FoodZealot

Sounds like we agree that Hawaii has a special food culture. Although I haven't been to Italy yet [i need to fix that!], I get the impression from books and TV that they have similar attitudes about food and culture. Anyone care to comment? Produce in Hawaii is pretty amazing, since the emphasis is moving from a few major crops (sugar, pineapple, macadamia, Maui onions, papaya, Kona coffee) to diversified agriculture and aquaculture. Most plants can be grown there, so farmers are following the trends toward microgreens, specialty items (vintage chocolate, hearts of palm) and wine, among other things. By pulling cold ocean water from depths to ponds the surface, aquaculture farms are growing abalone, lobsters, prawns and other foods that wouldn't normally be harvested in Hawaii. We've sorta mentioned it, but to keep the thread going, Hawaii Regional Cuisine (HRC) is an organization of chefs, and also the term they have chosen to identify and market the work of people like Alan Wong, Sam Choy, Roy Yamaguchi, Mavro, Russell Siu, and many others. Here's a pretty decent overview. How do you guys feel about HRC? Too fussy? Trying too hard? More confusion than fusion? ~Tad

alanamoana, thank you and you're welcome. I like the idea of the bio, so people can have some background on my crazy opinions. Where are you living now? As for restaurants, I agree that the middle segment is kinda empty. Several of those well-known guys have done middle level things like Kaka'ako Kitchen, Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch and Crab, the Pineapple Room, etc with mixed results, IMHO. I think there are 3 reasons - that the low end places are actually pretty dang good, people have a bias that only "fancy kine haole food" should be expensive and people are used to large portions. Not that it's soooo different from any other place, but it means it is competitive, and can be a little harder to find the right balance of quality, quantity and presentation. You gotta know your customers and listen to what they want. fifi, your point about cooking at home or in condo is well taken. A restaurant is also in competition with all the family, extended family and community events - grandmas, aunties and uncles, etc. who seem to be proportionally more interested in cooking than in other some other markets. This could be my bias, but... People make a living selling $6 plate lunches in the same economic conditions - high rents, high food costs, scarcity of qualified employees & supervisors - seems like somebody should be able to figure out the middle range, too. Maybe it will be you, alanamoana! ~Tad

Sorry to be off topic, but recently a bottle of Tapatio hot sauce broke open near my foot and splashed all over my shoes and socks. I wiped it up as best I could. No problem, wet socks. On the 30 minute drive home, however, the sock soaked in hot sauce started to burn something fierce. Of course, it was such a dumbass move on my part that I couldn't allow myself to pull over to remove the offending sock. I made myself suffer through it. Sorry for the low culture reference, but it was exactly like in Ace Ventura II when he gets the spear in the thigh, then another spear in the other thigh, complete with arm motions and pathetic whining noises. Now back to boobs and vivid mental pictures. [grin] ~Tad

Li Hing Mui powder! Flesh of Chinese preserved and dried plums (sweet/tart/salty) ground into a seasoning. Similar profile to Mexican saladitos, but no chili. The majority of li hing mui and therefore li hing powder is sweetened with saccharin for that little extra sumthin'. For a while, people were putting it on every damn thing they could think of - popcorn, gummi worms, dried mango - everything. Some of it is still available, some of it good, but thankfully, I was out of state during the height of this craze. Side note: one time in a college dining hall, I thought I was putting chocolate sauce on ice cream, but it was actually A1 steak sauce (who puts steak sauce near the ice cream!?!!?). Everyone at my table freaked out once I figured out what it was. Of course, it was a horrible 180 for the tastebuds, but because of the tamarind, the A1 is similar to li hing mui, I had tasted something similar before, and it was a good laugh rather than a reversal of dinner. ~Tad

Hawai'i no ka oi. Born on Oahu and raised on Big Island, brah. Now I stay in LA. I talk a little bit about local food in my bio. Link in my sig. Macaroni salad can be a good foil for the teriyaki-kal bi-bulgogi-tonkatsu type meat items commonly available on a plate lunch. Although, you can get dangerously close to that mayo on rice thing which is just wrong. Main thing for mac salad is you use a light hand with the mayo, and use a good one - cheap mayo is baaaad news. The institution of the plate lunch means that some of those steam table-places (like the $1 Chinese food joints) are pretty damn good. No, I swear. Simple stuff, well prepared. High turnover of food. Freshly made. The classic loco moco that Kristin mentioned is steamed white rice, a fried egg, a hamburger patty or two, covered in brown gravy. Lots of places make variations on that, but the rice, egg and gravy of some kind are required. Spam is not my favorite. But if you're gonna make spam musubi, it has to be crispy, as alanamoana says. I've seen people make it with barely cooked spam, and that is also wrongwrongwrong. Little flecks of lard still visible. Ungood. Probably the ingredient I miss the most from the homeland is pipi kaula, a sweetish smoked meat, usually pork or beef. Almost everything else I can get from various markets or restaurants. This includes pretty decent Hawaiian food down in Gardena/Hawthorne. I'm not from Oahu, so Zippy's (a local fast food chain) doesn't really make it onto my cravings list. ~Tad

oddity parade: I've seen this in Hawaii - mayo on hot steamed rice. no ketchup or mayo on hot dogs. incidental ketchup on eggs is okay (from hash brown contact). yes, mayo on fries. better - aioli or rouille on fries as for mayo on burgers, isn't there a part of the country where the style is just bun, burger, slab of sweet onion and mayo? ~Tad

Ahhh, the homeland... lychee is brilliant! ~Tad

damn straight! I'll nominate Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for the list. ~Tad

Thanks, JF - much appreciated. Yes, the LA Times article on Centro Basco is still available. ~Tad

Thanks, jackal10 and rxrfrx - the lime solution must be for pickling purposes. ~Tad

Any thoughts on Giada de Laurentiis - Everyday Italian on FTV? I'm still trying to decide... ~Tad

Ahh. Well, when you put it like that, it's definitely the same place. [grin] More importantly, when are we going?? I'll coordinate if people are interested. Otherwise, it'll just be me and a ton of food... ~Tad

There's a contemporary noodle place near me that makes a simple tofu salad that I enjoy. It's a portion of soft tofu, covered with shredded iceberg lettuce, thin tomato slices, kaiware sprouts and bonito flakes, with a creamy sesame dressing. This probably makes me a tourist. Going back into lurk mode. ~Tad

Thanks for the recipes, everyone. I've seen some people treat green tomatoes with a lime solution - is that unnecessary? ~Tad

After seeing Bourdain in the Basque country on A Cook's Tour a few weeks ago, I've been wanting to check out a restaurant in that vein. A quick search pulls up Le Chalet Basque Restaurant in La Puente or La Villa Basque French Restaurant on Leonis Blvd in Los Angeles? Has anyone been to either of these or know of another (better) one? I vaguely remember seeing Huell Howser visit one, but I think it was in Bakersfield or Fresno. ~Tad edit: grammer

A few of us recently went to DTF, covered in the LA Dumpling Lunch thread. I wish I offer more assistance, but I've only been to Ocean Seafood in MP. ~Tad

Thank you, Jinmyo-san. That is very helpful.~Tad

I believe I have purchased lemons as described above, at the Santa Monica farmer's market. Very spherical, not oblong like Eureka lemons. I believe they were called Persian lemons and were not Meyers. Somewhat mild lemon flavor, but no acidity in the flesh. Not exactly sweet, though. Just not sour. ~Tad

She really sticks in my craw as well. One of the shows had a horrible pun in it, like Weir Cooking Now or something similar. [click] ~Tad

Jinmyo-san, I am catching up (page 64!) in the Dinner thread, so I am very aware of your considerable talents. Being that miso and shoyu are so closely related, I am surprised by your strong statement against butter, cheese and cream with miso. I think diary has a softening or blending effect on flavors, and miso is so concentrated that it would not suffer if done properly. Although, I agree that dashi and seafood probably cannot support cheese and cream. Would you please elaborate? By the way, as a kid, it was a treat for the family to have batayaki, which is essentially teppanyaki except that butter is used as the cooking fat. It might not be authentic, but I assure you it is delicious. Respectfully, ~Tad

Thanks for the report, CB. I would think most people around here would agree that a peak experience like this is worth quite a bit in dollar terms. ~Tad

Am I the only one who really likes Bayless? He doesn't bother me at all, and I dig the pukka shell necklace he wears sometimes. He comes off as sincere, and he knows his stuff. I agree, I think Rick Bayless is great. I watch every show and glean as much as I can, often taking notes here and there. Clearly has the love that sometimes only a foreigner can have for a country. With comprehensive knowledge to back it up. Still, the mannerisms sometimes get to me. So in that sense, I care. Maybe that makes me shallow, but the host is still presenting the information, and I have to receive it. For myself, I was just trying to make snarky distinctions between my various preferences. Even if it's not reality, people react to TV personas almost as if they are meeting and interacting with the host in person. I'll have to go read those media books mentioned to better understand it. [grin] Also, in my opinion, food is very personal. I don't like to feed people I don't like, and I'm sure there are people that don't or wouldn't like to feed me. Conversely, I love the food that my friends make for me. Sure, a dish can be appreciated in a vacuum - say you walk into a restaurant without knowing anything about the chef, etc. But if you know that the something about him/her, like spending years to learn authentic cuisine, traveling, immersing himself/herself, it changes your associations with it, and your perception of it. It becomes more personal. BTW, forgot to mention that I think Chris Schlessinger (East Coast Grill rest., Thrill of the Grill) is another favorite, really brilliant, even if a bit dry on TV. ~Tad

Thanks, shamrock & Matthew. ~Tad edit: upon re-reading, not sure if I misinterpreted some sarcasm, but...

I’ll admit it – I watched every second of every episode of the Restaurant. If they air another season of it, I'll probably watch all of that, too. I think it’s valuable as a cautionary tale. FWIW, I learned a few things, mostly via negativa. For the sake of discussion: It’s possible to open a restaurant in 7 weeks in NYC if you have $4 million, a show on a major TV network, a hot producer, several corporate sponsors, an open casting call, a golden boy chef and a good story. It’s possible to make six hours of TV out of 2 weeks of shooting. It’s possible to convince people that a business plan where you get lots of TV exposure for having cold food and slow service is a good idea. What’s more, apparently it is. Having a management plan is as important as having a business plan. Owners, management, staff and patrons will say and do things they would not ordinarily do just to be on TV. Some people use being pretty as a life strategy. In setting up a business, plan to pay your employees. But if you chose not to, employees are willing to put up with a lot of bullshit if they are made to feel that they are a part of something. The pursuit of Celebrity is more compelling than the pursuit of Excellence (for some). ~Tad

Thanks for the background on Sasabune, arkestra. I've only been to R23 once, but I agree, it's gorgeous inside and I had a great meal. ~Tad