Ala Moana: Shirokiya

Stuck in a funky rut this weekend. Not sure if it's the weather or something else. Maybe a little of both.

Just photos and a few words for today :)


The recently open Mochi Cream stand at Shirokiya, right across from Saint Germain. They came here do to a demo sometime last summer, and it was so popular that they decided to take over a small area downstairs and stay for good. My mom was quite happy about that.

I went back a few times during this trip, and there was always a steady stream of customers - never super busy, but consistent.

Clockwise from top left: Cafe au Lait, Kurogoma Kinako, and Chocolate-Banana.

Cafe au Lait

Kurogoma Kinako

Chocolate-Banana

I eat at Shirokiya for lunch pretty often, bentos, ramen and udon, sweets, sushi...anything!

(even spam musubis ^_^)

It's the closest thing we have in Hawai'i to the basements of Tokyo deparment stores, and pretty spectacular...you won't often find anything like this on the mainland.

Sushi "bentos" like this average around $12 - not a bad deal.

Inari sushi stuffed with mochi rice

There was a sweet potato & apple pie demo the other day...

pretty cute, huh?

Post-sushi, pre-mochi cream, dessert!

I always end Shirokiya "meals" with a stop over at Honolulu Coffee Co. on the other side of Ala Moana.

Just a quality cup of coffee is all it takes to make me happy :)

Shirokiya
1450 Ala Moana Blvd # 2250
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 973-9234

A brief interruption to Hawai'i posts...

If you have a few spare minutes, or like myself, would rather browse blogs than work, swing by to Serious Eats: New York for my article on NYC's Top 10 Ice Cream Sandwiches. From pumpkin whoopie pies & ricotta gelato to salted caramel gelato tucked between golden brioche buns, and even a panini'ed chocolate pound cake and ice cream duo, we bring you only the best.

All I ask is that you cross your fingers on my behalf: no cavities, no cavities, please! ;)

Sweet Bread in Hawai'i

On the Mainland, people associate the term "sweetbread" with thymus glands, which, when pan-fried or deep-fried, induce hypnotically glazed eyes, and a lazy grin, perhaps with drool dribbling down mouths agape.

In Hawai'i, the word "sweetbread" is met with the same reaction, by both young and old alike. Only, when you say "sweetbread" to us, we do not think of thymus glands, but in fact, sweet. bread. Sweet. Bread.

Bread that is sweet.

Sweet Bread is the love child of brioche and challah, and a touch of magic found only on our islands. It's the best of both worlds, coupling the feather-light buttery dash of brioche with challah's eggy richness. Sweet Bread is quite a sight to see - a golden round, poofy and billowing with a sweet crumb that melts just a tad too easily on your mouth. Effortless.

In Torrance, California there's a place called King's Hawaiian Bakery. King's makes a product call "Sweet Bread." It is a decent product, but do not get that confused with the real sweet bread!!!

Ani's Sweet Bread - the original, and best of its kind, is made in Hawai'i and found only in Hawai'i. There are occasional imposters out there, but stick with the Ani's brand, and you'll be forever happy. Ani's makes a cinnamon version of their sweet bread, called "Cinnmon Sensation," but I would advise against that flavour for it is much too sweet and distracts from all the elements that makes the original so delicious. While the original and cinnamon come in round loaves, Ani's also makes a variety of other breads in traditional rectangular pans. I cannot vouch for these other flavours in a rainbow of apple, guava, pineapple-apricot, and coconut for I have yet to try them...but based solely on the post at hapa/hale's blog, I'm quite tempted!

You can find Ani's at local supermarkets, including Long's, but...

...we buy ours at the Iwilei Costco, along with fresh poke, and...

...all the Spam you could ever desire. Isn't Hawai'i great? ;)

Brasserie Du Vin

Baked Oysters

I spent a good chunk of my first post-college summer nestled in one of the patio seats at Brasserie Du Vin. I'd come for lunch or dinner, and then again late in the night. And if I didn't arrive for a meal or nighttime meet up with friends, then I'd come in the afternoon, alone with a good book. Nothing satiates the dusk hours like a plate of crisp pomme frites and a chocolate souffle.

Opakapaka

The most fun person to dine with at the restaurant, was Kristen H., a close high school friend whom I now see once or twice a year, always back in Hawaii. All summer, we Du Vin'd to the extent where the words had been turned to verbs.

"Would you care to Du Vin tonight?"
"Why, of course."

And then we'd go shopping at Ala Moana for pretty dresses we neither needed nor could afford (always catching the public Bus - we both didn't learn to drive till after high school graduation, and were horrible drivers).

Dark Chocolate & Banana Crepes

We'd change into the new dresses no more than an hour after purchasing them, stuffing the ones we previously wore into the bottom of our big black (sometimes it was brown or pink) bags. And then we went off to Du Vin.

New York City is full of restaurant similar to Du Vin - think along the lines of Inoteca, Solex (only with better food), and Spitzers (also with better food, and a focus on wine instead of beer). But it is rare you come across such places in Hawai'i. Okazuyas? Yes. Plate lunch takeout? Yes. Shave Ice stands? Of course!

But casual wine bars with quality food? Few and far between.

And so it was, during this short visit home, that Kristen and I meet once again at Du Vin for a lazy weekday dinner. This time we brought Monica A. along, another high school friend we had not seen in nearly three years. The food was not nearly as good as I remember...though I suspect people are not joking when they say that New York City leaves your taste buds jaded.

But for once it wasn't about the food, but the diners, and what an enjoyable night we had, reminiscing about our Punahou years, about our weekly afternoon tea outings, and addiction to bread pudding and the importance of good sun protection...

...and even about the time all electric power on East Oahu went out the night before the AP Physics exam while we studied at Taco Bell. Kristen's mom had dropped us off there earlier that afternoon, never once thinking that the power would die. All cells phones were out, and we could not contact our parents.

We had no car, of course ;)

Brasserie Du Vin
1115 Bethel St
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 545-1115

Ichiriki: Japanese Nabe Restaurant

(Sorry there hasn't been much writing in the last few posts - am simply trying to catch up...I've already been back in Manhattan for over three weeks! :)

Monday, 5:30pm @ Ichiriki on Pi'ikoi Street

Empty upon arrival, full house by 8:00pm.

Spicy Ahi Shoyu Poke

Cucumber Salad

Calamari

Ichiriki Paper Nabe

Pirikara Spicy Nabe

Both nabe sets came with a similar vegetable and meat combination, orders vary according to broth and meat preference.

Mmmm, so nicely marbled...

Nabe sets range from about $20 - $50, depending on the cut of meat, the quality of food is a fair match to the prices.

Working, working...

Almost pau!

The meal concludes with the option of fresh udon...

...or ramen noodles to be cooked in the concentrated broth.

Ichiriki
510 Pi'ikoi Street
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 589-2299

Tai Pan: Lunchtime Shots

Monday, 1:00pm at Tai Pan

Chives Wrapped in Mochi, Pan-Fried

Taro Gok (Deep-Fried Minced Pork Stuffed Taro)

Scallop Cheung Funn

Preserved Duck Egg & Pork Jook

Law Book Gow

Deep Fried Shrimp with Sweet Mayo

Siu Mai

Steamed Scallops, Pork and Chives

Lotus Root and Salted Egg Wrapped in Flaky Pastry, Baked

Vegetarian Cheung Funn

Fish, Crab, & Shitake Mushrooms Wrapped in Bean Curd Skin

Steamed Crab and Vegetables

Steamed Shrimp Balls

Warm Tripe

Baked Nai Wong Bao

Egg White Dan Tat

Tai Pan Dim Sum
100 N. Beretania St #167
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 599-8899

Sunday = Around the Island -> Romy's & Ted's Bakery

Every time I come home to visit, there are certain unspoken "must do's" in the family.

We "must do" this, we "must do" that. No one actually ever says it must be done, because it already assumed.

Samples from the "must do" list:
- dim sum at Tai Pan
- KCC Farmer's Market on Saturdays
- Sat/Sun = dinner at Grandma's
- Take a trip around the island

Ahhh, the "round the island trip." It's a funny sort of trip. Unlike other families, we don't stop at the beach to tan or swim (save for my sister, we've never been a "go to the beach" type family). The whole objective is to simply drive around the entire island, and nothing more (aside from good food stops along the way). These trips usually take place on a Sunday. We'll wake up a bit earlier than other Sundays and start our journey off with breakfast at the Kapiolani location of the Original Pancake House. Blueberry pancakes for dad, Banana pancakes for mom, pancake & spam for sister, and the Sweedish pancakes for myself. Family tradition.

Then, with bellies packed full of sweet starchy goodness, we all pile back into the car (with a truck filled with cold bottled water and plenty of napkins) and head towards Kaimuki, then past Hawai'i Kai and Hanauma Bay, through Waimanalo and many more neighborhoods. Finally we see the first of many Kahuku Shrimp Trucks lining along Kamehameha Highways. Many have few or no customers, but Giovanni is packed to the brims as usual. Giovanni's is the most popular of trucks with tourists, and while we've given it a few tries, I prefer Romy's when it comes to Kahuku shrimps and prawns.

There's always a steady crowd at Romy's, but the line on that particular Sunday was insane, super insane. We arrived there around noon, but it was nearly two hours later before we had received our food! There was a good 30 minute wait in line to order the food, and after that, 90 minutes of hanging out in the sun waiting for the plate lunches. Lucky one of the staff workers was walking around handing out tons of li hing pineapple samples - so refreshing.

My sister and I went for the sweet & spicy prawns, done extra spicy. They were a bit off this time (perhaps due to the obscenely large crowds of people?), barely any of the spicy heat was detected, the sweet aspect overly done. Nonetheless the crisp and succulent prawns were a quite a sight for the eyes and tongue.

Mom and dad went for the butter garlic combo - I always regret not getting this one whenever I order the sweet & spicy...in the ideal world you would be able to order a 1/2 and 1/2 plate lunch, heheh. The blanket of rice come in rather good handy when you need a vehicle to soak up all that garlic laced butter at the bottom of the dish.

It took two hours for the food to come, and only ten minutes for us to eat it all. Go figure! ^_^

We get back into the car and after a short drive down Haleiwa, we make a sharp left into Ted's Bakery, aka, the BEST PIES IN HAWAI'I EVER.

I'm not kidding! Every local citizen knows about Ted's Bakery, best known for his Chocolate Haupia Pies. Reid over at 'Ono Kine Grindz has an awesome post on Ted's over at his blog. The bakery became famous many years past (it must have been when I was in middle school, 1998-ish), and now you can find their pies at every local supermarket around town. In addition to Chocolate Haupia, other pie flavours such as Macadamia Nut Cream, Pumpkin Haupia, and even Strawberry Guava Cream have a equally dedicated fan base.

But somehow, for some reason, the pies always taste best when you buy them straight from the original Ted's store. We only make it out here during the "round the island" trips, otherwise it's a incredibly long drive (by Hawai'i standards) for just a pie. At this Haleiwa location, theres a full menu of breakfast foods and plate lunches in addition to pies...I was particularly tempted by the loco moco fried rice...

But with my head on straight (and a tummy already packed with pancakes, rice, and prawns), we stuck to plan and got pie. And cake. And then another slice of cake. No sense in self-control when it comes to sweets. Just make sure to brush and floss well, and everything shall be a-okay :)

First, Ted's classic Chocolate Haupia Pie. If you've never had Ted's before, you must try this flavour before any of the others. A flakey pie shell filled with a based of thick chocolate pudding. Only, it's so much more than simply pudding, oh yes, this one is a touch more dark than your usual pudding, a bit more on the custardy size, and ridiculously luxurious. The pudding is topped with an equally tall layer of summery light haupia pudding. It's the ultimate summer treat, winter treat, fall treat, oh hell, what does it matter, our weather is same all year round, so there's no excuse to not eat your share (and a tad more) of Ted's Chocolate Haupia Pie whenever you get the chance.

Sometime early last year Ted started making cakes. It scared me at first, after all, he's known for his pies, and so shouldn't he stick to what he knows best? Any worries however, soon dissipated the moment I had a taste of his Dream Cake at Shirokiya's cake sampling. Oooooh goodness, it was a heavely light cake true to it's name...I had three samples and brought an entire cake home for dinner, and another to grandma's the following week, and have been dreaming about it ever since. We didn't spot the Dream Cake at the bakery on this visit, but did find a Chocolate Haupia Cake, Ted's class pie turned into a cake. A fluffy light cocoa cake, (with an egg white base), and alternating layers of the same chocolate pudding and haupia found in the pie. In the Chocolate-Haupia question of cake versus pie, I'd go for the pie if I could only have one, but the cake is definitely worth a return visit...or as a second dessert ;).

With that said, because we had one cake, I decided there was no harm in another, so we dived straight for the Pineapple Macadamia Nut Cheesecake. The spice cake base (think carrot cake minus the carrots, plus pineapples and chopped macadamia nuts), is topped with a meltingly rich layer of "cheesecake" (really just cream cheese whipped with heavy cream, whole eggs, and sugar ;), and then a final layer of what is best thought of as a pineapple compote. Quite a lethal combination, no?

Romy's Kahuku Prawns & Shrimp
56-781 Kamehameha Hwy
Kahuku, HI 96731
(808) 232-2202

Ted's Bakery
59-024 Kamehameha Hwy
Haleiwa, HI 96712
(808) 638-8207

Weekday Dinners in Hawai'i

As evidenced by my gradually expanding waistline, I enjoy eating out tremendously - where to eat, what to eat, which restaurant or bakery or gelato shop to head next, whether I could fit just a bit more room post-dessert desserts and stuff of that matter, consumes 90% of my thoughts. Thought with all that said, when it all boils down in the end, I'd rather eat at home.

There's something about eating at home that makes these meals so special - not so much the effort (or sometimes, lack thereof) involved in a home meal, but the collaboration between family and friends, or in the case of weekend dinners at grandma's home, the joy she receives from seeing our excited expressions as she heats up the wok, and the blissful smiles to follow as we take the very first bite.

Our dinners at home often don't even much 'heavy duty' cooking. Dad will stop by Tamashiro's or Marukai on the way home, and pick up a gorgeous pound of hamachi. He slices it right before we set the table, and we'll have the simplest dinner of steamed rice, hamachi and nori. We take fresh fish for granted in Hawai'i - I don’t even dare think how much hamachi of this quality would cost at a restaurant back in Manhattan.

Some nights we'll mix it up and get poke for dinner - my sister likes shoyu poke, while I prefer limu poke. We compromise by getting a pound of each, most of the time from the Beretania Foodland. Like the hamachi, we eat poke with rice and nori, adding in a few local avocados from our neighbors.

We usually have a 'hot' dish on the side - otherwise the meal doesn't feel complete. Most recently, we used the long beans from Ho Farms and made a beef stirfry. Oh man, the meat drippings over hot rice? Ridiculous!

The other week Marukai was a having a huge special on Hamakua mushroos just flown in from the Big Island. My mom was particularly excited and bought home tons, and tons of mushrooms...clockwise from top: Gray Oyster, Ali'i, Shimeji, and Kea Hon Shimeji mushrooms.

We sautéed the Gray Oysters in butter and plenty, plenty of garlic, plus a splash of nuoc nam (which I personally believe makes everything better)...

...we did the same with the others, only grouping them all together. If I could eat mushrooms like these everday, I'm pretty sure I'd never crave meat.

On Sunday morning trips to Marukai, you can bet that we'll come home with at least a dozen local eggplants in hand. There's only one dish our family ever has in mind when it comes to eggplants...

...and I'm not sure if it has a proper name, though when people ask, I just tell them it's "Vietnamese Eggplant." It's not the most visually appealing dish, a mucky dark green, bumpy, and slopping mounds. But it is delicious...oh so delicious. This is perhaps my single most favourite dish in the world. The whole world. I was raised on this dish, two, sometimes even three times a week if I got lucky. We usually do eight eggplants at a time. Boil in water till the skin gets all wrinkly. Remove, drain, and let cool. Then, peel off the skins and mash the eggplant in a bowl. Then heat up olive oil in a pan and brown A LOT, A LOT of garlic. We'll use up to two heads for eight eggplants. Once the garlic is brown, add the eggplant and sauté away (the eggplant uses up a lot of oil, so you'll have to be generous with the grease, yah?). Season with nuoc nam (I told you nuoc nam makes everything better!) to taste, and a bit of salt. My sister and grandma like to scramble in a few eggs along with chopped thai bird chilis...just tailor to your personal tastes. Serve over hot rice right out of the cooker, and viola, the best meal ever :)

And what do we have for dessert? Why, local Kunia watermelons of course!

Honolulu's Chinatown

A few shots from our local Honolulu Chinatown on Saturday afternoon, 1:00pm

Local apple-bananas...

...and lychees.

Two kinds of jah - steamed and baked, spotted while in line at one of the many open shops lining King Street.

Sum Bo Leung

Futher mauka, mom stopped in a market for a few different che's to bring over to Grandma's house later that evening.

This particular shop (near River Street) has the largest variety of che in Chinatown - my favourite is the sesame sweet apple-bananas with a side of coconut milk, though my mom is more partial to the iced sweets while my dad prefers the steamed ones.

We ate this one right when we got home (when the weather is hot, you gotta do what you gotta do to keep cool :), pouring the che over a big bowl of ice. Jackfruit, lychees, waterchestnuts and jellies of all sorts, even pandan flavoured ones, in a bath of cold coconut milk - splendid!

But before that, we went yum cha at Tai Pan, then made a stop over at Thang's, where I had my daily avocado smoothie...

...while my sister went with her favourite, the thai tea with boba.

Mom had her own cup of che on the spot - the owner's wife at Thang's is well known in the Vietnamese community for her signature dessert picture above, a still warm dish of sweet mochi rice studded with soft cooked beans and coconut cream.

Hope everyone's having a good Friday! ^_^

Honolulu's Chinatown

Thang Coffee & Bubble Tea
1120 Maunakea Street
Maunakea Marketplace
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817

Mai Lan

Next to Pineland (home of the mouthwatering, greasy and incredibly delicious garlic eggplant), sits Mai Lan. The restaurant looks dinky from the outside, like most Vietnamese restaurants in Hawai'i. But when you enter, you notice something very, very different. 90% of the clientele are not Vietnamese OR Chinese. They're Japanese.

Based on that alone, one may be tempted to concluded that, oh, this restaurant must not be authentic. But, dear, what a sorry error that would be on your part. The owner, Sam Yu, like many of the Chinese who live in Hawai'i today, is Vietnam born and raised. Fluent in Vietnamese, he's also equally talented speaking Japanese (having lived in Japan for a fair time). He is very likely the only Vietnamese restaurant owner on the island who is so smoothly able to converse in both languages while cooking up an intriguing storm of the kitchen - a bounty of refined Vietnamese food. And on top of that, how many Vietnamese places do you know of in Hawai'i that requests reservations? Sometimes, we even, gasp, have to order the menu ahead of time. Perhaps this is no big deal to those on the mainland, especially NYC, but on our island, Vietnamese, Reservations, and Ordering Ahead of Time are never strung together in a sentence.

You can come here for the pho. Spring rolls. Summer rolls. Bun. But that too, would be a mistake, for the menu offers so much more. With this, of course, comes a price, and unlike our everyday Vietnamese restaurants where complete meals sum under $10, you'd be hard pressed to walk out of Mai Lan for anywhere near that price.

We arrived as a group of eight on a Wednesday evening, 6:30pm to a half full restaurant that, in less than an hour, would be completely full, and by the time we left at 8:30pm, would have a line spilling out the door. (note: prime dining time in Hawai'i is 6pm ^_^). Mom took care of the menu a few days prior and we were served within minutes of being seated. I won't go into depth on the food and let the pictures speak for themselves...consider that lazy, or how you wish, but the weather is nice today, so I'm running out for coffee & doughnut custard at Shake Shack! Either way, dinner at this most recent dinner Mai Lan was a fantastic meal as always. First, the classic bò lúc lac tossed with tomatoes and lettuce for a salad bathed in fillet's savoury, onion-laced juice.

Then, lemongrass grilled lamb chops, succulent and gamey with char in all the right places. Even my grandma, who's nearing 70 and spends half her life vegetarian, had three helpings ^_^

Sauteed Bean Sprouts and Chives with Fried Baby Fish

Lobster and long rice in stone pot - such sweet and full broth!

Steamed local fish in chili oil - mom and I found the chili oil so addicting that we asked the owner for extra oil in a separate bowl...and oh man, did he deliver, sending out an extra huge bowl of chili oil.

The oil, of course, was put to great use spooned over the broken rice, make all the more rich with bitty cubes of deep fried pork fat. It was awesome, breaking into fatty cubes, crisp little boxes hidden throughout the dish. The fat sort of crackles then explodes, flavouring every bare surface of the broken rice. This is the kind of rice I want to have with dinner every night!

We also had shrimp and lup cheong fried rice with plenty of garlic - I'm usually a big fan of fried rice done right, but with an enormous platter of fried fat studded broken rice, I simply had to turn away and dive for the other.

We closed the meal with a refreshing che, sou sa hou lac - agar agar cubes and red water chestnut jellies over ice and coconut milk. The nice thing about Vietnamese desserts is that they always leave you feeling very cool and light, despite the coconut milk factor. Jellies, ice, tropical fruits...oh man, this is the kind of sweets we need to get through NYC's hot summers!

Mai Lan Fine Vietnamese Cuisine
1224 Keeaumoku Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814
(808) 955-0446

Saturday @ KCC Farmer's Market

(Note: I'm back in NYC now, but there are plenty more Hawai'i posts to be completed :)


It is a given. Saturday mornings in Hawai'i = KCC Farmer's Market. Also a given: everyone is bound to run into everyone they know. That's the way this community works, and that's the way it should be. Some people you only run into every once in a while, others your run into every weekend. Either way, you always feel very welcome under the morning sun and breezy trade winds. The market is open for less than four short hours on Saturday mornings, 7:30am-11am. Don't bother coming after 9am if you're interested in the products, because all the good stuff will be gone by then. Hot dishes, drinks and sweets are another matter.

local papayas

The market itself. Is. HolycrazyhowcomesoooAMAZING.

You think NYC's Greenmarket is something?

Think again.

Waialua Sodas - made on the North Shore

Where else are you going to find Kalua Pig plate lunches, lau lau, taro mochi, Akamai oatcakes, local mangoes and papayas, ginger syrup, Big Island lavender, kim chee fried rice, lilikoi cheesecake mochi, taro AND ti leaves?


...one of many breakfast options

No where.

One of my favourite people I reliably "run" into every visit to the Farmer's Market is Mrs. Yap, the home ec teacher at Punahou. While I never had the opportunity to take her class during my middle school years (random selection, I got put in the art studio. Figures.), we worked closely together during high school when she was the advisor my Culinary Club, the first of it's kind at Punahou ^_^ We keep in touch through email, food, and of course, run-ins at the market.

Last week I ran into her, or rather my dad did, while in line at the North Shore Farms tomato booth. It wasn't their whole ruby red tomatoes we were after (though those are pretty delicious), but the Pesto Grilled Pizza which is CRAZY. Like...CRAZY.

This photo fails to do the pizza the slightest justification, it doesn't tell you of the grilled crust with just the right amount of char in just right places. It barely hints generous smothers of garlicky mac nut pesto hidden beneath slices of sweet local tomatoes, warm and melting. Unfortunately, all you mostly see is fresh mozzarella melting over the surface and a single basil, just plucked. The only way to know, is to try.

With the pizza, must come a drink, preferably something very cold and icy. I like to head just one stand over to the PacifiKool stand where they offer excellent spicy ginger syrup.

The menu showcases a few different drinks ranging from the basic ginger ale with or without basil to another version with added pineapple juice, lime and mint, and yet another with serrano peppers and lemon. I took the traditional route with the Ginger Cooler, a mix of their ginger syrup with carbonated water, sweet basil, and lemon...

...while dad headed to the KCC stand for...

...their signature pineapple iced tea.

We did a bit of shopping here and there, stopping at the local honey people for a few jars of...

...mac nut cinnamon honey, my personal favourite.

There's a pretty wide variety of local honeys on hand: lehua, christmasberry, Big Island mac nut, monkeypod...I keep on telling myself I need to get around to trying them all, but man, it's hard to stay away from the mac nut cinnamon! ^_^

Most our produce comes from Ho Farms, home of irresistibly sweet baby roma tomatoes...

...aren't the colours amazing?

The string beans aren't too shoddy either! :) Mom used this particular batch of beans for a simple weeknight stirfry with beef.

Our last stop is at Bale, positioned at the far end of the market. Rodney Weddle is the man in charge of all the wonderful baked goods at the stand, churning out the most rustic breads you can find in Hawai'i. Sometimes we go for the hearty olive loaf, or a dark and sweet fig version. But more often that not, we fall victim to the plush round of potato bread. $6 might not seem like a lot for bread, especially compared with the prices here in NYC...but, when you consider that the fantastic buttertop loaf at Saint Germain is under $4, then you must think twice. Nonetheless, it's a huge billowing round, topped with potatoes, onions and a melted parmesean. The size is almost daunting at first, but then you'll be glad...

...cause half ALWAYS gets polished off during the car ride home :)

KCC Farmer's Market
4303 Diamond Head Rd
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 484-0052

Ahi-Avocado Sandwiches, Papaya-Acai Smoothies, and oh maannn Liliha Bakery!

I had lunch with Justin the other day at my favourite sandwich shop on the island. It's been a year since my last visit to Andy's, and it's comforting to see that nothing has changed. There's a million sandwiches on the menu (along with ten million smoothies), but I always order the mushroom medley or eggplant melt. I keep meaning to venture out, though such is often easier said than done, especially when visits to Andy's are so limited.

But today Justin and I decided that something different was in order, just so that we would know exactly what we've been missing out on. The Ahi Avocado Sandwich. The name is deceiving because it's not ahi, ahi, as in ahi grilled, ahi fresh, but instead, it's ahi spread. A little sad, but what were you expecting for $5? Minor disappointment aside, the sandwich was just as awesome as the rest - lettuce, shredded carrots, piles of alfalfa (oh man, so much love for alfalfa, in everything, anything...), and the ahi spread (like tuna salad, only ahi salad) with...

...lots and lots of mashed avocados oooozing between the slices of Andy's fresh made wheat bread. Local Hawai'i avocado are so insanely delicious, a soft creamy green, more buttery than butter itself. Maybe that's why our avocado smoothies are so tasty, eh? ;) There's no point in bothering with avocados from anywhere else in the world. If customs would just turn a blind eye, I'd pack a bagazillion avocados in my suitcase back to NYC and eat nothing but avocados for the next year.

^_^

We also split a papaya-acai smoothie, which did not look appetizing with its murky brown-purple shade...funky at first sip, though grew on us ever so slowly. I'll stick with my staple guava smoothie in the future.

Dessert cravings creep up on me around ten minutes after finishing a savoury lunch (you know, for those odds days when I'm not eating piles of cake in place of a meal ;) We both instantly thought of Liliha Bakery, and drove off to Kalihi. Liliha Bakery is an old Hawai'i standby (though ownership was recently sold to Peter Kim (of Yummy's) from the Takakuwa family) and the only place on earth where you can find a Chantilly topped Coco Puff. No, these are not Beard Papa or Choux Factory puffs. These are something else entirely, in a world of their own that other establishments could only dream to ever recreate. These are Liliha Coco Puffs.

Everyone in Hawai'i knows of Liliha Bakery and their coco puffs, and if you don't, well shame on you. The chiffon cakes, date bars, pancakes and waffles are also fantastic, though it’s the coco puffs that draw endless lines to this 24 hour bakery (closed only on Mondays).

This is the Coco Puff. A basic choux pastry stuffed with a thick chocolate pudding. Not dark chocolate, but milk. This is one of the rare cases in which milk works significantly better than dark. It's not a luxurious, fancy pudding. It's honest pudding. Like real stuff kine pudding. That kind of pudding. But the best part is what they put on top, oh man, it's crazy, it's CHANTILLY. Let's get this straight. Chantilly is a Hawai'i creation. Once in a while I'll run into "Chantilly" on a dessert menu or bakery on the mainland.

BUT IT IS NOT THE SAME CHANTILLY.

Noooo. Not even close.

Coco Puff, exposed

That golden/light brown glob you see on top of the puff? That's Chantilly. Hawai'i Chantilly. How all Chantilly should be. No one knows the exact recipe for Liliha's Chantilly, save for those who are actually in the kitchen whipping it up, but this quote from an old Star Bulletin article sums it up as, "a German chocolate cake frosting, without the nuts and coconut, and with a whole lot of butter added." A lot of butter. And a fair share of egg yolks, heheheheh. The coco puff is best eaten very, very cold, just right on the verge of frozen, the chill of chocolate pudding, buttery choux and the oh god, chantilly, creamywith a slight salty twist and butter, oh butter, all over, everywhere.

And then once you eat one, then you want another. So you have another and another and perhaps a few more, till you've eaten just one too many. Then you feel slightly sick. And oh so happy.

There was a surprise in store for us on this particular visit. A small sign perched above the blueberry cream cheese squares suggested, "Try Our New Item - Green Tea Coco". How could anyone refuse such a cheerful offer?

I've been visiting this bakery for twenty odd years and they've never had green tea coco puffs before! Crazy. Curiosity got the best of us.

So we had both.

The chocolate pudding is replaced with a matcha pudding, significantly lighter and a tad less sweet. The chantilly is the same, only with matcha powder whipped in the frosting - it changes the colour quite a bit (perhaps they've added food colouring?), but there's no notable difference in the flavour, pure chantilly through and through. Justin liked it more than the original coco puff, and I could understand why. But sometimes you just really need chocolate pudding enrobed in choux and topped with more whipped butter and egg yolks. And other times, you want a "lighter" (hahah, who are we kidding) version, hence the match coco puff. Me? There's enough love for all.

And because we had both puffs, we figured why not have a bit more and indulge in the ensemada, a Filipino treat with strong roots in the island. It's big, it's pillowy, and as Betty Shimabukuro of the Bulletin proclaimed, "the ensemada has absolutely no nutritional value, unless you consider happiness to be good for the health." Ahhh, how very true. I believe the same applies for coco puffs, shave ice, chichi dango, manju, and plenty other Hawai'i treats. But we must be filled with the utmost happiness!

Poofy, yes. Much like Ani's Sweetbread, in both the light and soft texture, and creamy sweet flavour. Think challah gone local, lighter (despite the bagazillion egg yolks) with a touch more sugar. Baked in individual fist sized mounds and brushed with a bounty of whipped butter and sugar.

You see why Hawai'i is so delicious? :)

Andy's Sandwiches & Smoothies
2904 E Manoa Rd
Honolulu, HI 96822
(808) 988-6161

Liliha Bakery
515 N Kuakini St
Honolulu, HI 96817
(808) 531-1651

Sunday Afternoon...

...calls for a post-Costco stop at Waiola's, without a doubt, the finest shave ice on the island. Literally. The finest. The ice melts like powder, too quickly on the tongue leaving trace memories of sweet flavours. Red li hing mui stains, lacing your tongue and fingers are the only visible evidence.

A large cup with li hing mui and lilikoi for dad...

...while mom and I indulged in the huuuuge mochi bowl. Surprising, almost scary, how quickly this goes down. We opted for a li hing mui and lychee duo, and pour of soft azuki beans and condensed milk. A ring of house made mochi in pink and white lined the bowl - the perfect finish.

Calories don't exist in my world :)

Waiola Shave Ice
2135 Waiola Ave
Honolulu, HI 96805
(808) 949-2269

Fried, Fried, Fried, a Bucket of Rice...and then, Halo Halo & Buko Pandan

One night out of the year I'll eat a ton of Filipino food. And then I pass into a food coma and declare, never again! Until the next year. I enjoy these feasts tremendously, but my poor heart simply cannot handle such fried abundance. Friends of our family own a branch of Max's in Waipahu and invited us out to dinner the other night.

The meal started off innocently enough, with a glass of fresh calamansi juice - one of few citrus fruits I will never tire of. Note to self: must make calamasi sorbet this summer...

I had barely three sips down before two plates of calamari were brought to the table. We all took a deep breath, and dug in, this was the first of many fried dishes that would compromise our evening meal.

The rice arrived next...not just any rice but FIVE MASSIVE SCOOPS of garlic stir fried rice. And by massive, I kid you not, each scoop was the size of a tennis ball...maybe even a little bigger. No waaay we can finish this all, was my first thought. Hah. I ducked that thought right in the trashcan after the first spoonful. Steaming hot with the heady crunch of fried garlic in every bite...in retrospect I could have just made a meal out of the garlic rice and dessert.

Fried chicken is a specialty of Max's, justly so with well spiced crackling crisp skin. The innards were quite juicy, but it's always the skin I'm after. You can order the chicken by the half or whole - but who wants half when you can get a whole? With that said...Korean fried chicken remains on top of the list whenever I have a fried chicken craving, which is, far too often for my health.

You know how fatty pork belly can sometimes be so incomprehensibly delicious? Well, take the same pork belly and then fry it...that's ridiculousness found in the form of Lechon Kawali. Rectangular cubes browned and crisp on every visible surface breaking into hot sweet fatty dark meat. Oh goodness. The little mound of pickled carrots on the side do little to cut the fat, but the light vinegary mouthfuls are much appreciated.

We soon moved onto Daing na Bangus - milkfish marinated vinegar and garlic before hitting the deep fryer. The fish is wide, thin, and flat, maximizing fried surface area. The accompanying sauce, a clear refreshing vinegar with a sweet tang was just what we needed to compliment the crust.

And then came the dish we had been waiting all night for: Crispy Pata. Oh yeeesss, deep fried pig's knuckles! It feel like forever since I last had crispy pata, coveted for the thick crackling skin, intense porkiness, greasy and meaty and just like ggaaaaah how-come-so-ono kind off good. We were advised to scrape the fat off the bottom surface of the skin, but when no one was looking I just popped it all in my mouth and holy jebuzzes, how could anyone not love the way fat melts in your mouth?

The lighter dishes were brought out near the end of the meal, Sinigang, a sweet and sour tamarind based soup with milkfish, squash and other leafy greens. The hot tang was a nice way to wash down the grease slowly building up around our arteries and staining our fingers.

Pinakbet was as close to a salad as one may wish - a wonderful warm stew of eggplant, kabocha, long beans and bittermelon, with shrimp and pork sautéed in shrimp paste (hence the pink colour).

By this point in the meal, I was so stuffed I could barely sit up straight. Instead I found myself slouched to the side of the seat, clinging onto the back rest so that I wouldn't slide off onto the floor. And then, someone asked, "dessert?" and it was like I came back to life. I shot up, yes, yes! And it came in minutes. I couldn't decide, so I ate two (and no, I didn't regret eating two :)

First up, Halo Halo, a glass bucket filled with tropical fruits and jellies, hidden under a tower of ice. On top, boiled and mashed beans, diced flan and a crowning scoop of ube ice cream with a smattering of rice flakes for extra crunch. Mix, mix, mix and eat.

Then, move onto the Buko Pandan, my favourite of Filipino desserts (the Vietnamese also have a dessert very similar to this, only without the macapuno ice cream).

Pandan jelly, tapicoa and shredded young coconut are boiled down in a rich coconut sauce, then cooled to thicken, then served with a rich macapuno ice cream and rice flakes, the macapuno ice cream is some kind of insane, thick and creamy, coconut studded with a rich mouth feel. Note the ice cream + rice flake combos in all the desserts here? It's pretty awesome.

Max's of Manila
Waipahu Shopping Plaza
Waipahu, HI 96797
(808) 951-6297