Kiem Hwa

Unrelated to Middle Eastern cuisine.... A little while back, in McCully Shopping Center, there used to be a Japanese Crepe Shop... that is no longer there. Did it move or close? Is there anywhere else that Japanese Crepes can be found in Honolulu?

I was living in LA for a little while, and while I was there I fell in love with the variety of foods that can be easily found there......but not here in Hawaii. For instance, there is a plethora of Middle Eastern cusine, including Persian, Lebanese, and Mediterranean styles. While I am aware of a few Greek restaurants here, what I really want are some falafel kebabs or some Persian food: meat kebabs, Zereshk-Polow (Saffron-Basmati rice with Barberries), and Fesenjam (Pomegranate-Walnut Chicken). Perhaps I haven't yet searched far or wide enough yet, but does anyone know of these types of restaurants or where I can even buy ingredients to make Middle Eastern (and also Indian) foods myself? (e.g. Pomegranate syrup, Tahini, Falafel mix, Tandoori spices)

Has anyone tried out Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas yet? Restaurant Row 533-HIRO Here are some reviews: Honolulu Star Bulletin Nattokun Blog Honolulu Weekly Sounds fabulous.... I am going to be eating here soon

I don't go out for saimin much....usually I go out for ramen . However, for good saimin, Shiro's Saimin Haven in Pearl City is yummy and has a humongous menu of practically anything you could possibly imagine adding to a bowl of saimin.

Yaki-Onigiri (musubi) day!!! Rice mixed with either regular furikake (green) or shiso furikake (purple) + goma. I used the onigiri molds to press them. Onigiri on the grill (along with some shrimp-veggie skewers) Finished onigiri... two types of sauce: mirin+shoyu+sugar+shiso sauce, with or without aka-miso. The one without miso looks like theres no sauce (It was runny and just soaked in) Oishi-katta It was delicious.

Kua Aina in Japan - 11 total? http://www.kua-aina.com/main.html Osaka Branch: in Nanba Parks 大阪府大阪市浪速区難波中2-10-70なんばパークス6F Map http://gourmet.yahoo.co.jp/gourmet/restaur...A-9BDSM010.html

Beautiful!!!! Kristin, you are so creative!!!

Wow, Im pretty surprised to know there are so many Kua Ainas in Japan....I had thought there was just ONE in Tokyo... I'm sure the menus there have been Japanized at least as far as the drinks....as we have soda but not tea offered at the ones over here, at least not the last time I went. (Which is awhile ago, and I have only been to the original branch in Haleiwa, not the second branch over here). Maybe when I come to Osaka this spring I will check out the Kua Aina there (or I can send my sister in the meantime). Where is it located?

This is what I use for translation of Kanji: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/jwb/wwwjdic?9T Its not perfect as far as being able to translate all Kanji combinations, and it wont help you with grammar, but you can at least get the jist of it. Theres also a place to translate english or romanji into Japanese (Kanji). With this website, (plus some knowledge of Japanese grammar), plus the "translating" abilities of Google, you can get pretty far in reading Japanese websites!

Hi Easternsun! Welcome to eGullet! Im glad to see there is another Kansai person joining our group (My sister is living in Osaka, and I get to go visit her again this spring ) Do you think you could list a few places in Kansai (Osaka???) where you pick up your Asahi ponzu? This is on my (long) list of things to buy this spring when I come again.

A question about Hawaii versus Japanese foods..... who invented the Spam musubi?? Was it the Japanese in Japan or the Japanese in Hawaii??? Is spam even popular in Japan?? We totally love it in Hawaii, myself included.

I saw Kua Aina when I was walking around Tokyo (somewhere between Shibuya and Omotesando stations) I wonder if this Kua Aina has the same menu as the one in Hawaii....basically a really good and popular burger shop, with nothing much "Hawaii" to it, except that it began here (and one "Hawaiian" burger which has pineapple on it), before expanding to include shops in LA and Tokyo.

Interesting..... Do these places serve 1) actual Hawaiian food (meaning Kalua pig, laulau, poi, etc.), 2) Pacific Rim Cusine (East-West Fusion, so popular in Hawaii by people such as Alan Wong, Roy Yamaguchi, etc.), or 3) "Hawaii food", what I term the foods popular to eat in Hawaii that are basically versions of certain Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portugese, American foods that have found thier own personality in Hawaii, i.e. "plate lunch", the most popular items of which are chicken katsu, and BBQ or teriyaki chicken or beef, equipped with rice and mac salad. Plate lunch would also include things created in Hawaii such as loco moco.

I bought these the other day...Pucca プッカ : http://pucca.tv/pc/images/pucca_top_image.jpg Like a puffed up (salt-less) pretzel filled with a chocolate-yogurt? filling. Pretty yummy....my BF and I (mostly him) ate the whole box before we even got to the freeway after leaving the grocery store.

A listing of Big Island B&Bs: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g29217-c...aii-Hotels.html

Tsunami's in Hilo is the place to eat.... 250 Keawe St, Hilo, (across from Spencers Gym) (808) 961-6789. Everytime I go home to Hilo, this is the only place I HAVE to eat at. They have an extensive donburi menu, among other things, and thier food is great and pretty good prices. You can also order any sushi from Ocean Seafood (sushi restaurant) across the street (same owners). Also, if you want some Hawaiian and local foods like good laulau, I like Kuhio Grille. 111 E Puainako St, Hilo (behind the Prince Kuhio Mall in Hilo, by KFC) (808) 959-2336 If youre in Volcano, you can stop by Volcano Winery and sample some wine too . As far as B&B's in Volcano go, I only know of the one my mom's friend runs. It is a fairly plain and casual place, but they have a furo (hot bath), though its indoors. I'll have to go find out the name of the place though. Since Im from the Big Island (Hilo side), I also totally prefer Hilo over Kona.

I used my leftover "udon" curry to make "curry nanban", in other words, instead of udon, i threw it over some soba

I always use a cutting board.... it think my knives are not sharp enough to do any aerial cutting...plus, I am probably too clumbsy...and if my BF ever caught me "dangerously" chopping, he'd scold me.... On the cooking shows here in the US, I think I usually see the chefs using cutting boards...maybe it depends on what is being cooked? I'll pay more attention next time Im watching....

Can you please explain a little more.....where are the beans thrown? - on the floor? in the corners of the room? I suppose Japanese keep thier houses clean enough to eat them off the floor.....not our house though... ...can we just throw them in a bowl on the table?

Curry Udon: (My first attempt at Curry Udon, ever). I never thought about adding much to my curry besides the curry roux and maybe some sugar, something hot (kochojang or chili paste), and maybe some shoyu, until.... i read the eGullet curry thread. Thus, presenting, curry udon, using S&B curry roux with the addition of some dashi-no-moto, shoyu, sugar, mirin, sake, and chili paste. I also added onions, garlic, carrots, shiitake, aburaage, and some leftover tofu. I made the curry kind of soupy for the curry udon, dumped it all over udon, and added on some leftover chicken katsu and shrimp. Eaten with some daikon greens "oshinko" I tried making, scallion tsukemono, and fukujinzuke. Im pretty happy with the way it came out, especially since previously, i didnt know what to thin the curry broth with without loosing alot of flavor when making curry udon. Next time I want to try the tomatoes idea!

Im in love with my Yuzu koshou, so now Im quite interested in trying Kanzuri. Do you think I'll be able to find this in Kansai? Any particular types of stores you would recommend trying?

Yummm!!! this sounds fabulous! I am going to buy some sweet potatoes and try this! So far I haven't been very creative with my daikon grater, I have only used it to grate daikon, carrots, and cucumbers for salads....

At the Marukai here in Hawaii, the gas canisters are pretty cheap... I think there was a 3 or 4 pack of canisters for 4-5$. Imagining your family has access to a japanese grocery store, getting them should be no problem. I have no idea if you can find them in other types of stores though.

Here is a nice article on Japanese Knife Basics, for someone who is clueless about knives like me. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...il20ataste.html

I love this rotating grater. It is great for grating daikon, carrots, cucumbers, etc, for salads, and has 4 different settings: 3 different comb sizes, and without combs to just grate things (like cucumbers) into a thin spiral. Here is some daikon and carrots grated using the finest setting: