories of Shoyu Mango or a your own recipe you’d like to share, buss ’em out cuz!

In a post coming soon, its big brother (or big sister, however you wanna’ look at it), Pickled Mango!

A jar of Pickled Mango just made, that still needs to soak for a few days

Related Links:
• Mayo’ Mango Madness
• Mango Bruschetta
• Takin’ it back to the old school… (external blog site)

One-Ton Ahi Poke Chips

“Weird Food Combo” Exhibit B Equation: 1 lb. Ahi Poke + 1 package Maebo’s One-Ton Chips = One-Ton Ahi Poke Chips

About a year ago, we were having an online discussion on the various uses for One-Ton Chips, when Gail Jennings, contributing editor at HawaiiDiner.com suggested trying One-Ton Chips with Poke. She swears to have many converted followers of this!

Since I recently posted another “Weird Food Combo” in the form of my mother’s Mayonnaise with Mango “madness”, I thought it was a good time to follow-up on that subject by putting Gail’s suggestion to the test. Besides, I LOVE One-Ton Chips, and I LOVE Ahi Poke, so this has gotta’ be good!

So I picked up a bag of Maebo’s One-Ton Chips and a pound of fresh Ahi Poke, shoyu style from Hawaii Kai Foodland in Koko Marina Center. Man, the price of those chips sure have gone up! This rather small, practically snack-size 4 oz. bag costs almost $5 bucks. The fresh Ahi Poke wasn’t bad though, being on sale for $6.99/lb.. Much better than Safeway, who was charging $12.99/lb. for the same thing. The quality of the Ahi was “melt-in-the-mouth” fresh too. Plus, the one I got came from a batch they had just made, so that buggah was almost as good as the Poke from Ono Seafood on Kapahulu.

1 pound Shoyu Ahi Poke from Foodland Hawaii Kai, $6.99/lb.

Maebo’s One-Ton Chips 4 oz. package from Foodland Hawaii Kai, $4.49

Now let’s see… da’ Ahi Poke is fresh: check, and da’ One-Ton Chips are crunchy: check. Well, let’s do this!

Fresh Ahi Poke (Shoyu style) and One-Ton Chips

I didn’t scoop it, which is what Gail suggested, but instead used chopsticks to select a slice of Poke I thought would match the size of chip it would rest it on. So here it goes…

Truthfully, at first I was slightly hesitant. Wouldn’t you be! But I gathered the courage and popped the chip with the poke on it in one fell swoop, closely evaluating the contrasting flavors and textures. I repeated this several times with various poke-to-chip ratios. Overall on each and every bite in varied ratios, it immediately hit me that the Poke overpowered the One-Ton Chip’s flavor, primarily due to the slight sesame oil flavor on it, as well as the Ahi itself. It wasn’t until the the Ahi went down did I detect the chip, as that followed with the crunch-factor, which was nice, but not an outstanding feature of it. Even my girlfriend tried a sample, and she had the same impression.

On top of that, the salt on the One-Ton chip accentuated the flavor of the Poke even further, drowning out the mildly-sweet and hearty flavor the One-Ton chips have on their own.

I really was hoping there was going to be this magical “wow, this is an amazing combo, marriage-made-in-heaven'” impression, but it wasn’t the case. Unless I did something wrong here, I’m not “converted”.

Alan Wong has a menu item called “Poke-Pines”, which are described as ” Crispy Won Ton Ahi Poke Balls on Avocado with Wasabi Sauce”. While I haven’t personally tried that yet, I imagine it has much better balance of all the elements involved.

In closing, while it wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. I’m glad I tried it, although I wouldn’t put these two together again. Still, based on creativity in its simplistic approach, and potential as seen by Alan Wong’s version, I’ll rate this One-Ton Poke Chips combo 1 SPAM Musubi.

If you ever try/tried this, let us know what you think!

Grindz of the Day: Forty Niner Teri Burger

Forty Niner Restaurant (near Pearlridge in Aiea) – Teriyaki Burger, $2.35

Diner A had a doctor’s appointment today in the Pearlridge area, so afterward for lunch, he decided to check out the grindz at Forty Niner Restaurant on the corner of Honomanu street and Kamehameha highway in Aiea, nextdoor to KFC. This small, stand-alone mom ‘n pop establishment was re-opened under the same name in 2006 by Will Cordes and ohana, taking over where the Chagami family left off after being in business for 56 years.

This was actually the first time Diner A ever set foot in the establishment, even after living in the area for many, many years. Which is ironic, as, just like Will mentioned in a Honolulu Advertiser write-up about the place, “Every day, somebody comes in and says they’ve driven by and never eaten here before.”

On his inaugural visit, Diner A chose the Teriyaki burger and fries…

It’s good to see they lightly toast the bun. Toasted buns are happy buns!

The fries ($2.35) had a golden crispy crust with a rich flavor to it, almost as if they were deep fried in lard. Very interesting multi-faceted texture. They were also salted perfectly, which is always appreciated. I tried some and they were fantastic.

For the teriyaki burger ($2.35), he said it was quite tasty, except he would have preferred the sauce to be a bit thicker, and missed a tomato to go along with the lettuce. At least it was a decent size hand-made patty, and not one of them frozen “generi-pucks”

Overall he rated Forty Niner’s burger and fries a solid 3 SPAM Musubi, noting that he’ll likely return again this weekend for an encore.

There’s plenty of other choices on the menu as well…

On the left side of the menu board are the breakfast items, saimin, oxtail soup and side orders.

So the next time you’re in the Pearlridge area and you’re in the mood for local style grinds at a place with a long history behind it, don’t drive by – make a stop at Forty Niner Restaurant.

The restaurant has six customer parking stalls available on the right side of the building.

Forty Niner Restaurant
98-110 Honomanu St
Aiea, HI 96701
(808) 484-1940

The Tasty Island Rating (on a Teriyaki Burger and Fries):

(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)

Beyond Lup Cheong & Rice

You ever have that moment where you come home after a long, hard day at work all tired and hungry. Then after settling in, you go into the kitchen and, as usual, there’s nothing to eat in the refrigerator but the same old leftovers from 2 nights ago, and a lonely half-pot of cooked rice on the counter. Then you open the pantry and there’s the same old canned suspects – tuna, SPAM, Pork & Beans, or you name it.

Then, there it is! You spock da’ Lup Cheong on da’ bottom shelf, staring back at you like a vacuum-sealed package of instantly-sinful gratification. “Perfect!”, you think. “Steam ’em up, nuke’ da’ rice, put ’em in a bowl with a little shoyu and I’m set!”

Yes, when the mood is right, convenience is key and nothing else matters, Lup Cheong and rice can be one of the simplest, yet most satisfying comfort foods out there. I’d dare even put it up against a ball-busting Loco Moco in a “that hit the spot” competition. Seriously

Another way I enjoy Lup Cheong and rice is by topping it with Chinese Cilantro and Ginger Pesto…

Steamed Lup Cheong and Rice with Chinese Cilantro Ginger Pesto

The “bite” of the ginger and cilantro, along with the fine texture of the chopped nuts work so well with the bold, sweet, savory and fatty flavor of the Lup Cheong sausage, as it does just as well as an enhancer to the rice.

My Chinese Cilantro Ginger Pesto recipe includes Cilantro (Chinese Parsley), Green Onion (Scallions), Ginger, Pine Nuts (or you can use your favorite nuts; I used Pine Nuts because it’s all I had on hand.. and worked great!), Canola Oil and salt. I made mine manually by chopping everything and heating it on the stove, but you can go the easy way and use a small food processor, which works great too; less chopping and mincing. I was just too lazy to bust mine out. You can play with the quantities to your own taste. Some might like it more “gingery”, more “nutty”, more “oily” or this or that.

This stuff is excellent on most white meat dishes like chicken, pork or fish. If you’ve had Cold Ginger Chicken, you know what I’m talkin’ about. I also like it simply mixed in with hot steamed rice, turning it into a simplified asian-style Pilaf, if you will.

So what is Lup Cheong? Well, here’s the brand I’m using today…

Package front

As you see, they spell it LAP-XUONG, but I’ve always know it as “Lup Cheong”.

Package back

This is Kam Yen Jan brand Chinese Style Sausage, manufactured in Seattle, Washington. This package is often on sale for about $3 each here in Honolulu. The 12 oz. net weight package is vacuum sealed and requires no refrigeration until it’s opened. The directions indicate to cook it by steaming it for 15 minutes and slice diagonally for service.

Some folks put the Lup Cheong in whole with the rice while the rice is steam-cooking in the pot. Others like myself prefer to pre-cut the Lup Cheong into diagonal bite-size pieces and cook it separately by placing it in a porcelain ceramic bowl that sits inside a pot filled with just enough water to steam it. That way I can control exactly how done I want it. This also saves the entire pot of rice from taking on any of the Lup Cheongs’ flavor. I definitely only like it steamed and don’t care for pan-fried Lup Cheong at all.

LOOK AT THIS>>>The nutritional facts PER LINK are a heart-stopping 240 calories/190 fat calories, 21 grams of total fat, with 7 grams of saturated fat, 50mg of Cholesterol, 650mg of sodium, 5 grams of total carbs and 9 grams of protein.

Holy defibrillator, Batman! Makes that “Mayo’ Mango Madness” post just before this sound like an endorsement from Jenny Craig. lol

Here’s how they look uncooked out of the package…

There are eight links (actually cut from a longer length) in each package. Each link (uncooked) measures approximately 5-1/2″ length x 5/8″ diameter.

The ingredients are: Pork, Pork Fat, Sugar, Soy Sauce, Salt, Grain Alcohol, Sodium Nitrite, Sodium Erythorbate, In Beef Collagen Casing.

There are several other brands out there that I can’t remember the names top of mind. I do remember an onolicious looking package of Lup Cheong they had for sale at the Vegas808 snack shop in the California Hotel. It was made in California, and the girl who worked there said it was superior to the ones we have on our store shelves. I should have bought a package. Oh well, next time.

But there’s gotta’ be more than just Lup Cheong & Rice, right? Of course!

Fellow food blogger, “Hyn Pake”, likes to use it as a topping on his favorite home-style pork hash dish. A few local convenience stores offer Lup Cheong Musubi and even a Lup Cheong Manapua. It’s also great in stir-fried rice and noodles, and as a mega-powered flavor enhancer with steamed chicken or fish. And you just know what’s gonna’ be joining the group the next time I make Andadogs. lol

With that said, Melveen “Da Tita” Leed was a guest on Harry’s Kitchen (remember that KHON2 cooking show?) a long time ago, and I never forgot the Butterfish and Lup Cheong dish she prepared. It looked so ono! From that idea, I came up with a twist on the dish and did a steamed Monchong with Lup Cheong and Chinese Ginger Pesto, which came out fantastic.

Luckily, her recipe has been preserved online at the suresave.com recipe website, so the other night I decided to try it out!

Melveen Leed’s Steamed Butter Fish Ualapue Style
2 pieces Butterfish (either frozen or fresh), cut into bite-sized pieces
4 Chinese Lup Cheong Sausages, sliced
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
1 small piece of Ginger Root, crushed
1 block of Tofu (firm)
4 leaves of Mustard Cabbage
1/4 Cup Oyster Sauce (look for “woman on boat” pictured on the bottle-it’s the best for cooking)
1/4 Cup Chinese Parsley
1/4 Cup Green Onions

Place butterfish in loaf pan. Scatter garlic and ginger root on fish. Place Lup Cheong pieces in pan. Add Oyster Sauce and steam for 10 minutes. Add mustard cabbage just before serving and steam for one minute and serve.

Here’s the fresh (uncooked) butterfish…

As the name implies, butterfish is indeed a fatty, oily fish. The only gripe I have is that it has too many pin-bones. Otherwise, it’s very moist and tasty.

So I put everything in a small pan as directed…

The 2 butterfish steaks are covered with lup cheong, minced ginger and garlic, with cubed firm tofu scattered around it and sprinkled generously with chopped green onions and cilantro, then drizzled with oyster sauce. I poured about a 1/4 cup of Sake (my own add-on) for added moisture and to enhance the flavors.

Then I covered all that with chopped Bok Choy cabbage…

Then drizzled a little more oyster sauce on the Bok Choy for flavor. Then covered it and put it in the oven.

It took much longer than the 10 minutes cooking time instructed on the recipe. More like 35 minutes total time, which isn’t that bad. This was in a 350 degree F. oven on bake. There’s a lot of water in the cabbage, which added even more “sauce” in the pan when it was done. Adding to the flavor of the sauce was the drippings from the fish and lup cheong, as well as the oyster sauce.

So here’s the plated dish…

Melveen’s Steamed Butter Fish Ualapue Style

Let me start by noting that I wasn’t happy with the presentation of this dish, and didn’t have a chance to redo it, as I had already served out the pan. It just looks sloppy. Next time I’d plate it differently.

One thing I think could have improved on was to cook it a bit longer. The fish was perfectly moist and tender, but the Lup Cheong was a bit undercooked, as was the fresh minced ginger and garlic.

Another thing I’d change is the fish. Like I said, Butterfish has all them pin-bones. I’d definately do a Monchong or Ono fillet next time. Not a steak. Salmon would probably also do well. Shoot, try it with chicken! I used Shirakiku brand oyster sauce, which I think is just as good as the Lee Kum Kee brand. It really worked well here.

Still! This dish has MAJOR potential. The tofu and Bok Choy round it out brilliantly, and they take on the flavors of the butterfish and Lup Cheong like nobody’s business. Aside of the undercooked ingredients mentioned, my girlfriend was HIGHLY impressed with it.

Look at how tender and moist this butterfish came out…

See how the skin is just falling off, and it’s just flaking apart. Yum. What you can’t see is the sweet and bold Lup Cheong flavor it has imparted within, along with the deep flavor of the oyster sauce. Oh yeah. I can see easily paying over $30 for this dish in a restaurant, depending where you’re talking about. I would say take the basic recipe here and use your cooking sensibility to make it YOUR OWN. I can almost guarantee you’ll love it.

If you have any other ideas for using Lup Cheong beyond accompanying a bowl of rice, and are able to “look the other way” regarding those staggering nutritional numbers, leave a comment and let’s hear about it!

Related Links:
• Key Ingredient: Lup Cheong – Star Bulletin

Mayo' Mango Madness

Chilled, sliced ripe mango topped with Best Food Mayonnaise

You probably know someone who puts ketchup or shoyu (or some other given condiment) on just about everything they put in their mouth. Well, my mom is like that with mayonnaise. Well OK, not “just about everything”, but a few things that might make you scratch your head and think, “huh?” Yet somehow if you try some of her “mayo-concoctions”, chances are you’re gonna’ be enlightened, thinking “Hey, this is fantastic!” One of those is her canned salmon on hot rice, topped with mayonnaise and black “goma” sesame seeds. I tell ya’, it’s so delicious!

And another is the dish above, which is simply chilled (make sure it’s cold) ripe mango, peeled and sliced into bite-size servings and topped with mayonnaise. Of course the brand of mayonnaise has to be Best Foods (a.k.a. Hellmann’s).

I know what you’re thinking. “Sheez, that’s a totally innocent and healthy mango, and you’re sending it to hell!”. That’s what I thought until I tried it. And you know what? It’s a winner! While I wouldn’t make this a habit, it is an interesting twist.

What I think makes it work is the acidic component in mayonnaise, along with the “fattiness” of it, which compliments by contrast to the sweet, lean and exotic flavor of the mango.

Actually, I squeezed a little too much mayo’ on the dish shown above, which I simply just scooted some off to the side when eating it. You just sort of give a light coat of mayo’ to each slice and whack ’em. Winnahz.

Give it a try. Since we’re at the peak of mango season, you should have more than enough opportunity to sample this yourself.

At least it’s another idea when you have so many mangoes and not enough ideas to make use of them all. Also, in case you missed it, I recently posted my very own Mango Bruschetta recipe here….

Mango Bruschetta

A Retro-Hip Tiki Lounge & New-Wave Mai Tais

Click on the poster above to listen to the music of The Tikiyaki Orchestra!

If you’re a fan of exotica music from the 50’s and 60’s by such legends as Martin Denny, Arthur Lyman & Les Esquivel, or surf rock guitar god Dick Dale, then I highly recommend you check out The Tikiyaki Orchestra. What started as a one-man studio band, has now turned into a true “orchestra” if you will, doing gigs all over California, where my friend “Tikiyaki” resides. He also owns a property in Hilo.

Jim Bacchi, a.ka. “Tikiyaki”, is the man behind this modern Polynesian Pop group, turning out catchy tunes such as “Mai Tais on the Moon”, “Crossing Kilauea” and “Ali’i Fire Dance”. Just listening to this exotic music will virtually transport you to a tropical island beach as you gaze out at the blue skies and ocean while sipping on a Mai Tai.

But what happens when the sun goes down? Head for the Tiki Lounge of course! It’s wonderful to see the Tikiyaki Orchestra now has a permanent place to gig at the “Hidden Village”, a banquet room located at the Kona Restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, California.

The Tikiyaki Orchestra kicked off their inaugural performance there this past Friday evening. Here’s some photos from the event…

Photo courtesy of SoccerTiki

The Tikiyaki Orchestra performs live in celebration of the grand opening of the “Hidden Village” at the Kona Restaurant in Huntington Beach, California. Photo courtesy of SoccerTiki

Jim “Tikiyaki” is the man in center behind the red pedestal on keyboards. He also plays lead guitar.

Photo courtesy of SoccerTiki

Kitsch Polynesian decor abound…

Photo courtesy of SoccerTiki

Photo courtesy of SoccerTiki

Photo courtesy of SoccerTiki

I dig Tiki Lounges.

Check out this cool limited edition mug they have for sale…

The Tikiyaki Orchestra Hukilau Mug – Front and back

Tikiyaki’s absolutely gorgeous fiance (on the right) and her daughter (in orange)

Looks like everyone there had a “Tiki Wiki” good time!

For more photos and discussion about the Hidden Village grand opening, check out the Tiki Forum message board here.

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While The Tikiyaki Orchestra jams out “Mai Tais on the Moon”, Author Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi offers yet another fresh look at this classic exotic tropical drink in her new book, aptly titled “The New-Wave Mai Tai”…

I just received this press release (<–view/download the PDF at that link) announcement today…

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The New-Wave Mai Tai: New Twist on an Old Favorite

The mai tai — that most tropical of tropical drinks — has come a long way from the early days of Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber. Now Hawai‘i publisher Watermark Publishing has released The New-Wave Mai Tai, a refreshing concoction of more than 50 cutting-edge mai tai recipes, along with dazzling photos, first-person encounters and fascinating historical tidbits.

In this colorful, 138-page book, author Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi traces the rich, swashbuckling story of rum —the mai tai’s principal ingredient — and explores the origins of the famed drink, including the eternal debate over whether Trader Vic or Don the Beachcomber actually created it. Most important, she shares more than 50 innovative and easy-to-follow recipes that tweak the old classic with eye-opening new ingredients from schnapps to sherbet: the Mai Tai-Jito, Sassy Wahine, Smooth Shredder and many others. These creative cocktails from bartenders and watering holes throughout Hawai‘i go far beyond what Don or Vic ever
imagined.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is an award-winning travel journalist who has covered Hawai‘i, Asia and the South Pacific for numerous local and national publications, including Travel + Leisure, Fodor’s, Contra-Costa Times, Chicago Sun Times, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HAWAII, Hawai‘i Westways, Hawaiian Style and Modern Luxury. She is the author of 10 books about Hawai‘i; The New Wave Mai Tai is her second title for Watermark Publishing. Her first, The Hawai‘i Beer Book: Bars, Breweries & Beer Cuisine, was released in 2007.

The New-Wave Mai Tai (ISBN 978-0-9815086-1-0) is available for $15.95 at bookstores and other retail outlets, or direct from the publisher at http://www.bookshawaii.net. Contact Watermark Publishing, 1088 Bishop St., Suite 310, Honolulu, HI 96813; telephone (808) 587-7766; toll-free (866) 900-BOOK; fax (808) 521-3461; e-mail sales@bookshawaii.net.

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Just from what I’ve seen on the press release, the photography looks fantastic, as do the recipes, such as this “Mai Tai-Jito” from Duke’s…

If I go to Duke’s Waikiki Outrigger on the Beach this weekend, I’ll order one of these!

Other drinks mentioned in the press release that are featured in the book include the “Mango’d Mai Tai Blues”, “Pakini Mai Tini” and the “Smooth Shredder”.

Hey, I want my very own “Po-Mai Tai”!

“The New Wave Mai Tai” will be available in August 2008 at most local bookstores and retail outlets, and also directly online from the publisher here.

Related Links:
• The Tikiyaki Orchestra official site
• Kona Restaurant in Huntington Beach
• Tiki Central Forums
• Watermark Publishing