skchai

Sounds very interesting Shiewie. Sort of using Marmite to substitute for kecap manis, I guess? In general, I think the whole area of fermented / hydrolyzed protein flavoring agents could be studied a lot more: similarities, differences, what happens when they get substituted for one another (con)fusion-style. I went to a Vietnamese restaurant in San Jose in which they put no fish sauce into their Pho, but instead replaced it with Maggi seasoning, insisting that this tasted much better. I once tried to make Korean kalbi (shortribs) by marinating in Maggi / soy combo - not exactly a success but not as different as you might expect. Fish / soy sauce combination works pretty well in nearly all cases where soy alone would be used - pork marinade in particular. Back to Marmite and Vegemite: I'm getting inspired to try putting a thin layer of seasoned Vegemite on top of tofu instead of sweetened miso sauce, then broiling it ala Japanese dengaku. . . see what happens.

Thanks, Alanamoana, for pointing me to this thread - I don't know why I didn't catch it earlier. . . There are actually a lot of successful middle-range dining places in Honolulu. The only problem is that they aren't really a successful bridge between local grinds and HRC. Most of these places would normally be classified as Asian ethnic food places, usually staffed by relatively recent immigrants, rather than local or Hawaiian. Some of the "stars" of the mid-range in my own limited experience: Korean: Yuchun Kudzu Cold Noodles (our favorite), on Keeaumoku across from McDonalds; Migawon (self-cook charcoal Korean grill - next favorite) on the corner of Atkinson and Kapiolani; Seoul Jung in the Waikiki Resort Hotel; Shillawon (specialty is seafood noodle hotpot) on Amana St. running between Keeaumoku and Kaheka; and Sorabol (esp. for breakfast) on Keeaumoku and Rycroft. Chinese: Asia Manoa on E. Manoa Road next to the Union 76 station (where old Toyo Suprette used to be), Legend Seafood in the Chinese Cultural Center Downtown + more expensive location in the Waikiki Trade Center; Hee Hing on mauka end of Kapahulu, below Sam Choy's; Kirin (Northern Chinese?) on Beretania nr University, across from Star Market. Thai: Singha Thai near Ena Rd. in Waikiki; the Mekong / Keo's empire various places around town; Champa Thai on Waialae Ave; Phuket Thai in the McCully Shopping Plaza at Kapioloni Blvd.; Chiang Mai near old Honolulu Stadium. Japanese: Kariyushi (Okinawan) on Young Street near end of Kaheka; Mr. Ojisan (izakaya) and Wasabi Bistro, both on Kapahulu Ave., mauka end; Tokkuri-tei (sushi) in the middle section of Kapahulu Ave.; Menchanko-tei (fancy ramen and izakaya) in the Waikiki Trade Center; Vietnamese: Viet Cafe in the McCully Shopping Plaza; Pho Saigon on Keeaumoku in Samsung (sic) Plaza; Hale Vietnam on Waialaie Ave. (nr 11th) in Kaimuki, Taste of Saigon downtown. There's even some top non-Asian middle-range stuff, too, such as Donato's in the Manoa Marketplace and Cafe Sistina on S. King nr. Keeaumoku (next to former Kensei's), both non-red sauce Italian places, though I guess both verge on the high-concept casual / fine dining end. I assume zero responsibility for these recommendations, by the way, though they're not particularly idiosyncratic. I'm sure you can clue me in on places that I should add to this list. The missing category, however, consists of the mid-range "local" restaurants, i.e. restaurants that in some way reflect the particular integration of cultures that has taken place on these islands, rather than discrete elements of one or another of those cultures. The main cause, IMHO, is that syncretic local food has a tradition dating from the plantation days, hence the emphasis has been on quantity, thrift, and speed rather than dining experience. Later waves of Asian immigrants, usually from a high SES background, basically created an ethnically-subsegmented middle dining layer, which then could appeal to upwardly mobile sansei, yonsei, etc. without necessarily being "their" food. High-end, however, has always been dominanted by tourist-oriented restaurants and a few special occasion "continental" places frequented by locals, e.g. Michel's, Canlis, et al. in the old days and John Dominis even now. HRC has not really eliminated this type of stratification, since it basically takes elements of the local food concept, as well as the various ethnic dining concepts, and finally the ideology of fusion, then packages them as haute cuisine for the newer generation of tourists, who no longer want to eat the same foods that they could find back home. There is not as much financial incentive market this back down to the mid-level. Furthermore, from an intellectual point of view it is actually a much more difficult task than building up HRC. HRC, as haute cuisine, can be "artifical" in the sense of being self-consciously creative; indeed this is considered a virtue as long as it does not do too much violence to the taste buds. "Fusion" has always been a misnomer because the provenance of each individual ingredient or component of a dish is usually obvious. Local plate-lunch type grinds, on the other hand, have evolved slowly over several decades and reflect that evolution in that they comfort the tastebuds of those who have been raised our particular blend of cultures. So how do we approach the middle range of dining while retaining a local flavor? A "top-down" option, as reflected by Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch, and Crab (on Nimitz Hwy nr Hilo Hatties), as well as Alan Wong's Pineapple Room (in Ala Moana Macy's), is to spawn a "casual" version of a celeb HRC chef's fine dining establishment. That's a good idea, and both places turn out good food, but the results "betray" (to use a too-strong word) their origins by offering for the most part slightly cheaper versions of HRC, not a bridge to local food in any meaningful sense. And for dinner, at least, the prices are not even much cheaper than in the fine-dining places. The alternative, a "bottom-up" one, is to sell glorified versions of plate lunch. Choy's BLC does some of that on its lunch menu, with its fried poke and mixed "bento" plates, and manages to pull in a big local crowd. Russell (3660) Siu's Kaka`ako Kitchen (abutting Ward Center) is even a plate lunch place in ambience, adding things like grilled mahi with capers to the usual katsu n' teri. Finally, there are those that try eclectic approachs. Onjin's Cafe (near Ward Center, across from Office Depot) takes a simultaneous top-and-bottom approach, selling styro-clam lid containers for dinner (to go only) filled with HRC-type mains. Finally, Big City Diner (on Waialae Ave. in Kaimuki) takes a middle-middle approach, juxtaposing American diner classics like meatloaf with a wide range of typical mid-range Asian ethnic dishes such as braised kalbi, etc. Back to the main issue, if there is one. Which of these will actually work in bridging local food with HRC in a middle-range, popular dining concept? I dunno. I guess the missing ingredient is time - you can't rush these things. As HRC innovations and, more importantly, sensitivity to ingredients are assimilated (digested?) by the local population, it will become easier and easier to come up with dining concepts that reflect these influences and yet fit in with the resources and aesthetics of mainstream local culture. . .

Which former captain was that, may I ask? Wild guess - "Tiger" Pataudi?

I believe you are referring to a summertime pasttime known as Nagashi Somen, though a particularly deluxe version! The somen noodles are sent down bamboo aqueducts (?) and the diners catch them with their chopsticks. Fun for all, especially the inebriated. The cool water has the nice side-effect of chilling the noodles by the time they reach the diners.

I once did systematic empirical research on this very important topic! There are four major hydrolyzed yeast products: Marmite Vegemite Promite NZ Marmite Vegemite and Promite are both Australian and are sweeter than Marmite. The tricky thing is the NZ Marmite is the sweetest of all! So you get people in the antipodes complaining that Marmite is too sweet compared to Vegemite, while pommies are wondering if their tastebuds are upside-down too. Needless controversy - things like that are tearing the Commonwealth apart. IMHO the *-mites have untapped potential as savory-taste enhancing cooking agents. Is anyone aware of recipes that use Vegemite or Marmite as a flavoring agent?

Welcome to the thread A-Nomad! Are your restaurant writings available anywhere on the web? If so, would appreciate if you could post here every now and then links to your latest insights. Mahalo Nui Loa. . .

Furikake goes with just about any relatively dry (and a few wet), savory, salty snack. Here's some other creative (?) uses I've come across or tried myself: Setofumi (Goma-Katsuo) Furikake in Chicken or Tonkatsu Breading Shiso Furikake on Cole Slaw Sake Tarako Furikake on Boiled, Fried, or Roasted Peanuts Any-kine assortments on Popcorn (different bowls for each, at parties) Katsuo Mirin on Green Mango (tastes better than it sounds) Norikomi (Nori and Goma) + Shiso on Bombay / Chaat Mix - this is good! Ah. . . that's it

It's Wednesday, so already we got some newspaper updates: Just when I said that Wanda Adams, Advertiser Food Editor, doesn't publish as many articles as you would expect under her byline, we get three: OFF THE SHELF: Fat-free okara can be used in soups, as meat substitute FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Poke recipes embrace innovation QUICK BITES: A taste of Taiwan (+ Kona Brewery's IPA, Kapi`olani CC Farmers' Market, etc.) Not that there's any cause and effect. . . Here's stuff from the Star-Bulletin by Betty Shimabukuro: Sam Choy says he's been scared straight into reversing a lifetime of bad health habits (+ Hookipa 2003 info) Starting with right mango key to best chutney (+ Discover Moili`ili Festival info) Star-Bulletin's weekly sampling of recipes from two TV shows: HAWAII'S KITCHEN: Pesto takes on an Asian flavor ELECTRIC KITCHEN: Stuffed Maui Onions

Mahalo for your comments. Any other contributions you guys can make to this digest would be highly appreciated. I would particularly welcome info from the neighbor islands, since I don't get over there very much and don't really keep up with their media (even though I was a West Hawaii Today reporter at one point in my life). Comments and questions from mainlanders, international folks, and the "brain drain" diaspora are also appreciated, of course. News about local / Hawaiian food on the mainland or elsewhere would also fit, as would links to other websites and to Hawaii-related egullet threads (I'm obviously this thing pretty broadly). Here are some recent related egullet threads found and / or noted already: spam and mac salad: "hawaiian" foods FoodZealot bio: ?Who does he think he is? anyone in hawaii?: just checking Hawaii - Big Island recs sought Maui restaurants?: Fancy and not so fancy Honolulu Trip Report: Chef Mavro, Alan Wong’s and More There seem to be a lot appearing here very recently - there were hardly any in the past! A good sign, I hope. Please post links to any I missed.

But first, a mini-mini-orientation for the uninitiated: Honolulu styles itself the "Crossroads of the Pacific", though more often nowadays it's a speck in the ocean for people jetting overhead from Important North American City A to Important East Asian City B, or vice-versa. Nonetheless, its cultural diversity has been kept alive by waves of immigration and made marketable in recent years by waves of increasingly jaded tourists. This combination, however, has inevitably led to a split of local dining into two segments. The first is Hawaiian Regional Cuisine, full of self-conscious East-West adaptation, spawning its share of celebrity chefs, such as Roy Yamaguchi, Sam Choy, Alan Wong, and George Mavrothalassitis. The second is the everyday cuisine of local people, an ever-evolving ethnic amalgamation full of adaptations such as mochiko chicken, loco moco, spam musubi, puhelu kalbi, and kalua pig manapua, all piled on sky high on top the ubiquitous plate lunch. Some of the biggest (though not necessarily the best) purveyors of local fast food are: Zippy's (plate lunch), L&L's (plate lunch), Yummy's (Korean-style plate lunch), Ba-Le (Vietnamese-style sandwiches), and Ezogiku (ramen). By far the best intro to local cuisine in its cultural context is Rachel Laudan ("caroline" to egulleters)'s Food of Paradise (University of Hawaii Press, 1996), winner of the 1997 IACP Jane Grigson Award. O.K., formalities aside, here is the media digest. Since this is the first installment, there is some introductory material as well. I don't know how frequently I can update! The two daily newspapers are the Star-Bulletin and Advertiser. The Star-Bulletin's food editor is Betty Shimabukuro, who writes a lot about local ingredients. Some of her recent feature articles: A Taste of Tofu: All tubs are not created equal Daikon ministry: The Honbushin community celebrates the favorite vegetable in its shared garden Oahu sprouts new farmers’ markets Chef devotes a dinner to a rare ’shroom (matsutake) Forget about hair on your chest, traditional Okinawan andasu will put hair on your back, sides and the top of your head She also writes a column called BY REQUEST. Being lazy, I just copied excerpts from the index page: The Star-Bulletin restaurant editor is Nadine Kam, who writes a column called THE WEEKLY EATER. Presumably, restaurant reviews will be of somewhat less use to those to those outside the state, so I generally won't excerpt or index individual articles, but check it out anyway if you're like me and enjoy reading reviews of restaurants you'll probably never have a chance to frequent. The Star-Bulletin also features every Wednesday recipes from two TV shows, Hawaii's Kitchen and Hawaiian Electric Kitchen (see below). The Advertiser's food editor is Wanda A. Adams. However, since she doubles up as a feature writer, there aren't quite as many food articles as you would expect under her byline. Instead, other writers chip in, such as in the recent feature on Hawaiian heart of palm: OFF THE SHELF: Fresh Hawaiian heart of palm versatile and nutritious by Zenaida Serrano Espanol QUICK AND EASY: Michael's fresh Hawaiian heart of palm ahi poke The Advertiser restaurant critic is Matthew Gray, who's pretty adept an rooting out hole-in-the-wall places. Again, I won't excerpt except in unusual cases, but here are links to the archive index. On TV, there is a wealth of shows, as the major stations feel the need to keep up with the Hawaiian Regional bandwagon. PBS Hawai`i's version is HAWAII COOKS with Roy Yamaguchi, which I believe is gradually extending its national distribution. Here are some copied-and-pasted excerpts from the home page. KITV (ABC) has the granddaddy of these shows, the HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC KITCHEN, running since 1995 and so-called because of its sponsor. A sampling of some recent shows (you need to register to see the recipe index): Incidentally, KITV has its own food page, complete with restaurant reviews by local newsreader idols, but the page doesn't have any mention of Electric Kitchen. Strange. KHON (Fox)'s show is HAWAII'S KITCHEN. The KHON site unfortunately hasn't been kept up to date, but a more up-to-date archive is provided by Suresave Supermarket's site. Some recent recipes: KHNL (NBC) has SAM CHOY'S KITCHEN, which is nearly as ancient as Hawaiian Electric Kitchen, running since 1996. Suresave also has an archive of these recipes. Excerpts: KHNL also runs frequent segments called CHEAP EATS with Sam Choy and Lyle Galdeira. In which they sample a full range of Hawai's plate lunch and other fast food offerings. Needless to say, Choy has good taste. But perhaps a bit eclectic. O.K. Saimin, Manapua, Bento, Okazu, Pizzerias, etc. But Kalani and Kamehameha School Cafeteria? Iolani and Punahou Carnival?? Streaming media for some segments (but somehow not all). O.K., that's it for now. Pin me up Jinmyo. . .

Harry's Cafe Home Page. I first read about them in of all places Korean Air Line's in-flight magazine. If I recall correctly, the article said that Harry's was an institution and the taste of the pies was irrelevant. On the other hand there was a German guy who was making quite a name for himself in Sydney with his all-butter puff-pastry pies with all kinds of fusion fillings but I forget his name. All I remember is he said that he hated pies and just did it to make a living.

Ahh. There seem to be some doubters! I can't say I'm certain about this story myself but I recall hearing it from at least two different sources. Anil, I don't think the claim is that Frankies originated in the West Indies, just that they were invented in India but named after Worrell because he made a big impression on the Indian public. I did check the records and it turns out that Worrell apparently never toured India (at least not at the Test level), but on the other hand his average against India in the West Indies was pretty enormous. According to Statguru he averaged 60.83 in Tests against India, including a huge 237 in the first innings of the final test of the 1953 series, an innings in which coincidently all the W's scored tons (perhaps the only time they did so). Hmm., but come to think of it, there is some similarity to curry-goat-roti. . . both are rolled up! Prasad, there are a lot of stuffed-bread type dishes in Goa ("recheado") as well as numerous meat pies ("empada"), but I have never heard of a rolled-flatbread type dish similar to a frankie or kathi roll. However, my ignorance of such a dish doesn't mean that it couldn't have come out of Goa, particularly given that such a high percentage of professional chefs in those days were from Goa. In fact, I could come up with a decent apocryphal story to go with the Goa theory . . . they were named Frankies because they resembled the sleeves on the habits of the Franciscan Friars?

O.K. Some Frankie trivia: Frankies were named after (Sir) Frank Worrell, who was then a member of the West Indies cricket team and was tearing apart the Indian bowling. Worrell was one of the fabled "three W's" along with (Sir) Clyde Walcott and (Sir) Everton Weekes. Perhaps if he didn't do as well, we would be eating "Pollies"?

Nizam's in Delhi have a website. Wonder if they are even associated with the Calcutta Nizam's since they don't even mention them. They do however have a diet Kathi without egg.

Occassionally you'll see it in Korean-style Oden, or in braises such as kalbi-cchim. It's not like the shape is crucial to the taste, at any rate; it's mostly just tradition. You can substitute the oval kind without arousing the wrath of heaven (although if it's very thinly sliced you don't cook it as long). If fact, a lot of the tteokbokki they sell on the street is made from the oval kind before it's sliced, i.e. a big cylinder that you have to hold on a stick like a popsicle.

Kristin, Those are also called tteok (which is a generic name for rice cake). The shape you're referring to is called tteokbokki tteok because it's usually used in stir-frys as opposed to the oval sliced kind, which is usually used in soups. Tteokbokki comes in various forms but the most popular by far is the one in the hot kochujang sauce which you referred to. It's a major standby in street stalls ("pojang matcha") as well as fastfood snack ("bunshik") places. Probably the reason you're having a hard time finding it in cookbooks is that it's usually not considered a food you make at home. A more civilized version (not nearly as hot) can sometimes be found, however, under the name "tteok bokkeum". Bokkeum means stir-fry and bokki is a cute alternative term for the same thing. It became a popular cheap snackfood in the 1960s or so, where people used to sit around coal-fired burners and have the tteokbokki prepared at their tables, inhaling the lethal combination of frying chilies and burning hydrocarbons. There isn't really any need for a recipe - you just stir fry a little shredded marinated meat and/or fishcake (usually oden-style, not pink kamaboko) in oil with garlic, as well as perhaps thinly sliced onions and/or carrots and/or kimchi. Then you add the rice cake, kochujang and soy sauce to taste. If the rice cake has been refrigerated or sitting around for a while, you add a bit of water and cover to soften it up a bit. Otherwise you just stir it around until heated and pour it out. Garnish with sesame seeds and/or finely chopped green onions. But you can really do whatever you want. Popular modifications are "ra-bokki" with ramen noodles or "cchol-bokki" with chewy chinese noodles. You can even add Spam.

They have all kinds. Take a look at the catalog page for one of the largest Japanese manufacturers, Shimazu Kikai. They have separate machines for maki, nigiri ("shari-dama"), oshi, and even inari. Click on the bulleted links on the page to see the actual machines. And if that isn't enough, how about a gyoza-making machine? The "best-selling" one, no less. Or a yakitori-making machine? Extremely scary stuff.

Just highlights out the ubiquity of French shops in Tokyo. Flo is a very well-known Paris brasserie. (Gaston) Lenotre is a very well-known Paris caterer. A number of famous French shops seem to operate only in France itself and Tokyo. Don't know if it's a post-nouvelle cuisine thing, but there seems to be a real integration of French and Japanese food communities and even cuisines at many different levels that rivals anything else that is happening in the fusion world.

We did that quite a bit when we were wandering through Ginza Matsuya and Mitsukoshi during our last trip to Japan last year. I was accompanied by my 6-year-old son, which I think allowed me to get away with acts of otherwise over-the-top greed. In fact, I read somewhere that the practice of giving out generous samples has became a rarer over the "lost decade" because of the rise of "professional" samplers with tastes more elevated than their incomes, who have learned to work the depachika floors and thus eat quite well without paying anything for it.

Tonkichi, I see what you mean by about the updates at Makan Time and Makansutra - the Makan Time shows only a couple dozen updates for 2003, and the Makansutra "makanzine" seems have had only four issues since the beginning of 2002. Given this, however, where else do you think people can go to find comprehensive AND up-to-date online resources on Singapore food? Other than the ST or the official tourism page, which at any rate is surprisingly scanty. Also, if I may ask, why did so many people move from the Makansutra forums to Makan.solidah.com? Was it like a Chowhound to Egullet thing? Finally, one journalist whose articles I used to like is Margaret Chan. I can't seem to find her articles anywhere nowadays. What is she doing now? Thanks!

You should definitely check out Seetoh's very comprehensive website: Makansutra. Also, their biggest rival: Makan Time. Finally, try the Straits Times food page. Also, I almost neglected to mention New Asia Cuisine, which focuses on the high end of the eating spectrum.

I couldn't let this thread rest until I added one more post . . . About the mysterious difference between kuk and tang. It's easy to tell the difference between Japanese shirumono and suimono - the former contains miso, the latter doesn't. However, no one, including no die-hard 100% cannot-live-without-kimchi Korean, has been able to give me a clear answer about what makes guk guk and tang tang. Modally speaking, guk is clear broth and tang is thicker pottage, but there are so many exceptions to make this wholely unsatisfactory even as a rule of thumb. Most obviously, Korean miso soup is called twoenjangguk, even though it obviously is not a clear broth. Any thicker and it doesn't become twoenjangtang; it becomes twoenjangcchigae! Many tangs are based upon rapidly boiled bone stock, and thus have a milky color, e.g. seollongtang (thick beef soup with a few bean thread noodles), gomtang (thick beef soup with offal), and kkorigomtang (oxtail soup). So perhaps that's it? Unfortunately, galbitang (beef rib soup) are is clear-simmered, which messes up the generalization. O.K., it, like the aforementioned tangs, is beef-based. But where does that leave jeonboktang (abalone soup) and gultang (oyster soup)? Well, we can say that all the above tangs have a high chunk (geondugi) / broth ratio, unlike guks such as miyeokguk (seaweed soup) or muguk (white radish soup), which are relatively watery and short on chunks. However, the highest chunk / broth ratios of any soups short of cchigae are found in tteokguk (rice cake soup) and tteokmanduguk (rice cake and meat dumpling soup)! So frustrating. . . O.K. I do have better ways to spend my time. But I wrote this because I used to have a lot of fun with my son (when he was four or five) playing the "guk or tang?" game. We would open up the pages of the soup volume in Hyundai's "Love Cooking" cookbook series (yes, Hyundai produces things other than cars, semiconductors, and tours to North Korea), and guess from the pictures alone which was a guk and which was a tang. . . So it brings back happy memories as well. . .

Very well said. It is interesting to note that "essential cultural practices" are often only defined as such when a theretofor mundane aspect of life either comes under attack from outside and / or is caught up in a conflict between communal groups that exists for other reasons. 19th century records of Korean markets show that dog meat was indeed regularly sold; however it seems to have been viewed at that time as a cheaper substitute for beef, no more and no less. The lore attached to dog-eating only arose in the post-Korean War era as dog meat became relatively scarce, and became viewed as a way of asserting cultural identity only when international animal rights groups launched attacks on the practice in the runup to the 1988 Seoul Olympics. I am not saying that international groups have no right to launch such attacks, but in this case they seem to have caused dog-eating to become more entrenched, at least in some ways.

Yes...how could I forget boshintang? Especially during the "dog days of summer" which, traditionally in Korea, are actually the dog days of summer. There are three days during the summer when it is traditional to eat dog meat. My favorite way to eat dog, however, is tomagogi, which is stewed and sliced dog meat served on a wooden board (toma). The seasoning dip is sublime -- heavy on the gochujang, sesame oil, shiso seeds, and more. Wait, maybe this should be a dog thread. Jim You wish is my command. Perhaps we could start off this thread in the traditional Egullet fashion. How often do you eat dog soup? What is your favorite way of preparing dog? How do you rate dog meat compared to cat / hamster / armadillo? However, given that presumably few people here have actually tried dog meat, perhaps it would be better to start a thread about the ethical issues involved? Is it barbaric treatment of man's best friend or a cultural practice that ought to be defended? Feel free to weigh in on whale-eating and other practices that raise similar issues. . .

Just to push this argument past natural limits . . . The most deluxe dish at Hawai`i Saimin restaurants is something called the "dondonpa" which is saimin garnished with char siew, spam, AND kamaboko (the pink spirally kind). Sometimes they even add hot dogs to boot! So there.