SuzySushi

Congratulations! Check out these other threads in the Hawaii forum: Fine Dining in Honolulu, Experience and Recommendations and Oahu Recommendations, No Frills Please For a very reliable (but somewhat pricey) traditional sushi experience, I'd suggest Yanagi Sushi. (Needs reservations.) Yanagi Sushi 808-597-1525 762 Kapiolani Blvd. Honolulu There are also the cheap conveyor-belt sushi chains like Genki Sushi. Not the best quality, but cheap and fun. They have a branch on Kapahulu Avenue just outside Waikiki, and another in Ala Moana shopping center.

You can also make an acceptable proximity for panko by letting white bread dry out, then whirling it to coarse crumbs in a blender or food processor.

The cheese flan is sweet and includes usual flan ingredients (eggs, sweetened condensed milk, regular milk, vanilla, and of course a caramelized sugar sauce) as well as the cheese. I've never tried making a savory version.

The gouda cheese biscuits look lovely.... which reminds me, I have a piece of gouda cheese sitting in the fridge. I just finished breakfast, but there's always time for a snack!

I often do a Cheese Flan, whose recipe I got from a Cuban former neighbor. It contains cream cheese as well as the eggs. I also make Pumpkin Flan, which is a popular dessert in Japan, of all places.

Hmmmnnn... The compact edition of the Oxford English Dictionary lists "frog" as 3. As a term of abuse appled to a man or woman. Also, a Dutchman. [Funny... it says nothing about the French.] It cites references as early as 1626 - "These infernall frogs [Jesuits] are crept into the West and East Indyes" and 1652 - "Neither had I ever wished the charming of those Froggs [the Dutch]," both predating Escoffier by several centuries.

Okay, I'll go first, since I'm here. First impressions: Whether a place looks busy or not. Busy = popular. Too busy = off-putting. Will I get a table? Will I get served? Will they have run out of the food I want to order? Not busy at all = What's wrong with this picture, unless it's an off-hour. Does the place look clean (again, first impressions)? Do the servers look neat and clean? Does it smell good? I've been drawn to restaurants in other countries by the smells wafting out the doorway. My nose has never steered me wrong. If a fast-food place smells like old oil, I'm outta there! Is it too noisy for comfort, either from conversation level or loud music? One exception here is dim sum places where I'm accustomed to some din. Does the staff acknowledge my presence? In a white tablecloth place, this means greeting me at the door. In a fast-food restaurant it means taking my order promptly, not standing there chatting with other workers or disappearing into the back when it's my turn. Edited to add: I'm a sucker for fresh flowers. I really do believe it adds grace to the ambiance to have a fresh flower arrangement at the entrance of a restaurant, or a bud vase on each table.

Who own Aidells sausage company now? I didn't know it had been sold.

Wonderful blog entry, Michelle! I must admit I've never seen sweet custard topped with shrimp and can't wrap my mind around how that would taste. Guess I'm just going to have to try it for myself!

Mmmmmmm!!!! One of my favorite restaurant dishes. Even some restaurants don't get the shrimp crispy enough. As you say, it depends on the heat of the burner! When the shrimp are really crispy, the shells are delicious and completely edible, like eating shrimp-flavored crackers!

Teuscher, the Swiss chocolatier, is famous for its Champagne truffles, which are flown to its stores worldwide. And Food Network has a recipe for Jacques Torres' Champagne Truffles. The candies (molded in Champagne-cork shapes) have a chocolate shell filled with Champagne-flavored cream.

There was another thread. I don't know, occasionally they come up with usable ideas, particularly if you're looking for family-pleasers. You don't have to use the Kraft products if you can make a better from-scratch version. For picnics, I do a marinated vegetable salad I got from their magazine (but change the dressing to my own recipe). Last Halloween, they had a very cute Jack o'lantern cake baked in a Bundt pan. For anyone who is interested in the magazine, Kraft also sends out email newsletters every few weeks.

Interesting hypothesis, but the two studies I've read about were exceedingly small (12 subjects in one study, 13 in another) and were done on patients with "insulin resistance" or "insulin sensitivity" who were NOT taking medications for diabetes. No research has actually been done on patients who have diabetes and are taking medication for diabetes, particularly insulin!

Actually, people with diabetes can eat any food as long as it's worked into their diet and medication plan. It's preferable to stay away from foods that are concentrated sources of "empty calories" from added sugar because they must be factored into the day's total carbohydrate count, and take away from eating those carbohydrates as more nutritious foods. So... my husband and daughter (who both have diabetes) will eat small portions of high-quality "real" chocolate as a treat. On an everyday basis, they snack on the new generation of "sugar-free" chocolates that are made with sugar substitutes (such as Splenda) and sugar alcohols (such as sorbitol) that are metabolized slowly and are less likely to cause a blood sugar spike. They still count the total carbs in their diet plan, though. Of the readily available sugar-free chocolates, we've found the best-tasting ones to be Hershey's candy bar lookalikes, Nestle sugar-free Crunch, and Russell Stover's individually wrapped filled bonbons (we especially like the French mint and raspberry varieties). Note that excess consumption of sugar alcohols can cause gastric distress (cramps and a laxative effect), so overeating sugar-free candies is generally self-limiting!

Actually, diabetic hypoglycemia causes ravenous carb-craving, which is as it should be because your body's saying "Give me glucose NOW!" The by-the-books advice is to ingest 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates: 1/2 cup of fruit juice or regular soda pop OR 1 cup of milk (yes, milk's counted as a carbohydrate, folks, not as a protein) OR 15 grams of sugar candy (not chocolate, where the fat slows down the action) OR 2 to 3 glucose tablets. Wait 15 minutes, test your blood sugar again. Repeat the 15 grams of carbohydrates if your blood sugar reading hasn't risen enough. Follow this up with a small snack of slower-acting carbohydrates (such as 2 crackers) and some protein and fat, like an ounce of cheese or a spoonful of peanut butter. In practice, I know of few people with diabetes who can restrain themselves to 15 grams of carbohydrates and wait 15 minutes before testing again. When my husband has hypoglycemia, his routine, before I can stop him, is usually 2 to 3 glucose tablets, a full glass of orange juice, another glass of orange juice, then raid the refrigerator for whatever isn't nailed down (cookies, candy, ice cream, anything "regular" that's not no-sugar-added). By the time he tests his blood sugar again, it can be over 300! But such over-compensation isn't uncommon.

I thought it was common knowledge that the Indian restaurants that used to be on East 6th Street (are they still there?) sometimes shared kitchens and food -- several were owned by members of the same extended family and if one restaurant ran out of a dish, they'd send someone down the street to get it from another. No kidding.

Thanks, Kevin. She's not planning any trips in the near future, save for a current visit to NYC (she lives in Massachusetts), but I'll keep that in mind. I'm still trying to get her to come out to Hawaii again...

Let me just inject here, I'm pleased by the enlightening responses in this thread, and a little surprised by the number of views it has received in just a few days. Thanks, everyone, for participating! Thinking further on points several people have brought up, is the cleanliness factor largely the difference between a small "mom & pop" store and a supermarket that has greater financial resources, more employees, and presumably codified cleanliness standards? Then again, if I set foot in a supermarket that's dirty, I'm unlikely to buy anything there or ever go back, whereas I guess my expectations are different with an "ethnic" grocery store because I don't have as many alternatives from which to buy the same products. And yes, Sanrensho, I agree that Daiei, the large Japanese supermarket chain in Hawaii, is generally spotless (although one of their older stores, in Pearl City, is a bit run down compared to their recently remodeled flagship), as is the local branch of 99 Ranch Market, a huge Taiwanese-owned supermarket chain. But again, is this due to inherent differences between "supermarkets" and "mom & pop" operations?

No, I don't use "ethnic market" to describe a single store that carries products from a single (or even several) nationalities/cultures, cuisines. I'm using it here as a kind of shorthand to distinguish a grouping of what Ludja notes means a

I can see your points and tend to agree. Why, then, don't the shopkeepers of imported food stores (whatever country they're in) pay better attention to having attractive, clean displays? Would it cost so much extra that it would put them out of business (particularly if, as you suggest, the shoppers who are buying these products have few other sources for them)? Do they feel it doesn't matter because the shoppers will take anything they can get?

In her case, she just tries to go to places she thinks she'll like (that have the type of food she enjoys and can eat) and takes her chances elsewhere. For instance, with her dietary limitations, it's easy to order at most Asian restaurants, excluding Indian/Pakistani, because they rarely use milk, butter, or cheese in cooking. So if she's in an unfamiliar city, she'll head for an Asian restaurant as her first choice. I'm sure nowadays she can do some menu research online. Still, it's not always possible to determine the exact ingredients in a dish, for instance, even an Italian pasta dish purporting to be made with olive oil may have been "enriched" with butter or may contain cheese that isn't mentioned on the menu. You may similarly find that there are certain types of restaurants -- cuisines, types of preparation, chefs, chains, etc. -- that have more foods that fit within your dietary limitations without any adjustments, or that can be adjusted easily. I wouldn't want to go to a traditional French restaurant, for instance, and demand that the chef cook without butter, or a vegan place and demand low fiber! It can be done, of course, but generally not without a lot of pre-planning on the part of the kitchen staff. If there's really someplace special you'd like to dine, say a 4-star restaurant everyone's been raving about, perhaps you should call ahead, explain that you've always wanted to dine there but must follow a restricted diet for medical reasons, and ask if the chef can prepare a special dinner for you. Flattery can get you far!

My sister has a severe dairy foods allergy. She's made up a card that she shows at restaurants when she's traveling. I think she even had it translated into German for a trip to Germany. It makes things much easier in restaurants because she can communicate her dietary needs without any misunderstandings.

Okay, to reiterate, I'm not talking about produce here, where "dirt" -- otherwise known as "earth" -- is to be expected. The produce in the Chinatown markets is fresher and cheaper than what's in conventional markets, and I have no qualms about buying it. What I'm referring to is dented and rusty cans, bottles and jars that are weeping their contents, and other signs that the integrity of previously manufactured products has been breached. Some interesting points have been brought out in this discussion about imported products not always faring well in transit, and larger markets being able to afford more staff to dust and arrange the merchandise. But I still get the impression that general grunginess of shelf-stable areas of the store is more acceptable in ethnic markets, and I'm still curious as to why.

But that doesn't explain why grungy seems to be more acceptable in ethnic communities. Is it just that mainstream Americans have gotten further away from our roots and all markets used to be like this? Is there no reason for merchants in these markets to bother dusting off the cans and put their best face forward?

Those of you who know me on eGullet know that I'm an adventurous diner, love ethnic foods, have traveled widely, have good friends from other cultures, etc. etc. Well, I'm just back from a shopping trip to Chinatown, where I stopped in a new grocery store and came away struck yet again by how filthy the market was beneath its gaudy exterior. My hands were dusty and grimy from touching merchandise in the store. I had to pick through an entire row of canned goods to find two cans that were not badly dented. I couldn't bring myself to buy one of the items I specifically sought because all the jars were encrusted with bits of the contents -- either from someone opening them to "check," from a single jar that had gotten broken during shipping, or from air pressure during transit loosening the seals. And forget the fish display, on ice, but with flies buzzing around. I know that not ALL ethnic markets are like this, but practices like this seem to be more acceptable. I can't imagine shoppers flocking to a mainstream supermarket with the same low standards of visible cleanliness (forget about health department violations, which I won't get into). Am I being culturally prejudiced here, or is there something I don't understand?