skchai

The Yagura Honten site features a "Loco Moco Ochazuke" bento !!! Is Hawaii Loco Moco (Hamburger on Rice with Gravy) really that popular in Japan? By the way, people in Japan, which of the two big bento chains do you prefers - Hokkahokkatei or Honke Kamadoya?

Ryan, thanks for links to all your pictures. Do you know who the guy being interviewed is - looks familiar but I can't place him. O.K., here's my much-delayed report. . . The Garlic Festival of Hawai`i expanded this year, its fifth incarnation, by becoming the Garlic and Ginger Festival. As a theme for a local food festival, it's hard to think of a theme that better fits the countours of the emerging Pan-Pacific/Hawaiian Regional (or whatever you want to call it) cuisine than garlic and ginger. In fact, the fit is almost too close. Want to locate a dish using garlic and / or ginger? For most local PP/HRC restaurants, that means picking any item at random off of their appetizer or entree list. It's hardly a stretch, not nearly as much of a stretch as finding a recipe that uses Spam, for instance. That said, the festival is a lot of fun, not nearly for its mysterious ability to attract the blue-bloods of the local gastronomic scene. Among the chefs represented there were Beard-award winners such as Roy Yamaguchi and Alan Wong (or at least their minions), as well as other local stalwarts such as Russell Siu of 3660 on the Rise / Kaka`ako Kitchen and Colin Nishida of Side Street Inn / Fort Street Bar and Grill. Not often you can get those kind of guys to churn out mass feedings on paper plates that are sold for a few scrip (one scrip = one buck). The festival, a benefit for the Institute for Human Services and Friends of the Missing Child Center, had such a big crowd this year that there was no elbow room location in the cramped Ward Warehouse Auahi St. parking lot. Forced to move it somewhere more spacious next year. The wife was staying late at work, so I was dragging along the two kids all by myself. Just barely managed to survive; so don't expect any dainty tasting notes and such. Just quick picks taken on the run while chasing them down. Roy's Restaurant, represented by staff and executive chef (Ronnie Nasuti) of its Hawai`i Kai original location, gave us, in its typically verbose fashion, "Steamed Hawaiian Moi with an Asian Pesto Sauce, Chinese Style with Garlic and Ginger, with sizzling Soy Sauce and served with Garlic Fried Rice" - 5 scrip. In the vocabulary-mangling world of East-West cuisine, "Asian Pesto" means pureed cilantro. There was a just a bit of it on top, with a big handful of ogo seaweed and a small scoop of tobiko (flying fish roe). Hey, why wasn't the ogo and tobiko mentioned in the 100-word name of the dish? And where was the "sizzling soy sauce"? Anyway the ogo was a good texture contrast - you could hardly taste the tobiko, but it added a nice color. Russell Siu is one of the few folks who is trying to bridge the gap between high-end Hawaii cuisine and the plate lunch. His gastronomic place, 3660 On the Rise, is one of the best, but it's his upscale plate lunch establishment, Kaka`ako Kitchen, that was represented here. He gave us a very nice "Fire Roasted Marinated Skirt Steak with Fragrant Rice" - 5 scrip. Rare, and much tenderer than you'd expect from a skirt steak. There was garlic in the marinade but no ginger I could detect. Anyway, the Ginger was covered by the other entree, the "Baked Ginger Crusted Chicken with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato". Colin Nishida's Side Street Inn is a place that gets almost completely ignored by the national press, but it's the favorite hangout of local chefs, who crowd its tables late at night after they've closed their own places. Perhaps both facts can be explained by the "laser karaoke" and "electronic darts" featured there and at its sister restaurant, the Fort Street Bar and Grill. Like Kaka`ako Kitchen, it provides a distinct vision of where trendy Hawaii Cuisine can go in the future as it becomes accessible to the masses. At the festival, they offered up a combo plate of - get this "Garlic and Coriander Roast Pork Loin with Ginger Scented Gohan, Nalo Chicken Salad with Ginger Garlic Asian Pesto, and Garlic Soy Beans" - 6 scrip. The biggest bargain at the festival. And I will always eat roast pork loin, particularly when its roasted as well as it was here. . . Actually, I'm doubly grateful because they were implicated in averting at least one kid-related disaster. The hosts had been giving out balloons at the entrance to the festival, which I tied around the wrist of both my kids so they wouldn't get lost. My daughter for some reason decided to take the balloon string off her wrist and put it down for a while. Naturally, it floated away, and she started to scream and carry on. Suddenly, out of nowhere materializes Colin Nishida himself a new balloon, which he kindly tied around her wrist for her. "But it's a different color than what she had", my son added helpfully. But despite this my daughter stopped crying. Alan Wong's restaurant was represented by their pastry chef, Mark Okumura. They kind of wimped out and didn't try to garlic ice cream or the like. Instead, they gave us "Chocolate Loaf Ice Cream Sandwich with Ginger Coconut Dip". It was two thick slices of a very moist chocolate pound cake around vanilla ice cream, cut in half on the diagonal. The dip was basically a kind of cornstarch-thickened haupia added to it. My kids (who had meanwhile been eating Gordon Biersch fries and Parc Cafe pizza) saw it and grabbed the two halves, leaving none for me. They wouldn't even give me a taste. The dip, the dip, I said weakly, but they ignored it. So I stuck my fingers in it and scooped up the dip by itself. Not exactly on fire with ginger, but not bad . . .

I'm not an expert on soju by any means, but basically what that site says in correct. Soju is almost always taken straight, from small glasses that look more or less like shot glasses. However, flavored sojus are quite common, that is, soju that has various herb, bark, root, etc. flavors added after the distillation process but prior to bottling. These are quite traditional but have recently been experiencing quite a boom in popularity.

ExtraMSG - Amazing. Thank you so much for that extremely detailed journal and for the tons of great pictures. Other readers, you should definitely check these links out. . . I haven't been to the Big Island in a looong time, but reading your journal makes me want to go and check it out once more. Sounds like the old standards (Sibu, Manago) are still good and there are a lot of new places to check out . . . Thanks!

The Garlic and Ginger Festival of Hawai`i is today from 4-10pm at the Ward Warehouse Auahi Street Parking Lot. Restaurants with booths include Roy's, 3660 on the Rise / Kaka`ako Kitchen, Alan Wong's, Side Street Inn. Pretty great selection. Look at this post in the media digest thread for more info. Will try to post some pictures later. . .

Do-It-Yourself Ginger Ale, by Betty Shimabukuro QUICK BITES: Asian flavor fest today, by Wanda A. Adams Two articles on Garlic & Ginger Festival of Hawaii at Ward Center Parking lot today. Here is the Festival Website. Stuffs: A Maui celebration Kapalua Wine & Food Festival, July 8 to 11, is "virtually sold out, but seats at the various wine seminars and cooking demonstrations may open up as the event approaches." 7 from soy, by Wanda A. Adams Different kinds of soy products making it into our kitchens, and how to use them. One 'Nother Note: Changed the name of this thread from "Honolulu Dining" to "Hawai`i Eating News" to better reflect the broader content. . .

Lym, I just started noticing the Mehana Beers on local shelves. Haven't tried them yet, however. According to their site, there are five varieties. Which one is your favorite, lym? In case one of us is able to make a pilgrimage to Hilo anytime soon, which , in your opinion, would go best with your own classic prepared kalbi steak, oxtails, and so forth? Noticed that one is called "Roy's Private Reserve", apparently some tie-in with Roy's Restaurants. . . .

Thanks, Kristin! From the links that Hiroyuki put up in the Japan forum tsukemen thread, it seems that broth made by Mr. Yamagishi has a lot more green onions than the one served in the Keeaumoku location. Hmm. . .

Tryska, "mook" is a kind of gelatin made from either mung bean or acorn starch. You make a salad out of it by slicing it in strips and covering it with spicy soy sauce, shredded nori, carrots, and the like. You often get it as a side dish in Korean restaurants. Rushina, there are plenty of Kim Chee recipes available on the web. My late father had a very simple recipe that he used to make all the time - it had a very "clean" taste because there were no salted seafood products in the recipe, as there are in the vast majority of "authentic" recipes. Thus it would be acceptable for vegetarians than most Korean kimchees (though perhaps not many Brahmins, since it does contain garlic). You can just visit this page to find my father's recipe, in his own words. We make Kim Chee all the time here in the Manoa district of Honolulu, which must be one of the most humid places on the face of the Earth, probably even more so than Bombay, so I don't think heat and humidity should be a problem. Joan, looking forward to seeing photos of your wonderful kim chee!

These sound like great combinations. One Korean-Indian fusion (if I may use the word) thing I have tried multiple times is bindaetteok-pakora. It seems like a natural merging. This basically means a spinach pakora with the usual spices, but made with ground soaked nokdu (moong dal) instead of besan. That works pretty well. . . If you want to make it thicker, add mung flour or besan, but don't add too much or it will be stodgy. If that sounds basically Indian and not Korean enough, chopped up kim chee can be added instead of spinach, but I haven't tried this. Not sure if there will be any clash with the spices and they will have to be adjusted. . . BTW, we always had kimchi with our turkey at Thanksgiving growing up as well. Also, "mook" salad was seen as a good accompaniment for turkey for some reason.

I just posted a review of the Honolulu branch of Taishoken@Higashi-Ikebukuro in the Hawaii Forum. Kazuo Yamagishi, owner of Taishoken@Higashi-Ikebukuro, is credited with inventing (Kantou) tsukemen in 1961.

Taishoken 903 Keeaumoku St., Suite C101A Honolulu HI 96814 808 955-8860 Taishoken is one of the most famous ramen shops in Tokyo, and thus the world. Or I should be more specific - the shop named Taishoken in Tokyo's Higashi (East) Ikebukuro district is. The shop has spawned a horde of imitators throughout Japan with similar menus, many also calling themselves Taishoken. The vast majority have no ownership or franchise connection with the Higashi-Ikebukuro shop. Thus ramen afficionados in Japan distinguish the famous Taishoken from others by calling it "Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken" or "Taishoken@Higashi-Ikebukuro". What's all the fuss about? Kazuo Yamagishi, owner and chef of Taishoken@Higashi-Ikebukuro, is famous for having invented "tsukemen", which is a kind of cross between ramen and morisoba. In the original version, a broth made from pork, chicken, and anchovies is boiled down until it is extremely concentrated, and is served, along with additional seasonings (primarily shoyu or miso) and toppings, in a small bowl beside a plate of plain ramen noodles. You dip the noodles into the soup before eating them. This is the "Kantou" tsukemen. There is another kind, "Hiroshima" tsukemen, which uses a dip of cold spicy soy sauce, that seems to have been derived more from "hiyashi chuuka" (a cold garnished Chinese-style noodle salad) or directly from a Chinese source rather than from ramen. This version has nothing to do with Taishoken! (For more discussion on tsukemen, see this thread on the Japan board). The whole business of which Taishoken is "related" to which is a murky affair. This is complicated even further by the fact that there is a completely independent Taishoken@Eifukucho, which offers a different ramen menu and concept, that itself has inspired a horde of followers (I don't know which one is older. The name "Taishoken" has been around longer than either restaurant, dating apparently to the days when trademarks were not such a big deal! I searched for an official website for Taishoken Ramen in Tokyo and came up with quite a few such as this (@Shibuya + a lot of other places), this (@Shinjuku and @Ginza), this (@Nakano), and this (@Shonan, a resort area south of Tokyo). But none of these seem to have a formal link with Taishoken@Higashi-ikebukuro, which does not seem to have an official website. It does however seem to have a number of apparently "official branches", including this one in @Kichijoji, an affluent suburb of Tokyo. This branch actually calls itself "Higashi-Ikebukuro Taishoken" even though it is not in Higashi-Ikebukuro, in order to bolster its claim to parentage. Got it all straight? I don't. Where is BON when we need him? Speaking of the one-time (and still?) eGulleter, please do look at his review of Taishoken@Higashi-Ikebukuro on his premier "real" ramen resource site, WorldRamen.net. There is a touching story there about how Yamagishi closed down his own place several years ago after the death of his wife, but was convinced to reopen by hundreds of small notes of encouragement taped to the door of his establishment by his loyal customers. Yamagishi first came up with tsukemen in 1961 at the restaurant that is now Taishoken@Nakano, then used his invention to open the Higashi-Ikebukuro establishment, where he can be seen cooking to this very day. So in some ways, Taishoken@Nakano is the "original tsukemen restaurant", though most ramemophiles would attach the more salience to Yamagishi himself than to the particular establishment. An detailed history (in Japanese) of all this can be found on this page at the Taishoken@Nakano official site. I'm writing all this because a new branch of Taishoken@Higashi-Ikebukuro has apparently opened in Honolulu, on Keeaumoku St., near King St. next to the Sino-Korean "Beijing/Bukgyeong" Restaurant. As far as I know, this is the first official branch of Taishoken located outside the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. The restaurant definitely plays up the fact that it is an official branch, with photos and articles about the Higashi-Ikebukuro restaurant pasted on its wall, as well as the characters for Higashi-Ikebukuro prominently displayed on its "noren", the short curtain that marks the entrance to a traditional Japanese restaurant, though in this case it is located on the entrance to the kitchen from the eating area. The restaurant is apparently doing great business since it opened a few weeks ago, as there is a sign in front saying that they will not do any takeout orders due to the high volume of customers. I went at 11am, right when they opened, and there was already a short line of Japanese tourists waiting outside. At Taishoken@Higashi-Ikebukuro@Keeaumoku, you can order one of two kinds of tsukemen broth - shoyu (soy sauce) or miso flavor. You then select a quantity of noodles (small or large), then a set of toppings from chashu (sliced boiled pork), menma (young bamboo shoots), yasai (mixed vegetables), ajitsuke tamago (seasoned eggs), and nori (dried laver). You have to pay of each of your toppings separately - if you don't order any, you get plain noodles and broth. You can also order ordinary ramen as well, with the exact same permutations and prices. Gyoza (potstickers) are available in quantities of 5 or 3 (the latter available only if you order ramen as well). Fried rice, curry, and pork and chicken katsu round out the token additional offerings. "Is your tsukemen the same as what is served in Higashi-Ikebukuro?" I asked the restaurant manager. No, unfortunately not, he said - it's not possible to buy the same kind of noodles and meat. However, he promised that the recipes were otherwise the same. I ordered a large shoyu tsukemen with chashu and yasai, total price $9.20. After about 10 minutes, I received a huge mountain of noodles and about a pint of soup. Lying in the soup were about four slices of pork with a mixture of cabbage, mung bean sprouts, and green onions. There was single gratis slice of nori sticking out of it as well. The noodles were squiggly egg noodles, soft but still slightly chewy, extremely eggy. They were served lukewarm (as is apparently the tradition in the Taishokens), while the soup was hot. The soup was extremely salty and porky, and dark with soy sauce. It had notes of fishy flavors, and was very faintly sour. While they provided a spoon of the sort that you get in Chinese restaurants, it would be only a very brave person so who would drink the soup straight from the bowl. Intimidated by the gallon or so of noodles, I started out by nibbling on the pork and vegetables to clear out some room in the soup bowl for dipping. Then I dipped and ate the noodles, and dipped and ate some more. . . About halfway through, the store manager came through and asked me if I was about ready to quit. No, I said indignantly, and kept on going until even though I could feel my abdominal muscles stretching out as I downed each skein of noodles. So much for the low-carb diet, but I finished it all. Very nice experience for those who of us prefer strong flavors for our noodles rather than a lot of broth. But I think I'll order the small next time.

Thanks for the report on the book-buying. Hope to hear more about cooking experiences with the chubu saenghwal books. Sorry Hanguk ui Jeontong Eumshik was not available - it's not really a popular book; more for food geeks and cultural historians.

Have a great time in China, PPC! Jason, thanks for the links to the King Yum thread on the NY forum. Great look back into Queens cultural history. Thanks also for the info about Fraunces Tavern - I vaguely recall hearing about it before, but didn't realize it was that old! If you're looking for old Chinese restaurants that are still owned by the same family, Char Hung Sut has been run by the Mau family continously since its beginnings in 1946. In fact, the matriarch-founder, Mrs. Bat Moi Kam Mau passed away just last year at the age of 97. It would be interesting to find out which are the oldest restaurants in various categories throughout the U.S. . . As far as I know (hah!) the oldest continuously operated, family-owned restaurant in the U.S. is Antoine's, which has been in the Alciatore / Guste family ever since its beginnings in 1840. I believe that the oldest COFO Mexican restaurant in the U.S. is El Charro Cafe, which opened in Tucson in 1922. Its current owner, Carlotta Flores, is the granddaughter of founder Monica Flin. The oldest COFO of any kind in Hawai`i is Helena's Hawaiian Foods, which opened in 1945. The kitchen is still, amazingly, run by the original owner, Helen Chock. Helena's won a James Beard "American Classic" award a few years ago. . . Doing a bit more research. . . The Union Oyster House of Boston, founded in 1826, claims that it is the oldest continuously open restaurant in the U.S. The Hays House of Council Grove, KS, founded in 1857, claims to be the oldest continuously open restaurant west of the Mississippi. The oldest existing restaurant in California is the Tadich Grill, mentioned earlier. However, it only acquired its current name in 1871, and it has been closed for short periods on multiple occassions and is not in the same family. Jack's and Maye's, also in San Francisco, are slightly younger, but I'm not sure if either has been continously open. The oldest restaurant in the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be the Horseshoe Cafe in Bellingham Washington, which opened in 1886, though it is not CO or FO.

No question about that Jason, you've created a monster. I'm pretty sure Wo Fat is the oldest currently operating Chinese restaurant in the U.S. Don't know of any other place that was open in 1882 that still exists now. In fact, it's not much younger than the oldest surviving restaurants of any kind in the U.S., such as Antoine's (1840) and Tadich Grill (1849).

Tony Chang (eGulleter "pakeporkchop") is the most knowledgable person nowadays around regarding Chinese restaurants in Hawai`i. There are a number of other articles on his site that describe different varieties of local Chinese Food and how they evolved. Both Wo Fat and Lau Yee Chai are still in business, though I haven't visited either since I was a kid. Wo Fat, located in Chinatown, is the oldest existing restaurant operating in the state of Hawai`i. It actually shut down in the early 1990s and was remodeled and reopened in 2000. It started off as a chop suey house, then gradually morphed into a Hong Kong-style seafood establishment, which I believe is what it is in its current manifestation. The Wo Fat building as a whole has a very colorful history, burning down two times and at different times being host to unorthodox enterprises, including "alternative" music raves in recent years. Irwin is as usual correct that McCully Chop Suey has played a major role in the development of the local Chinese food scene. I believe that they were the ones who pioneered the popular "cake noodles" that have become one of the mainstays of the Sino-Local food. There are still several restaurants around the island that go by the name "Chop Suey" - the label doesn't have the negative connotations it has elsewhere; it simply refers to inexpensive, local-style Chinese food. Another pioneer on the local Chinese food scene is Char Hung Sut in Chinatown, open since 1946, perhaps the first place to deliver local-style dim sum specialties ("manapua") in a closed building rather than on the street. As Irwin points out, China House at the Ala Moana center was the first to offer dim sum in the contemporary Hong Kong style. One mainstay of the Hawai`i restaurant scene, House of Hong, closed very recently. It was a large banquet facility along the lines of Lau Yee Chai, in Waikiki, though it had been around "only" since 1964.

Hawai`i, like other places, has been hit by the microbrewery boom in the last decade or more. However, brewers here face special obstacles because of the great expense of shipping ingredients and equipment across the Pacific. By far the biggest microbrewer (mesobrewer?) in the islands is the Kona Brewing Company, which has been around since 1994. They produce a full range of loosely adapted British varieties (Pale Ale, IPA, Porter, Stout, Barley Wine) plus a variety of more "color-named" ales such as Amber, Red, Golden, Blonde, as well as a golden lager and hefeweizen, all with hokey names such as "Longboard", "Big Wave", etc. They own brewpubs in the North Kona Shopping Center on the Big Island, as well as the Koko Marina Shopping Center on Oahu, and their more popular varieies are available in most of the big supermarkets. Besides these and Gordon Biersch, there a a few other brewpubs sprinkled around the islands. Sam Choy has one attached to his "Breakfast, Lunch and Crab" restaurant . . . About time someone resurrected Primo. . .

Thanks for the compliment, SmrtAss (if I may call you that), and welcome to eGullet. I'm actually been trying to reduce my carb and fat intake as well, but (very easily) decided that it was worthwhile to just let it go while I was in New Orleans. Now if I can only get back to it. . . Mayhaw, don't worry at all about being out of town. I truly hope that things have worked out O.K. regarding the family emergency. Maybe we'll have other chances to meet when you're here or I'm there again. Thanks so much to you and to Saturnbar and Rachel for giving us such valuable advice and making our trip more memorable than it would have been otherwise!

Sorry for joining in so late, I've been away on an extended trip (including a lot of eating), and just got back. I'm not nearly knowledgable enough to get into the debate about whether the local diet, on the average, is more or less healthy than that on the mainland. Suffice to say that there are major problems all over the U.S. in that regard, and Hawai`i is no exception. As all of you have mentioned, the issue of nutrition is closely related to the question of the context and conditions under which local people end up eating. Fast food in Hawai`i is not only ubiquitous but typically very unhealthy - the typical plate lunch, for all its attractions taste-wise, more often than not contains little or no vegetables at all. Yet the plate lunch menu does not accurately reflect what most of us eat at home, particularly for those whose home cooking is based on the traditional diets of the many countries (including Hawai`i itself) from which our ancestors arrived. I don't know the solution to this problem. There are a large number of ways that we can move to a healthier diet, but none of them are easy. Here are a few random thoughts: (1) Clearly, habits have to be shaped at an early age. Gene Kaneshiro, head of the DOE school lunch program and son of the late Columbia Inn founder Tosh Kaneshiro, has made a number of moves in the last few years encourage healthy eating in the schools, but enforcement is hard because of pressures on cafeteria managers to attract kids to the cafeteria lines in the first place when many other other alternatives exist. Here are three articles from local papers on the subject: School Lunches going Healthier $1 Lunches no Bargain for Students Cafeteria 101 (2) One part of the problem is the universal product of industrialization: people eat out more often, usually on the run. Fast food is by definition not just inexpensive but also meant to be gobbled down quickly. And while it it is not by definition unhealthy, it almost inevitably ends up being that way. My theory on this is that eating fast means not really tasting the flavors what's going down but rather getting a kind of visceral reaction based upon the basic taste sensations, the only things that make much of an impression when people are not bothering to chew are large quantities of fat, sugar, salt and the like. Not trying to be a slow food fanatic (I usually eat a lot faster than I ought to), but people can only learn to appreciate healthy food once they sit down and slow down enough to appreciate the distinct flavors of different ingredients. Nor does it mean that they have to stop eating fat, sugar, and salt, but once they slow down they'll be able to appreciate the flavors of different fats, sugars, and even salts, while being satisfied with smaller quantities. (3) An aspect of the problem that is unique to Hawai`i is our failure to integrate the vast array of vegetables and fruits that exist within our various ethnic cuisines into the food that can be be found in everyday eating places, those at a lower price level than the rarefied heights occupied by fusion cooking. It is ironic that dominant local inexpensive meal, the plate lunch, which is originally derived from a conglomeration of vegetable-heavy cuisines, more often than not contains no vegetables at all. There are a of course a large number of casual dining options that are much healthier than the plate lunch, but they tend to be clustered in ethnic or speciality restaurants and are not well-integrated into a coherent body of "local" cuisine. A couple of previous threads touch on this issue from the point of plate lunch and "mid-range" restaurants: The Future of Hawaii Restaurants Hawaii Plate Lunch I think, however, that the local population is willing to adapt to healthier alternatives to the traditional plate lunch, as long as entrepreneurs are willing to provide alternatives that are relatively inexpensive and are consistent with local culinary identity. The success of places like Kaka`ako Kitchen and I Love Country Cafe shows that this is the case. Yes, both of these places offer mac salad, but only on demand, and there are higher percentage of low-fat entrees and side vegetables. The ubiquitous Korean plate lunch places also provide an even larger variety of vegetables, and though most entrees are very meaty, the percentage of deep-fried dishes is at least somewhat lower. We need more choices like this, but we also need chefs who can creativity integrate healthy alternatives into the plate lunch and mid-range menus in a way doesn't seem imposed from outside.

The tastiest five years of my life` by Matthew Gray Matthew Gray signs off as the Advertiser's restaurant critic. He's probably the best the Advertiser has had, though considering the fact that before him (my info may not be good since I just returned home to live a couple years ago) "reviews" were limited to PR blurbs in the Sunday "Dining Out" section, that's too faint praise. He's been very good at finding the less well-known, out of the way, inexpensive ethnic places, and reviewing them in a detailed, descriptive, non-condescending way. He plans to start his own company to latch onto the burgeoning local food tour business. Chili Glory, by Betty Shimabukuro Hawai`i only ICS-sanctioned Chili Contest uses the F.A.R.T.S. system of judging. . . June's a Great Month for Dining Marathons Taste of Honolulu on Oahu, Dolphin Days on the Big Islands. Key Ingredient: Portuguese sausage, by Eleanor Nakama-Mitsunaga Note: Spaced out and put this post in the "Guide" thread for a while. Now it's back in the right place!

You're definitely welcome, and thanks, Mindy, for the very kind comments. The trip is (regrettably) over, and we have just arrived home. Here is somewhat belated update for the past couple days - I'll try to sum up sometime soon. . . Sunday: Was almost a washout food-wise. Morning we were busy with work, so lunch was a piece of leftover duck from NOLA - kids ate leftover pizza. In the afternoon, I had a little time to take them over to the Louisiana Children's Museum after a regrettably lightning-quick walk-through of the Ogden Museum's amazing collection of Southern Art. After running around and around for a couple of hours, the kids were knocked out and wanted to go straight back to the hotel room. All along, part of the problem of this trip was explaining to the kids why we went to the trouble of staying in this place full of secret compartments and escalators, then spent so little time in it. Also, believe me, you don't want to force kids to sit in a restaurant against their will - they'll make you pay for it. Luckily, we didn't have to resort to room service for dinner, since Mother's was nearly directly on the way back from the Children's Museum to the hotel. Second visit gave me a chance to try the Ferdi's Special (roast beef, ham, and debris) , as well as the Oyster Po-Boy. Anyway, there was a LOT of meat in these guys. I'd read in a couple old books that the oyster po-boy was referred to as the "mediatrice" or "peacemaker", but from reading a lot of menus on this trip it doesn't seem to be a term that's used anymore. The oysters stayed crisp amidst all the mayonnaise, though my daughter refused to eat them because of the "green stuff". The Ferdi's special, as expected, had just the right amount of debris. Was surprised, however, that the baked ham in the Special didn't have any ham "burnt ends" that were noted on the menu. Monday: Morning was filled up again. However, in the afternoon, the conference wound down and the wife and kids went off with one of her UH friends, leaving me free, free, free to my own devices. Was determined to make it to Uglesich's after reading Pableaux Johnson's warning that the place might not be around much longer. Of course, given how often I'm likely to have an chance to visit New Orlean's, there are likely a lot of places that won't be around if and when I return. But still. . . Took the St. Charles Streetcar just past Lee Circle, then walked up a couple slightly ramshackle blocks to the restaurant at about 3 in the afternnon. This turned out to be a good time, as there were empty chairs instead of the line out the door that you apparently face every lunchtime. As promised, Anthony Uglesich was manning the counter and walking amongst us mortals. Ordered one of the trademark dishes, the "Paul's Fantasy", made from pan-fried trout or catfish, topped with grilled shrimp and new potatoes. Chose the trout despite the waiter's warning that "the trout is more popular but the catfish is better" because I hadn't tried trout this whole trip. This is truly The Dish that Butter Made - butter permeates everything, yet the dish itself is not greasy. The fish crust and potatoes are crisp, but the butter isn't burnt. The whole thing is topped with chopped green onions and parsley. Squeeze a little lemon on top; the tartar sauce is gratuitious. Hard to see how the catfish could be any better. Still had some room and ordered the Stuffed Fried Mirlitons, but the waiter insisted on me having the Fried Green Tomatoes in Remoulade sauce instead. O.K., being the hick from out of town, I wasn't going to overrule him again. Know that the Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade and Shrimp is an Upperline creation, and unfortunately I didn't have a chance to go there and try the original (though I managed to walk past Upperline when it was closed - see below). The Uglesich version was extremely crisp like the "fantasy". The Remoulade sauce was not as mayonaissey as the other versions I'd had, nor was it bright orange like the Arnaud version. Instead, the dominant note was creole mustard, and a lot of it. . . I had a chance to talk to Mr. Uglesich, and asked him to confirm the story that he might close soon. Suprised at how unequivocal he was - fact is, he plans to close right away - "it's over", he said. The only possible exception would be if "someone who knows what their doing" comes around soon. He seemed rather dubious that such a person existed, though he did ask if I or anyone else knew of anybody, even from out of town, that fit the bill. Have any ideas, gentle readers? As of now, it seems you'll have a chance to eat at Uglesich's only until the start of his annual summer sabbatical, which this time will turn into a full-fledged retirement. . . Part of the reason he's releasing a cookbook now, he said, is to preserve the old recipes now that they won't be preparing them any longer at the restaurant. In a wistful mood, I decided to spend the remaining hour or two of the afternoon walking around a bit. Took the St. Charles streetcar to its terminus at stop 51. Realized at I had visited New Orleans too late to sample food at long-closed St. Charles' standards such as Corrine Dunbar's and the Carribbean Room at the Pontchartrain Hotel. Doubled back and got off at stop 27, then walked down Upperline (past the Upperline restaurant, which unfortunately wasn't open yet) to Magazine St. Walked east to Washington Ave. in the Garden District, had a coffee at Cafe Rani, then took the No. 11 Magazine RTA back to Canal St. BTW, it's an itinerary I highly recommend. Turned out that that wife and kids were eating dinner at the mall, so I went off and had dinner that night at Bennachin, a West African place on Royal St. just east of the Quarter. Given that it was our last night there, might seem strange that I didn't choose to have Cajun / Creole food. But in a way it was appropriate since West African cuisine is one of the important ancestors, perhaps the most important, of Cajun and Creole foods. I'd been meaning to try this place out (needless to say it's not possible to get decent West African food in Hawai`i!) and was headed back to the French Market area anyway to pick up some pralines, Zapp's Sweet Potato chips (my wife's food obsession the past week), seasonings, and such for the trip home. Had Akara (white bean fritters) as my appetizer. Akara are usually made from beans that have already been boiled and mashed, so they end up being really stodgy - I can tell you this from sad trial and error. The Bennachin version was very fluffy, however. Could it be that they are mashing beans that are not fully cooked before frying? Or some bean flour added to it, plus a pinch of baking soda? Don't know, and was too bashful to ask. Anyway, enjoyed it a lot, though I was still stuffed my late lunch. . . As my main, I had Egusi Soup - greens in a spicy meat broth, thickened with crushed seeds from the Egusi melon. This is probably the true precursor of gumbo, callaloo, and other Creole and Carribbean soups; it's been around from hundreds of years and always featured that characteristic "draw", the somewhat slimy viscosity that makes it easy to pick up with your fingers or a ball of fufu - mashed starchy vegetable, fruit, or grain. This version was particularly hot and also featured a lot of tomato, as well as strongly pronounced garlic / ginger flavors. Big chunks of stew beef, and not as much greens as some other versions. The huge loaf of yam fufu that came with the soup was particularly intimidating, and I didn't have room in my stomach for more than a fraction of it. This is not the Southern yam / sweet potato, but rather the true yam, the huge rough-skinned root with white flesh that is a close relative to taro ("cocoyam"). Made a lame attempt to eat the soup the "proper" way, which is to roll the steaming hot fufu into a ball with your forefingers, then dip in the boiling hot stew, then eat it. Ended up eating most of it with a fork, and saving most of the fufu for later (which later, I wasn't sure). As mentioned, I'll try to sum up soon. . .

Thanks, Brooks - for the advice, and for Abita Beer. Had the "Turbodog" a couple nights ago as well. Going through all the varieties before we leave. Hope we and the other eGullet folks can coordinate to get together sometime before then. . . As mentioned earlier, we haven't done as much in the last couple days since the conference got going, as we traded the kids off and one person or another attended sessions. Tried to also get my son to do his homework during the off periods but only partially successful - he has a pretty clear cut division in his mind between vacation / non-vacation. . . Friday: Did manage a quick lunch at the Palace Cafe right across the street from the hotel. This is another Brennan operation; the trademark efficient service was there but we were a more than a bit slow to get our food - other conference people had similar experiences. Anyway, I managed to polish off my entree before rushing off. . . It was a Pork Loin "Napoleon" which turned to be two broiled pork loin steaks sandwiching mashed sweet potatoes, topped with fried sweet potato shreds, ringed by baked apple slices, and bottomed with a red wine reduction. It's a real stretch to call this a Napoleon, even taking into account the usual kind of semantic leakage typical on contemporary "creative" menus, since there was not an iota of puff or any other kind of other pastry, and only one layer of filling. But that kind of quibbling aside, it was high quality pork, still moist inside though not pink. My wife had the Shrimp Tchefuncte (?). I couldn't get a copy of the menu, so I'm sure the spelling on this is wrong. Didn't get a chance to taste it either, but it seemed to served with sauteed mushrooms in one of these cajunized meuniere sauces, along with the tuna can-sized rice puck. . . Late afternoon was spent by the pool with the kids, who had been demanding a visit since the first day here in New Orleans. . . For dinner, we caught up with a group of grad students who were looking to find a place to eat, then wander around Bourbon Street. With about a dozen people and no reservation, it was hard to find anyplace we had heard of with a wait of less than half an hour. So we ended up back at Remoulade . . . Oh yeah, and I forgot my camera, sorry. Had a light dinner of "Cajun Eggrolls" and "N'awlins Blackened Burger". The Cajun eggrolls were delicately sized, about 4 x 1" each in a dish of three. The filling seemed pretty similar to that in their meat pies. . . The sauce was, surprisingly, not some kind of riff on remoulade, but rather a very gingery soy sauce. Go figure. The blackened burger turned out not to be particularly blackened or spice-encrusted, though as far as ordinary burgers go it was pretty good, especially with plenty of creole mustard. Dessert was a big (4" square) piece of bread pudding (o.k., not such a light dinner), same as the previous day. I just like bread pudding in general, and boozy, buttery, Creole bread pudding in particular. Didn't join the grad students in their wanderings around Bourbon Street, but nonetheless on the way back to the hotel got bombarded by off-season Mardi Gras beads thrown by the crowd on the balcony. No, (luckily for them) we didn't do anything to earn our loot, but the throwers seemed to be pretty indiscriminate. Of course our kids fought over who got the purple beads and who go the white beads. . . Saturday: Lunch was . . . nothing. Both wife and I were too busy prepping for presentations. The kids had popcorn shrimp from Popeye's. I tried to pick up something that couldn't be used as WMDs against the hotel room - fried shrimp can be projectiles but at least remain intact. Foods with any kind of wetness are worse. Then I searched through the hotel channels for something for them to watch for a couple hours . . . no Cartoon Network or Nicklelodeon. . . what is this? Looked for a pay-for-view - - - adroitly jumping past "Adult Desires" and "TV Unlimited" ("Blind Date Uncensored Version!") to find a choice of "Brother Bear" or "Looney Tunes: Back in Business", both of which they seen before. But kids being kids, they were more than happy to watch Brother Bear for I think the third time. Anyway, as if to make up for this, dinner was a semi-splurge at NOLA, along with the wife's fellow Communication Dept. alumni (I guess they live large). About $150 was our share. . . Ended up waiting nearly an hour at restaurant before being seated due to a mixup with the rest of the group, so my son and I had a somewhat decent chance to observe Emeril's "casual" outpost in the Quarter. Partly open kitchen with a wood-burning oven in the center - a bar lined up right in front of the oven - no tapas-type items for people who sit there, but some chances to talk to the rotisseurs (?) who didn't seem particularly rushed even though the restaurant was completely booked. Many of the tables (including ours) are on a separate floor of the restaurant, and guests are brought up using a glass elevator in the center. The menu is not particularly Emeril-ish, no savory cheesecakes, only a very mild Creole-Cajun slant, actually more a survey of contemporary American cuisine buzzwords. . . I had a "Ancho-Barbecued Pork and Smoked Cheddar Flatbread withn Gulf Shrimp-Creamy Green Onion Slaw" as my appetizer. Basically a pulled pork pizza with several boiled shrimp and a pile of cole slaw on top - very similar to the Kalua Pig pizza that's so common in Hawai`i. Not sure why they don't just give in and call it a pizza; the crust was exactly the same as that for my son's "Pizza of Vine-Ripened Tomatoes, Homemade Mozzarella, Kalamata Olives and Fresh Basil with Reggiano Parmesan and Streaks of Balsamic Vinegar". My son, who is a very good reader for his age, got tired by the time he reached the end of the appetizer list. . . My main was a "Hickory-Roasted Duck with Whiskey-Caramel Glaze, Buttermilk-Cornbread Pudding, Haricot Vert-Fire Roasted Corn Salad, Natural Jus and Candied Pecans" . A large-sized half-carcass. Duck had very pronounced smoke flavor but this was basically skin-deep - seemed to have been "quick-smoked" like a Szechuan Tea-Smoked Duck, then finished in a conventional oven, though what do I know. Cooked to not-quite-falling-apart stage. The cornbread pudding was stuffed into the duck and was bland, light, and eggy, almost like a souffle; would have liked the "whiskey-caramel glaze" to be spicier to balance this. The haricot verts were crunchy but it was hard to find much of the alleged fire-roasted corn. The very nice candied pecans were buried underneath it all. Wife had as her main "Cedar Plank-Roasted Fish of the Day (= Black Drum) with Citrus-Horseradish Crust, Lemon-Butter Sauce and Creole Tomato Salad". Just right to for the potlatch. Again, didn't really get to try it. But the crust seemed to be more of a topping, and there were some additional shreddy things on top as well. . . Kids held up pretty well, but after sitting for about 2 1/2 hours they were getting extremely stir crazy, so I skipped desert and took them back to the hotel, leaving my wife to chat away with her old acquaintances. . . Table service is also interesting at NOLA in that they seem to make a fetish of serving everyone at exactly the same time. Since we had twelve people in our party, this meant that a team of six waiters suddenly appeared at appetizer and entree time. One guy would bring the plates in a big stack, each with the kind of stackable cover that you find in hospitals. Then each waiter would uncover and hoist two plates, then linger behind their designated victims (often for several minutes, precariously, being pushed and shoved by patrons walking between the tightly-arrange tables) as the other waiters got ready. Then, with an anticlimatic lack of ceremony, they would all simultaneouly plop their plates in front of everyone.

Mayhaw, thanks for the recipe for the MA shrimp and catfish coatings - another amazing eGullet moment. In one post I'm raving about how great the fried seafood is; a couple posts later, I actually get the recipe. Yes, you have great vision - that is an Abita Amber. I've also tried the Seasonal Red - your friends have made a great beer. BTW, sorry for all the misspellings in the earlier (and future) posts - I'm kind of dashing things off and so things get sloppy sometimes. . . Yesterday (Thursday): The morning was the Garden district via the St. Charles RTA. Most of the time was spent in the Lafayette #1 Cemetary, where my son was curious how there could be so many dearly departed interred (sometimes more than dozen) in some of the above-ground tombs. My best answer was that they probably didn't mind a lack of elbow room if they could be closer to their loved ones. We also walked around the neighborhood, and my wife declared that the Carroll-Crawford house was her "dream home". Doesn't seem like we'll be joining Mark Twain and his buddies in partying there anytime soon, though. Tried to drop by Commander's Palace for the lunch special but should have looked it up on the web earlier. The dresscode is "upscale casual", which turns out to mean long pants. We asked if an exception could be made at lunch for a couple clueless tourists with two small kids but somehow that didn't seem so appealing to them. So we headed back to the Quarter and dropped by Mr. B's Bistro, which is owned by Ralph? Dickie? Anyway, somebody on the Ella side of the Brennan family. The waiters were wearing tuxes, but otherwise the place was pretty informal. Service was pretty attentive - our water glasses never bought below 3/4 full, though the waiter forgot my bloody mary order. My wife had the blackened tuna "Nicoise" salad. Tuna was very blackened, with thick spice coating. Was also dry when my wife had ordered medium, but she didn't mind it that way and anyway there was dressing to moisten it up. I had the pecan-encrusted catfish with "creole meuniere" sauce. The pecans lent a sweetness to the sweet catfish flesh, so it was an interesting combination. The creole meuniere seemed in addition to the browned butter and lemon (no almonds given the pecans) to have a little garlic and maybe a microscopic amount of cayenne but I'm probably wrong about that. The afternoon was a preset tour, a special conference $12 special on the Jean Lafitte swamp tour. Our guide was a very humorous Cajun guy named Joey. Kids did a good job of not crawling over the railing of the boat. . . Dinner was with some friends of ours from the U of Hawaii. We went to Arnaud's casual offshoot, Remoulade. Ordered a whole bunch of stuff, including the famous Shrimp Arnaud for appetizer. The Arnaud remoulade sauce is very orange compared to the kind we've had elsewhere, but not particularly spicy. We also shared a bowl of very rich turtle soup with a microscopic splash of sherry in it (though I ended up with most of it). Wasn't sure how turtle was supposed to taste, but it was not gamey at all. And no, not like chicken. In fact the taste was more or less of the roux and spices. . . For mains I had part of the "taste of Louisiana" set meal, with a Natchitoches meat pie and Crawfish etouffee. The etouffee had a much lighter roux than the ones at Gumbo House or Mike Anderson's, it was very mild and almost creamy. The meat pie was fried and really good - nice and spicy (though not overpowering) ground meat filling. . . I have a tendency to make superficial comparisons in my mind between new foods I'm trying and those I've had in the past, e.g. beignets -> sopaipillas, "debris" -> machaca, natchitoches meat pie -> samosas. For what it's worth, that helps me to put things in context even though obviously there are going to be major differences. But interesting how certain cooking techniques and combinations find favor across disparate cultures. . . The conference starts in earnest today, so our freedom to move around will somewhat more constrained as we trade the kids off. So we'll see how that goes. May hear future reports about room service or (excuse me) fast food. . .

You mean the place that's now Makino Chaya? I forget too; it must not have been that memorable. Wasn't it something that kept the "King's" name, like "King's Garden" or something like that? Or was that the iteration before that even? Don't know much about Momomo I thought I came across the Eastern Garden website fairly recently, though. . . spooky.

Thanks for the additional suggestions. Are planning to go to the Ogden Museum, and will try to get to the D-Day Museum as well. . . Tuesday: As I mentioned, our plans got a little discombobulated, and we didn't make it out the door until just before noon. No problem, we just saved the Children's Museum for another day (hopefully!) and had a late "brunch" at Mother's before heading out to the ferry and Blaine Kern. Mother's was a pretty happening place - the line was pretty long but as promised it moved very quickly. . . I had a debris poor boy. I was deciding between and the Fergi (roast beef, ham, and debris) but thought - hey the debris is what is unique about this place so I might as well have it. Was very tasty - loved the texture - but now I understand why people get the Fergi; there can from some points of view be too much of a good thing. All that delicious pan juice made it super messy, and the bottom roll has disintegrated to the point that it was impossible to actually pick up - not that I'm complaining! Ended up rather daintily eating most of it with knife and fork while making a "mini-po boy" with the top halves of the rolls. My daughter is a picky eater, but one of the few things she eats is the sausage-and-egg biscuit at McDonalds, so we got some thing called sausage egg biscuit for her. It turned out to be the anti-McDonalds. Instead of that tiny, perfectly square piece of egg product, you got mounds and mounds of scrambled eggs on top of an a huge irregularly shaped "cats-head" type biscuit. Just to show that her taste is developing - she ate nearly the whole thing, including the smoked sausage. Blaine Kern was a lot of fun, and my son kept on demanding to sample more of the King Cake. .. After returning, my wife wanted to check out the Riverwalk shopping for a little while, and, well, pretty soon it ended up being dinnertime, so we started to look for someplace to eat around there. . . Luckily, there was a Mike Anderson's at the food court, and so we ordered a shrimp plate and a "South Louisiana" plate, which is a combo of crawfish etoufee, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, and catfish strips. As you can see, it comes with a hush puppy ball, coleslaw, and fries. Great frying - not a drop of oil on the plate. And the batter-coating on the fried shrimp and catfish was thin, crisp, and "tight" - it clung to the flesh instead of sagging off. Had this interesting ridged texture - I'm not sure exactly how they get this. . . Unfortunately, the menu at the Riverwalk Mike Anderson's is kind of abbreviated and simplified. No Guitreau at that location - but I was able to pop over later to the original place and get a takeout menu: "grilled fresh fish fillet topped with sauteed crawfish, shrimp, and mushrooms in white wine, butter, and spices." Sounds wonderful . . . Wednesday: Today we managed to rent a car, so we ranged far and wide (relatively). We first went to City Park to check out Storyland, which was a real blast with the make-believe pirate ships, dragon tongue slides, and such. Seems however like they could use a donor, however, since about half of the exhibits were under repair. . . We were also planning on going to the Carousel park, but there seemed to about four school bus-fulls of kids on a field trip there already and lines were too long (the kids are not a point where they can tolerate lines). Moved on up to Lake Ponchartrain, where my wife was pretty impressed (intimidated, actually) by the bridge - the fact that you can't see the other end. . . Anyway, back to food . . . had lunch at Deanie's, the original in Bucktown. Gave us interesting tasty spicy boiled potatoes instead of bread. Appetizers were crab claws and shrimp Remoulade. The crab claws were nice and small, with sweet flesh and extremely easy to eat. The kids were fighting over them. The shrimp was interesting, with the remoulade sauce in a separate ramekin. The mains were fried seafood - the combo "mate's platter" of catfish strips, crab, and oysters, as well as the crab-stuffed shrimp, fried. The stuffed shrimp had a huge amount of cf crab stuffing, as you can see by the almost globe-shaped shrimp. We were completely stuffed. . . Afternoon was at the Audobon Nature Center after which my wife said she had no room for dinner of any kind. This was not acceptable to my son and I! So we compromised by letting me stop by the Central Grocery while she drove around in circles. Got two mufflettas, which was a huge amount, more than enough for four. Some people say Central Grocery's mufflettas are not stuffed enough compared to some of the newcomers. I think they're filled just right - I like tasting the bread, and this is a good round of bread. Also lets you taste the terrific olive salad. Had it with a couple bags of Zapp's Sweet Potato chips, which my wife loved. Couldn't finish it all for dinner, but I woke up at 3 AM (jet lag and all) and polished off the remaining 3/4. More tonight (I think). . .