Waimalu Eats: Jackie's Diner

Upon conversation with someone at work about ono ‘kine grindz (yeah, that’s all we talk about), the subject of Pasteles came up, where that person mentioned trying out Mario’s Cocina in Pauoa. Which had me once again getting da’ “onos” (craving) for some good Pasteles. Since I was in the Pearl City area yesterday, decided to stop by and try Jackie’s Diner, whom we hear also makes a darned great Pastele plate.

Jackie’s Diner is located in Waimalu Shopping Center, a busy strip mall located just a few blocks Ewa of Pearlridge Shopping Center…

One thing’s for sure is that there’s no shortage of places to get your grind on at Waimalu Shoppping Center. There’s Shiro’s Saimin Haven, Kapiolani Coffee Shop, Zippy’s, Chun Wah Kam, an Okazuya, Korean Restaurant, Jackie’s Diner, plus quite a few more I can’t even remember the names of.

Jackie’s Diner’ set-up is your standard casual dine-in/take-out plate style establishment, with booths lining one side of the place and a service counter on the other…

That’s my uncle sitting down eating ovah there. Nah, juss’ kidding. lol

So what get fo’ grind? Check ’em out…

Click on photo above to enlarge

Easily making my mind up based on what was said earlier, I chose the first selection, the Pastele Plate…

Jackie’s Diner – Pastele Plate: Pastele, Spanish Rice, Bacalao Salad, Macaroni Salad, $8.65

Diner A chose the same thing…

Jackie’s Diner – Pastele Plate: Pastele, Spanish Rice, Bacalao Salad, Macaroni Salad, $8.65

Diner E went for his standard “gauge plate”, da’ Hamburger Steak…

Jackie’s Diner – Hamburger Steak, $7.75

First we’ll start with Diner E’s Hamburger Steak, which he said – CHECK THIS OUT – reminded him of that from Kewalo Lunch Wagon. Now that’s a bold statement right there! That’s like serious “props” coming from him. He noted the macaroni salad as being smooth and creamy (a good thing), and the house-made burger patty had a well-rounded, true-to-the-dish flavor, while the brown gravy was deep and hearty. Here’s a slice of the hamburger steak…

The Kim Chee got an “all good” compliment as well. Pretty cool how Jackie slides in her Korean heritage – if just a touch – with the Banchan sides. Nice.

That said, he gave his Hamburger Steak from Jackie’s Diner a solid 3-SPAM Musubi rating.

Now let’s deconstruct these Pastele plates for further analysis, first and foremost starting with the Pastele…

Notice it’s wrapped in a Ti Leaf instead of the traditional banana leaf. This is also how The Pastele Shop in Kalihi does it. Which I don’t have a problem with. It certainly imparts a great flavor, plus adds plenty of moisture to it.

I know that looks kinda’ gross, but don’t judge this book by its cover. Trust me, however that may come across visually, taste-wise, it’s fantastic! The banana “masa” is perfectly seasoned, and as you see inside, there’s an abundance of olives and chunks of tender pork. I really like the flavor the Ti leaf imparts on it. It’s difficult to describe in words exactly what an authentic Puerto Rican Pastele tastes like, but this one from Jackie’s Kitchen is right on the money, that’s all I’ve got to say.

Then we have the “Spanish Rice”, which I’m not really sure if it’s Gandule Rice, as Diner A and I had a debate on whether the black-colored “peas” in it were Gandule (pigeon peas)…

Whether they’re Pigeon Peas or Black Olives, it was spiced and seasoned just right, with the right balance of moisture and stick. The perfect complimentary side dish along with the Pastele.

Then we have the Bacalao Salad…

This Bacalao salad was comprised of iceberg lettuce, tomato, watercress and onion, tossed with a welcome helping of shredded and well-rinsed salted cod in what tasted like a very mild basic vinaigrette dressing. Very good. What tasted even better was taking some of the leftover dressing after finishing the salad and mixing it with the Spanish rice. That was winnahz!

Finally da’ mac sal’…

It was indeed smooth and creamy, while also tasting very fresh (you know how some mac salads can taste sour and old), sticking with the basics and getting it right.

Oh, speaking of fresh, the Bacalao Salad is also made to order, tossed with the dressing just before service. Thank goodness.

Said and done, Diner A and yours truly give Jackie’s Pastele Plate a solid 4-SPAM Musubi rating. Backing up that claim is both of our polished plates…

Diner A’s “polished” Pastele plate

Diner P’s “polished” Pastele plate

We’d have to concur with their slogan “Onolicious Kau Kau”. Indeed, it was!

Next time gotta’ sample da’ Hawaiian grindz here.

Jackie’s Diner
98-020 Kamehameha Highway
Waimalu Shopping Center
Tel. 484 0999

download take-out menu – 109k PDF document (2 pages), current as of 4/09

Featuring:
Lau Lau
Pastele
Bar-B-Q Rib

The Tasty Island Rating:

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

SPAM Hot Dogs

Hopefully by now your recurring nightmares from my recent SPAM Spread post have long since gone away and you can finally sleep tight once again. Well, not to rudely awaken you, but here we have yet another form of the infamous Hormel mystery meat, this time in the shape of a Hot Dog. This is news to me. Never seen them before now.

Which begs to question: what other shapes might the good folks at Hormel SPAM’s product development headquarters think of next? Dinosaurs? Zoo Animals? Simon Cowell’s hairdo? The Hawaiian Island chain? Hey, that last one could be a valuable collectible item, right there!

I’m willing to bet Hormel has received numerous consumer requests asking for SPAM produced in hot dog form, which actually addresses an idea I once had when thinking of taking a block of SPAM and manually cutting it into this shape so I could turn it into an Andadog. Or better said, “SPAM-DA-DOG”. Now I don’t have to do any custom cutting, as it’s good-to-go now, straight out of the package!

I heard about this from Diner A, who’s wife picked up a bulk pack of 3 from Sam’s Club just recently to try it out.

Here at this angle you can see the color of the uncooked SPAM weiners…

So Diner A brought a couple SPAM Hot Dogs to work, including hot dog bun and condiments. Only thing, instead of frying it until crispy and golden brown, he nuked it, so it didn’t taste like how I’m normally used to eating SPAM, which is fried. Just nuking it versus frying it had it tasting like raw (although technically it’s cooked), albeit hot SPAM. If nuking them doesn’t work, I’d say boiling them – like you could do with traditional hot dogs – is certainly out of the question. Would you boil regular SPAM? Me thinks not.

An important thing to note is they don’t have any casing on them. It’s all exposed SPAM. Although you can tell they were cooked in casing at the factory, then the casing is removed for packaging.

With that, even though it was just heated up in the mircowave, it did indeed taste like SPAM, thank goodness, and certainly not no SPAM Spread stuff. Ack!

These beg to be pan-fried though, just like regular SPAM. Even better if it were rolled in a Teriyaki glaze afterwards, then put in a toasted hot dog bun along with Takuwan and Beni Shoga for the condiment. Oh yeah!

You might recall I made a hot dog like that not long ago using a Redondo’s Arabiki Hot Dog…

Pomai’s Tonkrazy! Dog on the left with shredded cabbage, takuwan (yellow stuff), beni shoga (red stuff) and tonkatsu sauce, and an American style Arabiki Hot Dog on the right. The hot dog buns are standard Love’s Bakery brand.

Another no-brainer idea for these SPAM Hot Dogs would be to make a Musubi with it, but instead of using a block-shaped musubi form, roll it in the middle Maki Sushi style, like how Masa & Joyce Okazuya makes theirs…

Speaking of hot dogs, I snapped a couple of action photos this past Sunday at the beach of a dog fetching a frisbee from its owner, catching some air in the process…

Father's Day Up In Smoke Cook-Off

Click flyer image above to visit the official site for more contest rules and information

I heard about this smoked meat contest just the other night while watching Tiny TV (OC-16), when Tiny featured Fresh Catch, a local style eatery in Kaimuki on Waialae avenue, located across the street from W&M Burger. Being a smoker myself (of meat; I don’t smoke cigarettes or the Cheech & Chong stuff), this was exciting news. In fact, right now I’m about 90% sure I’ll enter my Big Island style Smoked Pork into the competition.

You might remember a post I did recently on smoking home-made Pastrami. Killing two birds with one stone during that smoking session, I also threw in some pork to smoke along with the corned beef briskets.

That time, I did a little experiment, using the ready-to-use store-bought Huli Huli Sauce for the marinade…

Looking at the ingredients, this Huli Huli sauce is made simply of shoyu, sugar and ginger, which is essentially a basic teriyaki sauce, except this Huli Huli is is thinner and more mild, like say Aloha Shoyu. So I thought it sounded (and tasted) like something that would make ono smoked meat straight out of the bottle.

Also notice there’s a bottle of Honey, a bulb of garlic and a packet of crushed red pepper flakes left over from a past Pizza Hut party. Since I didn’t have fresh Hawaiian Chili Pepper, this should suffice for my little experiment in the doctored-up marinade.

So what I did was marinade half the cut pork butt pieces in straight-up, non-doctored Huli Huli Sauce straight out of the bottle. Then with the other half of the pork but pieces, I marinaded them with a doctored-up Huli Huli Sauce. Meaning I added about 1 cup of honey to about 3 cups of the Huli Huli Sauce, along with plenty of minced garlic and a generous sprinkle of the crushed red pepper flakes.

Here you see I have them labeled which is which in Zip-Loc bags…

You can clearly see the red chili pepper flakes and minced garlic in the Honey-sweetened Huli Huli Sauce marinade on the left. I then let them marinade in the refrigerator for 2 days.

See, that’ s where the “art” of smoking meat comes in. Not only do you have to create the right balance of spices and sweetness in the marinade, but you also have to decide how long to marinade it, and finally how long and how much you want to smoke it. All those factors will determine the outcome of whether your smoked meat is just “ono”, or whether everyone proclaims it as “broke da’ mout SUPAH” ono!”

Of course I could formulate the recipe into solid numbers by measurements, cooking temperatures and such to make it a “science”, but then I’d be giving all my secrets away, and I wouldn’t wanna’ do that. Especially with a contest coming up soon. He he.

Oh we go a smokin’…

Here’s the smoked pork, pretty much almost pau smoking at this point…

The two foil-wrapped items in back are the corned beef briskets-turned-pastrami.

Some might consider this GOLD…

Let’s cut a few slices and fry it up!…

Fry ’em ’til da’ buggahz papa’a (crispy) on da’ edges, then serve with none other than POI!…

How did it compare between the “plain” Huli Huli Sauce and the the smoked meat made with honey, garlic and red pepper doctored marinade? I’d say the regular Huli Huli Sauce smoked meat is better for using in a dish such as a stirfry, where you’ll be adding other ingredients. While the sweeter, spicier smoked meat was much much better as a pupu eaten by itself. Both of course were supah ono with Poi. That’s the magic combo right there. I didn’t rub these with Hawaiian salt before marinading them, but I think next time I’ll do that. It could have used that extra boost of flavor. Not too much, but just a sprinkle.

So perhaps you might see me there as one of the competitors, Sunday, June 21st at the Father’s Day Up in Smoke Cook-Off!

Related links:
• FreshCatch808.com
• Backyard Kiawe-Smoked Pastrami
• Big Island Smoked Pork

Hong Kong Buns

Hong Kong Bun, 80 cents each

Make what you want of the name, but (no pun intended), this is in fact called a Hong Kong Bun. It’s similar in shape and size to a long john pastry, yet in flavor, it tastes more like a Filipino Pandesal. Actually, a Pandesal kicked-up several notches, as Emeril would say.

It’s glutenous and slightly chewy, on the sweet side, a little salty, and very buttery inside. Check it out…

These Hong Kong Buns have a sticky glazed sugar coating on the outside, then once you bite into it, it reveals this super-rich, almost cake frosting-like flavor on the inside, as shown. It’s altogether sweet, a little salty and very buttery, although that butteryness could just be lard or some other lipid. Not sure. Whatever is is they make this with, it’s supah’ ONO!

Here’s another look inside, this time using my camera’s flash…

Here’s how they come packed in a box…

Diner C got these for us from Chinatown (downtown Honolulu), although she can’t remember the name of the bakery, yet I know exactly where it is. It’s on King street on the makai side. Darned it, I can’t remember the name either. If you know, please tell us.

I’m thinkin’ this might work as a hot dog bun with a Sinai Kosher Polish Sausage in it, going for that savory-sweet “thang”. Oh, the possibilities!

Hong Kong Buns.

Champion Malasadas

One of our vendors brought us a box of Champion Malasadas the other day, continuing the seemingly daily onslaught of potentially ruining my MTV music video-worthy girlish figure. lol (Does MTV even have music videos any more?) For whatever reason, normally we see Leonard’s Malasadas land on our office snack table more often than any other, and it’s been a while since I’ve had malasadas from Champion, yet I do remember them as being EXCELLENT, and this time was just as that.

The box from Champion that arrived at our office was piping hot…

which is really the only way to fully enjoy a malasada in all its glory. With that, these had that signature airy, glutenous texture on the inside….

with a slightly chewy, slighty crunchy crust, punching it all out with an evenly-dusted coating of granulated white sugar…

It also wasn’t oily ‘n greasy at all, thank goodness. In fact, it was so airy and light, you’d just as well assume they were baked, not deep-fried, as is how they’re made.

Checking out our good friends over at WOWGrinds.com, I see they already did a blind taste test back in December of last year, putting Leonard’s, Agnes’ and Champion into the ring. The results out of 7 blind taste test judges resulted with Leonard’s in 1st place, Agnes 2nd, and Champion 3rd.

Hmmm, interesting. In and by itself, Champion Malasada is a champion in my book, and worthy of a 5 SPAM Musubi rating. Until I get the other two main competitors to try side-by-side (and still piping hot) along with it, I stand by that.

Now I’m off to doing my Pilates workout watching archived Britney Spears music videos. lol

Related links:
• www.ChampionMalasadas.com
• Leonard’s Bakery
• Agnes’ Portuguese Bake Shop
• Leonard’s Malasadas – The Tasty Island
• Honolulu Portugese Festa ’08 – The Tasty Island

Lunch with HWN PAKE at BWS Cafeteria

BWS Cafeteria – Oxtail Soup with rice and cucumber kim chee , $8.50

Nate, better known in the food blogosphere as HWN PAKE IN OKINAWA, is back home on Oahu from Okinawa for a brief vacation, and today met with me for the first time over lunch at the BWS Cafeteria. Through a tip from Nate, our gang sampled this hidden gem back in September of last year, that time turning out a “supah ono!” 3-SPAM Musubi rating.

Being food bloggers, naturally Nate and I had plenty to wala’au (talk story) about all da’ grinds, so that’s where we’ll start this off with.

While it wasn’t available on the day of our visit back in September, the Oxtail Soup was indeed on special here today, and that’s why I suggested to Nate that we make our lunch meeting on Thursday, when BWS Cafeteria regularly puts it on their daily specials list. Looking at this week’s daily specials, they also offer Oxtail Soup on Wednesdays as well. Surely this is a popular item here, as more than a majority of the orders landing on the table around us was the Oxtail Soup. At just $8.50 for a satisfyingly-sized bowl, including rice and cucumber tsukemeno on the side, it’s easy to understand why.

Other daily specials for today included hamburger steak, grilled pepper steak, or baked pork chops in mushroom gravy, each entree including rice and salad, to which the latter is what Nate opted for…

BWS Cafeteria – Baked pork chops in mushroom gravy with rice and salad, $6.50

Zooming in a little closer on Nate’s baked pork chops, he noted the mushroom gravy was supah ono, which is pretty much seals the deal here…

BWS Cafeteria – Baked pork chops in (supah’ ono) mushroom gravy with rice and salad, $6.50

Nate didn’t say much more about his plate besides the supah ono gravy, yet he polished his plate clean, so nuff said right there!

Now on to my order of Oxtail Soup, here you have a better view of just how much you get for a post tax day blues busting $8.50…

BWS Cafeteria – Oxtail Soup with rice and cucumber kim chee (and grated ginger condiment) , $8.50

If that isn’t the “deal of the Oxtail Soup century”, I don’t know what is! lol Of course, downtown Honolulu is known for killer deals on grinds, and this is just one of them.

But is this just “any oxtail soup”, or is it something special? I’d say considering the flavor of the broth, abundance of falling-off-the-bones oxtail meat, compounded by the great price point, and relaxing, casual, quiet, breezy rooftop ambiance of the BWS Cafeteria dining room, it IS special. I savored each and every bite, polishing off everything you see on this tray.

Here’s a couple more close-ups on this order of Oxtail Soup…

As witnessed here, you will not be left asking “where’s the beef?!” with this bowl of soup. It’s in there in abundance. Throw some of the grated ginger in the soup broth, and save some to mix with shoyu, which you dip the oxtail meat and various cabbage generously added in there, and, oooh yeah, winnahz!

Being a notable factor in this dish, Nate asked how strong the star anise was, to which I thought was on the subtle side. Especially in comparison to the recipe mom follows from Jean Hee’s book, which calls for 5 star anise. Nate says he usually puts no more than 2 star anise in his oxtail soup. Either way, it works for me, not being too licorice-like. The “veggie-beef-like” broth easily offsets that.

Just a quick note on the sides: the cucumber “kim chee” actually tasted more like namasu, which is fine by me! Although I’ve never tried eating oxtail soup with either one, and can’t verify which is better, this better-described “namasu cucumbers” was excellent with the dish!

As early pointed out in all factors considered, this bowl of Oxtail Soup from BWS Cafeteria on this visit wins a solid 4 Spam Musubi rating.

Here’s how BWS Cafeteria looks, which I snapped this photo just before the noon rush…

When a place has a really small menu like this, it’s a good thing…

BWS Cafeteria – Lunch Specials for 4/16/09

It was great to finally meet the “HWN PAKE”, a fellow Hawaii (expat) food blogger in person. Being that he’s currently working in Okinawa, I had many questions to ask, not only about the food, but also about such aspects as their culture, geography, weather and economy, all from a gaijin (foreigner’s) perspective.

Interestingly, because Nate is (Hawaii-born) Chinese, I asked him what Okinawans commonly assume he is (ethnically by appearance), and they all think he’s Okinawan. So he must constantly tell folks there that he’s from Hawaii to address the language barrier. He did note that, once you tell folks there you’re from Hawaii, you instantly become a highly regarded and respected person. Cool.

That was a great lunch. Mahalo Nate!

P.S. Mahalo, also, for the Okinawan Goya seeds. I’ll keep ya’ posted on how it does in the earth.

Related links:
• HWN PAKE IN OKINAWA – Nate’s Blog
• Downtown Eats: BWS Cafeteria – This blog

Pat's Spicy Garlic Boiled Peanuts

But not just Spicy Garlic. What it doesn’t say out loud on the label is that these are also TERIYAKI flavored! Yes, teriyaki fans, rejoice, as you can now get your sweetened shoyu groove on in the form of boiled peanuts. Who would have thought? Well, Pat did. This certainly is the first I’ve tried boiled peanuts flavored with shoyu and sugar, and you know what? It’s excellent!

Here’s a look at them outside the package, with a couple of ’em shelled open…

Notice the distinctive pieces of minced chili pepper and garlic coating the shells. Also notice how juicy they are on the inside, yet the peanut still has that much desired “crunch”, as advertised on their label.

What you can’t visually see is the sweetened shoyu that’s also adding to the spicy garlic party. This “teriyaki” accent is subtle, yet you know it’s there, giving it a twist that’s a little hard to pinpoint by the casual observer, yet if you read the ingredients, you realized, “ah, it’s the shoyu and sugar!”. The level of salt, garlic, chili pepper, shoyu and sugar are all in perfect balance here, making one fantastic, and very unique boiled peanut experience. I all this needs to be the perfect boiled peanut is if Pat used the large Virginia peanuts like Alicia’s does. That would put these at very top of my list of best boiled peanut on Oahu.

You can find Pat’s Peanut’s at KCC & Mililani Farmers’ Market, where you’ll meet Pat herself!…

Pat offers 4 boiled peanut varieties, including original, garlic, spicy and garlic spicy…

and roasted…

They’re priced at $3.50 per 1 lb. bag or $6.00 for 2 lbs.

Next time you go Farmers’ Market, sample some. If you like boiled peanuts, and you like teriyaki flavored stuffs, gauranz you’ll find Pat’s Spicy Garlic (Teriyaki) Boiled Peanuts (the ones that go CRUNCH!) broke da’ mout’ winnahs! Easy 4 SPAM Musubi (5 if was da’ biggah’ Virginia peanuts).

Okinawan Eats: Goya Chanpuru

The Travel Channel recently rebroadcasted Bizarre Food’s visit to Japan, with one segment having host Andrew Zimmern trying the various cuisine of Okinawa. In that segment, he noted how Okinawans are reputed to live very long and healthy lives, with more centinarians per capita there than anywhere else in the world. At that time, his guest’s mother was preparing a few of her favorite okinawan dishes, both of which featured Goya (bitter melon). She says This fruit is what gets partial credit to the amazing longevity of Okinawans.

A quick search online about bitter melon reveals its known effective uses in medicinal applications, from treating infections, to digestive problems, and even type 2 diabetes and cancer. Surely eating this wonder fruit from a young age must help prevent one from even getting these sometimes fatal ailments to begin with.

So during my usual relaxing browse through the KCC Farmers’ Market this past Saturday morning (where were you Nate?!), I seen a few vendors selling bitter melon, so I bought a couple and set off to make the most celebrated Okinawan dish of the genre, Goya Chanpuru.

It didn’t take long to find a recipe online, where I quickly landed upon a rather entertaining video cooking lesson by “Cooking with Dog”…

Kawaii nei! lol

Here’s the video…

Here’s the Goya (bitter melon)…

As per the instructions in the video lesson, I scraped the seeds and white pulp out of it using a spoon, which you can see still intact in the center example.

As you see by its outer appearance, it looks kinda’ like a shriveled cucumber. It’s also about as big as a typical cucumber.

Taste wise, I didn’t find it terribly bitter. It’s difficult to assimilate its flavor with something else, except to say it tastes “green”, which I suppose means it’s good for you! Texture-wise, it’s fairly crunchy in raw form, but softens quickly once it hits the heat.

So you chop the Goya into slices about 1/4″ thick, then dust it with salt to macerate it, which they say also regulates its bitterness. After letting it stand in salt for about 10 minutes, you rinse it with water then let it dry, where now they’re ready to use in the Goya Chanpuru…

As you see in the method of “Cooking with Dog”, each element of the final Chanpuru stir fry is done in steps prior. Now that the Goya is ready to go, next you prepare the egg by simply whisking it until the yolk is combined with the white, season with salt and pepper, then fry that up…

When the egg’s done, put in a plate and set aside.

Another key ingredient in Chanpuru is Tofu, which I used Aloha Brand (my favorite)…

According to the video lesson, you wrap the tofu block in a paper towel, then microwave it for a minute or two, then use another paper towel afterward, all in an effort to absorb and remove as much water out of it as possible. After doing that, you cut them in little “steaks” and pan fry them until gold brown on the outside…

When you’re done browning the tofu, set that aside on a plate.

Now make the “condiment”. This is the all-important sauce that will flavor the dish. It’s basically a simplified misoyaki, using miso paste…

The “condiment” (misoyaki) sauce used in this Goya Chanpuru dish is made using: 2 tbsp. miso, 2 tbsp. sake, 1/2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tsp. soy sauce. Here’s how it looks after those ingredients are thoroughly combined…

You know what? This sauce ROCKS! OMG, it so rocks. Easily another one of those culinary wonders that could make road kill taste great. Best of all, it’s so easy to make.

We’re getting close to putting this whole thing together. A few other flavor components to mention are the sliced onions…

And to finish the dish off, Katsuobushi flakes…

Katsuobushi flakes are shavings of bonito, which is a dried and smoked tuna. This is absolutely one of the most unique culinary signatures of Japanese cuisine. Anyhow, this will be used as a finishing touch to the Goya Chanpuru.

Last but not least, we have the pork, which here has been marinading in equal parts of shoyu and sake…

So now that all the elements have been prepared and pre-cooked and in place, it’s time to make Goya Chanpuru!

Here we have the pork pretty much cooked through, with the onions just added…

After the onions caramelized, next went in the Goya and fried eggs…

Then goes in the browned tofu and “condiment” (simplified misoyaki sauce)…

After thoroughly combining everything, here’s the finished Goya Chanpuru in the pan…

Then, once again, it goes to plate, with it garnished with Katsuobushi and – per my personal preference – the addition of sliced green onions (negi)…

How is it? Oishii desu! In the sum of its parts, this dish rings of comfort food. While my first take on it certainly will not compare to that which was made by your favorite obaasan, I’m quite proud and delighted how it came out.

Watch the video of “Cooking with Dog”, buy the ingredients, and try make Goya Chanpuru yourself. Highly recommended recipe and dish!

Kahuku Sea Asparagus Ahi and Tofu Poke

Kahuku Sea Asparagus Ahi Poke – seasoned with Shoyu, Mirin, Sesame Oil and Togarashi

This is just a little follow-up to the last post featuring Kahuku sea asparagus, this time turning it into ahi and tofu poke, as two separate dishes. Being that the sea asparagus has similar culinary applications to ogo and many cruciferous types of vegetables, it was only inevitable poke was where I’d be going with it.

There on the plate above, it’s simply cubes of fresh sashimi-grade ahi, Kahuku sea asparagus (in whole length and chopped form), thinly-siced sweet Ewa onion and green onion, seasoned with shoyu, mirin, a small dash sesame oil and a few sprinkles of togarashi (Japanese chili pepper seasoning), all tossed together until evenly coated.

How is it? Really ono. It’s different than poke with ogo in it, obviously, but once you get used to it, it’s just as addicting. The sea salt on the asparagus really helps bring out the flavor of the fresh ahi. I give it 3 SPAM Musubi. Perhaps if I used less mirin (it was a little TOO sweet this time), I’d give it an additional Musubi rating.

Then I tried making tofu poke with the sea asparagus…

Kahuku Sea Asparagus Aloha Tofu Poke – seasoned with Shoyu, Mirin, Sesame Oil and Togarashi (sprinkled on top)

The tofu poke has all the same ingredients and seasoning as the ahi poke before it, except here (obviously) swapping out the ahi for fresh, firm cubes of Aloha tofu that was thoroughly drained of its water content. With this version, I sprinkled the togarashi on it AFTER tossing it, vs. before like how I did the ahi & sea asparagus Poke.

You know what? I liked this even more than the ahi and sea asparagus poke. The Sea Asparagus complimented the tofu even better than it did the ahi, which is difficult to explain in writing. I think sprinkling on the togarashi afterward also helped give it that after-the-bite punch it needed. You just need to try it yourself and taste the difference between the two. With that I give the Aloha (firm) tofu and Kahuku sea asparagus poke here an easy 4 SPAM Musubi.

Now you’re probably thinking what I thought: How would the two taste TOGETHER? Which is exactly what I tried a sample of…

Das’ a winnah’ right there! The fleshy texture of the fresh ahi, along with the crumbly texture of the tofu, and the crunchy, salty sea asparagus works really well. Adding that “zip” is the heat from the sprinkles of Togarashi on the Tofu. It’s like “Pow!”. I actually came close to tossing them together, creating a visually pleasing color contrast of the white tofu, deep red ahi and bright green sea asparagus, all on one plate, but said, “ah, next time”.

In retrospect looking at my poke recipe, there’s two critical “ingrediments” I forgot, which would be minced garlic and ginger. Darned it.

Still, was good stuff!

To learn more about Kahuku sea asparagus, visit their official website:
www.Olakai.com

Rating by Raveable

Kahuku Sea Asparagus

Kahuku Sea Asparagus Inari Sushi, $4.00 at KCC Farmers’ Market

Here we have yet another delicious feature item from the KCC Farmers’ Market, in the form of Kahuku Sea Asparagus from Marine AgriFuture, LLC. More specifically, Sea Asparagus Inari Sushi.

“Sea Asparagus” you might ask? I won’t attempt to rewrite the details on the process. You can check it out yourself here at this Star Bulletin article link.

Here’s a closer look at what Kahuku-grown Sea Asparagus looks like in packaged-for-sale form…

What does it taste like, straight-up like this? Definitely cruciferous, and not as “earthy” as your standard asparagus. I’d say it’s like a cross between watercress and ogo, with a salty bite. As for tasting like asparagus, hardly at all. Even though it’s salty, it isn’t obtrusive, but rather pleasant, likely because it’s natural sea salt.

The instructions say to rinse it (to remove some of the salt), but I think it tastes best as is.

Speaking of which, that’s where I think Dr. Wenhau Sun, proprietor of the Marine AgriFuture, should change his recipe and leave the salt in for the Inari Sushi.

As it was packaged, it was a little bland and characterless, with the beni shoga (the red stuff, which is pickled ginger) condiment on the side actually standing out more in complimentary value to the inari sushi than the sea asparagus. If he had left the salt in, it would be a whole nother ball game. And I’m not a “salt head” at all, yet I do know what tastes good, and the essence of this sea asparagus is the sea salt its grown in.

I bought 3 trays of Sea Asparagus a few weeks ago, using it mostly as a (natural) substitute for salt. For that, it’s great in stir fries, which I made a killer stir fry pork with tofu and watercress with this sea asparagus. Was so ono! I also made banchan (Korean side dish) with it, simply adding sesame oil, shoyu, sugar, ginger, mirin and sesame seeds (goma)…

While I haven’t tried it yet, my guess is this would be excellent accompanying some barbecued Kal Bi. It is excellent as is!

Dr. Sun also sells his Sea Asparagus in prepared form, “Lomi” style…

The Sea Asparagus replaces what is traditionally salted salmon. Because it’s naturally salty, it macerates the tomato, softening it and releasing its water. You can make this easily yourself using chopped Sea Asparagus, diced tomatoes and onions. I’d also throw in some green onion for good measure. I did that too. It’s a descent substitute to lomi salmon and ono with poi!

Sea Asparagus is sold in 4 oz. trays at direct from the farmer at $4 each, or, getting your Costco bulk price groove on, 2 for $7, or 3 for $8!!!

Here’s Doctor Sun…

Super nice guy.

Marine AgriFuture, LLC is present most saturdays at KCC Farmers’ Market.

For more information about Marine AgriFuture and their Sea Asparagus, visit www.olakai.com.

After attending yesterday’s KCC Farmers’ Market, I took a stroll down Diamond Head Beach, where – come to find out- there was a new Hawaiian Monk Seal in town!…

Irma, a Hawaiian Monk Seal and endangered species

I thought this was Rocky, but after talking with Tracy Wurth at NOAA Marine Fisheries Service division, come to find out Rocky is PREGNANT and now located on Kauai. This seal’s name is Irma.

No, she’s not DEAD on the beach. She’s just resting. Probably from a day out hunting for food and dodging tiger sharks.

Here’s another angle…

If you sight a Hawaiian Monk Seal on the beach and there’s currently at the time no official (NOAA) signs of their presence, please call NOAA’s National Marine Services Hawaiian Monk Seal sighting hotline at 808-220-7802. Most likely you’ll speak with Tracy, who is the lead marine biologist in charge of Hawaii’s Monk Seal population. Some monk seals have a bleached alpha-numeric mark on their shoulder area. There might also be a red tag on their tail. This will help you to identify the exact seal you’re reporting your sighting of to NOAA. Irma didn’t have any marking, yet Tracy knew who it was, based on report trends.