Batayaki

Browsing the book “From Kaukau to Cuisine: An Island Cookbook, Then and Now,” I saw a recipe that my family makes everyone in awhile.  It’s great because you get to cook what you want on your own!

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Butter

Zucchini, sliced

Eggplant, sliced

Mushrooms, sliced

Chinese cabbage, chopped

Bean sprouts

Boneless beef, pork or chicken, thinly sliced

Shrimp or scallops

Salmon or ‘ahi belly

If using salmon or ‘ahi belly, brine fish for 20 minutes in 2 tbsp of Hawaiian salt and 4 cups water.  Heat a frying pan and add butter.  Fry ingredients in butter to desired doness.  Serve with Batayaki Dipping Sauce.

Batayaki Dipping Sauce

1 lemon, juiced

¼ cup sugar

1 tbsp Korean chili pepper paste

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 cup chicken broth

¼ cup grated daikon

2 tbsp chopped green onions

Combine ingredients through chicken broth.  Mix well, then add grated daikon and chopped green onions.

This has turned out to be one of my favorite recipes because it’s not only taste, but fast and easy!  If you don’t feel like slicing the meat really thinly, you can buy it at KTA (exactly what I do).  I also usually serve it over a bed of hot rice and drizzle the juices from everything cooked over the rice.  

Hiura, Arnold. From Kaukau to Cuisine: An Island Cookbook, Then and Now. Watermark Publishing: Honolulu, HI. 2013.

Kona Coffee

The first coffee was planted in Kona by missionary Samuel Ruggles in 1828-29.  These trees were taken from Oahu.  All labor, from planting to picking is done by hand in Kona.  This is what sets Kona Coffee apart from the rest.  Native Hawaiians and Chinese laborers first worked on the coffee plantations in the mid-to-late 1800s. 

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Here’s a complete dinner recipe to try one night!

Appetizer:

Kona Coffee Mushroom Surprise-

12 stuffing mushrooms, hollowed out

2 slices of whole wheat bread

3 fresh organo leaves

1 clove garlic

1 tsp soy sauce with pieces of giner in it

2 tsp instant Kona coffee granules mixed into 2 tsp brewed Kona coffee (thick)

2 oz. cream cheese

mushroom stem pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix bread, oregano, garlic, soy sauce, coffee, cream cheese and mushroom stems in a food processor until well blended.  Fill each mushroom cap with one tsp of stuffing.  Place on a wire rack over water bath.  Back 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Serve hot or cold.

Entrée:

Kona Gold Coffee Chicken-

2 6 oz. boneless breasts

¾ cup milk

¼ cup coconut syrup

2 tbsp shredded coconut

¼ cup butter

¼ cup flour

¾ cup chicken stock

¼ cup pineapple juice

3 oz. Kona coffee liqueur

Brown chicken breasts until golden brown.  To make cream sauce melt butter, add flour to make a roux.  Heat milk and chicken stock.  Add to roux.  Mix until sauce is smooth.  Add coconut syrup, pineapple juice, shredded coconut and liqueur.  Pour over browned chicken.

Dessert:

Kona Coffee Mayonnaise Cake-

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

4 tbsp cocoa

1 cup cold strong brewed Kona coffee

1 cup sugar

½ tsp salt

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp vanilla

Sift all dry ingredients together.  Add mayonnaise, coffee, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Pour into greased 8” pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Beverage:

All Kona Coffee Poi Cocktail-

1 cup milk

1 cup brewed  Kona coffee

½ tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt

1/8 cup coffee brandy

1/3 cup poi

2 tbsp sugar

1 pinch nutmeg

¼ cup “Hana Bay” rum

Stir milk into poi.  Add coffee and all other ingredients.  Mix in a blender.  Chill.  Serve with or without ice.

Kona Coffee Cultural Festival. Kona Coffee Cookbook. Island Heritage: Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.  1997. Pp. 3, 10, 23, 55, 78.

Pineapple in Hawaii

Did you know that there are wild varieties of pineapple native to Hawaii called Wild Kailua?  It can be found in Puna, Ka’u, Kona on the Big Island and also at Kaupoo, Maui.  

http://collections.mnh.si.edu/media/?i=10240335

Even though it’s considered a native plant, it’s possible that around the 1500s, a Spanish ship carried these same pineapples to Hawaii.  The first written account of pineapples in Hawaii was in 1813 through Don Francisco de Paula Marin’s diary.  

The most commercially distributed and grown type of pineapple in Hawaii is called Smooth Cayenne.  These are larger and juicer than the Wild Kailua.  Yet another variety, but less common, type of pineapple is called Sugarloaf.  Sugarloaf is low in acid, sweet, and has cream-colored flesh.  Pineapple grows from a tiny cluster of lavender flowers from the center of its leaves. 

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Did you know that pineapple is actually made of many small fruits fused together?  The flowers fuse with the bracts to become the fleshy part of the pineapple.  It takes about 6 months for a pineapple to mature.  The fibrous and chewy part of the pineapple core is the original flower stalk. 

There are various techniques to selecting a ripe pineapple.  One of these techniques includes smelling it for a sweet fragrance and hearing a solid thud when thumping it.  Pineapple does NOT get sweeter after its picked, so don’t expect it to ripen further by waiting a few days. 

Here are 2 pineapple recipes to try:

Pineapple Salsa: Yields 4 cups

2 cups diced pineapple

¼ cup lime juice or lemon juice

1 cup shredded red or yellow onion

1 (2 ¼ ounce) can sliced ripe olives, drained

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp black pepper

1 (4 1/2 ounce) can diced green chilies or fresh chilies to taste

2 tbsp minced Chinese parsley (cilantro) or parsley

Optional- 1 crushed garlic clove or taste

Combine all ingredients.  Flavors blend when refrigerated 2 hours or over-night.  It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

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Pineapple Dip: Yields 2 cups

2 cups low-fat plain yogurt

1 cup ¼-inch pineapple pieces, drained

3 tbsp pineapple fruit spread

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground nutmeg

Optional-substitute 1 tbsp curry powder for cloves and nutmeg

Combine all ingredients and chill 30 minutes before serving.  Can be used as dressing for baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, asparagus, broccoli and dip for fresh fruit.

http://www.friendsfoodfamily.com/.a/6a012875a5f096970c0133f17257dd970b-800wi

Harris, Marilyn Rittenhouse. Tropical Fruit Cookbook. University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu. 1993. Pp 133, 134, 136, 140.

Plate Lunch

Ever thought about where the first plate lunch started?

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According to the research of Arnold Hiura and Wayne Muramoto, the evidence of the first plate lunches dated back to the 1920s and '30s.  Pushcart peddlers served plate lunches to stevedores (those unloading the vessels), sailors, laborers, and cruise ship crews and passengers.  Leilani Iwanaga's grandmother, Moyo Iwamoto, was one individual who had sold plate lunches on the Honolulu waterfront in the late 1920s.  She sold snacks such as candies and oranges at Honolulu Harbor near Pier 7 from a wooden pushcart.  Later her little business expanded to selling sushi and pastries from a red wooden cart.  Unlike the old cart, it could hold a large block of ice.  This ice was used to make shave ice and milkshakes.  Moyo also made her own syrup by mixing sugar, food coloring, and various flavorings.


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Old Fashion Shave Ice Syrup

5 lbs. sugar
3/4 c. cornstarch
3 qts. water
          Concentrated flavor
          extracts
          food coloring or dye
          dash of salt
Mix sugar and cornstarch.  Add water and stir to dissolve.  Bring water to a boil and boil hard, stirring constantly so it will not burn.  Remove from heat and add small amount of dye for desired color and enough concentrated extract to flavor according to preference.

Matsu, Moyo's son, remembers helping his mother push the cart from Halekauwila St., through Ala Moana Boulevard and along Honolulu Harbor.  On Channel St., Moyo was able to lease a small space where she set up a small cooking area and four long tables.  She then began to sell plate lunches.  For 50 cents, people could buy an eight-inch paper plate piled high with rice, a vegetable, macaroni salad, kim chee, or takuan pickles, and a main entrée.  These entrées included a choice of beef stew, beef tomato, butterfish, chop steak, pig's feet, chicken long rice, pork chops, ham hocks, or saimin.  Moyo retired in 1965 at the age of 81 and passed away a year later.  Matsu and his wife continued the business for a few more years after the passing of Moyo, but retired as well.  Matsu remembers one other lunch stand owned and operated by a Kaya family that served plate lunches around the same time. 

I found this extremely interesting and I for one learned something new!  I never wondered how the plate lunch was possibly first introduced in Hawaii.  Hopefully, everyone found this an appealing topic as well!

Introduction

Aloha,

The first class visit to the library I browsed the collection looking for ideas on this blog.  The only thing that really caught my interest was food.  Who doesn't love food?  Therefore I've decided to blog about foods of Hawaii and different recipes.  I borrowed a variety of books including books on Kona coffee, flavors of the Big Island, tropical fruits, and pupus.  I couldn't decide what exactly to write about and every recipe book that I borrowed had food that I positively drooled over!  

Includes recipes such as Hilo Pickled Mangoes, Kamuela BBQ Sauce, and Lona Lobster & Shrimp Cake

Some interesting recipes include: Kona Coffee Cheese Stix, Kona Coffee Chicken Tacos, and Hawaiian Kona Coffee Crab and Shrimp Salad

Recipes include: The Honolulu, Mango Daiquiri, Fried Ginger Pork

Recipes include Star Fruit Relish, Papaya Salsa, and Persimmon Mayonnaise

Recipes include: Oxtail Stew, ‘Ahi Katsu Salad with Wasabi-Sesame Dressing, and Shoyu Pork

I plan to investigate the backgrounds about some of these items, places that these ingredients can be found, and actual recipes.  I hope that your stomach is growling as much as mine is from thinking of all these delicious dishes!