“Bento Man” - Misoyaki Butterfish Bento, $5.00

Ah yes, coming around once again to save us from the hungry monster’s lunch hour wrath, it’s a bird.. it’s a plane.. no it’s a van.. it’s.. it’s.. it’s Bento Man!…

“Hey Bento Man, you forgot your cape”

Yes that’s “Bento Man”, setting up the goods for display so everyone can get a good look at what lies deep within these blue and white portable plastic caverns of golden grindz.

So what Bento Man, what get today?

Looks good, looks good. Let’s see, get California rolls, cone sushi, maki sushi, seasoned long beans, namasu (buried underneath), tossed salad.

How about dat’ coolah…

Get Roast Pork, Charsiu Pork, Shrimp Tempura & Garlic Chicken, Mochiko Chicken, and samoa stuffs undah’neat’.

And da’ oddah’ coolah’..

Get Grilled Teriyaki chicken, chicken katsu & meat jun combo, meat jun, and plenny moa’ stuffs undah’neat.

What about dat’ coolah..

Get Misoyaki Butterfish (calling dibs) and Misoyaki Salmon, and plenny moa’ stuffs undah’neat.

Nevah have ’nuff coolahz, so he ‘wen stay use one box fo’ ‘dis stuffs…

Get Teriyaki Chicken Musubi, SPAM Musubi, vegetable tempura, SPAM/Mandoo/Mochiko Chicken combo, Soba “noodooz”.

Dis’ one look pretty ono…

I think that’s Mapo Tofu, or some Japanese twist of the dish. Sharing that space is Chicken Katsu.

Whoah, da’ choices!

So as you seen above, I went with the Misoyaki Butterfish…

How was it? As good as butterfish gets. Oishi desu. And buttery…

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, good.  The butterfish is tender, flaky and buttery-moist. With that super-flavored seared skin and carameled Misoyaki sauce sealing the deal, this the winner right here. The champion of all bento entrées is the Misoyaki Butterfish.

Of course it could stand to be hotter (heat wise), but room temp’ works. I didn’t wanna’ nuke it and dry it out. I didn’t care for the plain steamed veggies that it came with though, as it didn’t match with the misoyaki flavor of the fish as much as tsukemono would have. At least had Daikon, which is an effective palate buffer.

Overall, based on how fantastic the Misoyaki Butterfish alone was, as well as being an overall exceptional value having all those veggies included with it, I give this a bento 3 SPAM Musubi rating. I’d buy it again.

I also got a California Roll..

“Bento Man” - California Roll, $1.50

While that’s not the prettiest California Roll you’ll ever see, flavor and texture wise, it’s exactly WHAT a California Roll SHOULD be.

The basics are here, with no more and no less: fresh avocado, cucumber, imitation crab and mayonnaise, wrapped up in sushi rice and nori. That’s it. It’s perfect and it tastes fantastic just like that. Especially with a dab of Wasabi on each one, which they conveniently provide in this tray, wrapped in a green plastic garnish “leaf”. And just $1.50? Sign me up!

Bento Man’s California Roll gets 4 SPAM Musubi from me.

Diner E chose the Chinese Roast Pork & Charsiu Pork combo…

“Bento Man” - Chinese Roast Pork & Charsiu combo bento, $5

Very good Roast pork and Charsiu for a Japanese restaurant. As good as any I’ve tasted from a Chinese restaurant, if I might say. One thing great about Bento Man, is he always includes the necessary condiments, as is the case here with the Coleman’s mustard and shoyu dipping sauce. I don’t know about Daikon with Roast Pork, though. lol His only complaint is that it wasn’t hot (temperature-wise), otherwise he thought it was spot-on. With that, he rates this one 2 SPAM musubi.

To wash it all down, I went with a handy-dandy can of Hawaiian Sun Guava Nectar..

65 cents from the office vending machine

Thanks Bento Man. You saved the day again!

Related Links:
• The Friendly Neighborhood Bento Man

“SPAM” , eggs & fried rice bento from “Bento Man”, $5.00

“Good Lord!”, you must be thinking. That’s what I said when the weigh-in results came in on this Godzilla-sized breakfast bento.

First of all, if you think I’m the insane one for choosing this, no, I’m not. It was Diner A. And while he’s a skinny guy that generally eats a nutritious, well-balanced meal, this was one time he must’ve thought, “What the heck, just $5 bucks for all that?. Go for it.” lol

Upon looking over those thick cuts of luncheon meat (it’s the Armour-Star brand we think), Diner A couldn’t resist taking it to the scale for a weigh-in. Just feeling it, you could tell this baby had some heft, or as we say, “poundage”. With that, Diner A suggested I include a new “Poundage Factor” on this blog, providing the weight of various plate lunches and other food items that are showcased here. Wha’cha’ think?

While it could be made to sound “light” and say this weighed 22 ounces, by “Poundage Factor” it would read 1.5 POUNDS. Even if its just 4 oz., by “Poundage Factor”, that would read as a QUARTER-POUND. Hey, the burger guys do it. lol

Actually, he had this massive breakfast bento for lunch. As you see it goes a step further than the standard, and includes fried rice (instead of white), one mandoo and a slice of Daikon. Not bad for $5.

Easy to understand when it’s from the “Friendly Neighborhood Bento Man“…

Funny enough, as much he thought that massive bento tasted pretty darned good, he gave it “just” a 2 SPAM Musubi rating, noting that there was TOO MUCH luncheon meat, throwing off the meat-to-eggs-rice ratio. lol

Now I need to run a few laps after just looking at that. lol

Diner E went with Zippy’s special-of-the-day, the Meatloaf with Brown Gravy…

Zippy’s special - Meatloaf and Brown Gravy (mini), $5.00

I missed getting a good shot of the meatloaf cross-cut. Anyhow, Diner E noted how fantastic Zippy’s brown gravy is. I must admit, it is one of the best in plate lunch-ville. It’s the deal-maker on their otherwise overpriced $8.50 Loco Moco. This plate received a 3 SPAM Musubi rating.

Well that was entertaining.

Our local supermarkets have recently been bringing in seedless watermelons from Aloun Farms, who operates in Ewa and Kunia.

What appears to be white seeds are actually empty seed coats that are small, soft and edible. The label does indicate, “May contain occasional seeds”, which covers that base.

Flavor-wise, it taste just like your standard watermelon, sans the inedible black seeds. This particular one we had was also quite sweet.

It’s more round in shape than oblong, and comparably smaller, measuring just 9″ in diameter…

They’re currently on sale for $3.50 each (not per pound), at - of all places - KMart. That’s a deal, compared to Costco, who has them for $8 each.

No, this watermelon wasn’t altered in any way after it was cut. The only seeds visible are those small, soft and edible white ones.

It’s best to eat watermelon when it’s chilled, which is how this one was when we cut it for service…

These seedless watermelons are so much easier to eat and deliciously refreshing on a hot summer day. Perfect thing to have at that beach picnic you’ve got planned for the upcoming Independence Day holiday weekend!

www.AlounFarms.com

From Wikipedia, here’s some information about seedless watermelon…

Although so-called “seedless” watermelons have far fewer seeds than the seeded varieties, they generally contain at least a few soft, pale seeds. They are the product of crossing a female tetraploid plant (itself the product of genetic manipulation, using colchicine) with diploid pollen. The resulting triploid plant is sterile, but will produce the seedless fruit if pollenized by a diploid plant. For this reason, commercially available seedless watermelon seeds actually contain two varieties of seeds; that of the triploid seedless plant itself (recognizable because the seed is larger), and the diploid plant which is needed to pollenize the triploid. Unless both plant types are grown in the same vicinity, no seedless fruit will result.

There’s the Apple computer logo, and then there’s the Watermelon computer logo!..

Au (a.k.a. Kajiki or Pacific Blue Marlin) sauteed in canola oil (left side), and lard (right side)

Last week I did a post about rendering pure lard from pig’s fat, hoping to become enlightened by the said virtues of cooking with it.

As mentioned before, Diner E swears the best Akule he ever had was one his friend pan-fried simply with garlic and lard, which he claims was just awesome.

Going through various online articles and message board threads, it appears unanimous that lard is superior to commercial cooking oils and shortening not only in flavor, but also for your health,

Since fresh hooked Akule wasn’t available in the supermarket over the past week (it just was at Marukai a few weeks ago!), I went with Au (a.k.a. Kajiki or Pacific Blue Marlin) to test what this hype about lard is all about.

What I like about using Marlin for this test, is that it can be a dry fish if overcooked, so it was the perfect choice to gauge the benefits of cooking with lard.

So I prepared two dishes to sample with: Macadamia Nut Crusted Au (Marlin) with a Mango Salsa and Sauteed Au (lightly seasoned with garlic salt and cracked pepper) with Ginger-Infused Ponzu (citrus soy) Butter Sauce and Stir-Fried Bok Choy (Chinese cabbage). Note that I didn’t include a starch (like rice), as I wasn’t out to make a meal out this.

Here’s about 3/4 lb. of fresh Au Fillet…

The other set was seasoned simply with garlic salt and fresh cracked black pepper.

Here’s a spoonful of cold rendered lard…

After hitting a hot pan, it quickly melts, resembling regular cooking oil…

The other pan (not shown) had Wesson® Canola Oil for the this comparison.

So I sauteed them until golden brown and cooked through, then plated them up for the taste test.

Here’s the Mac Nut Crusted Au, served with Mango Salsa (store-bought from Costco, fantastic B-T-W!), sauteed in Canola Oil…

A close-up of a cut piece from the plate above..

Mac Nut Crusted Au with Mango Salsa (Canola oil)

Here’s the Mac Nut Crusted Au with Mango Salsa, this one sauteed in lard….

A close-up of a cut piece from the plate above..

Mac Nut Crusted Au with Mango Salsa (lard)

And here’s the Au with Ginger-infused Ponzu Butter sauce and stir-fried Bok Choy, sauteed in Canola oil…

A close-up of a cut piece from the plate above…

Au with Ginger-infused Ponzu Butter sauce and stir-fried Bok Choy (Canola oil)

Au with ginger-infused Ponzu butter sauce and stir-fried Bok Choy, this one sauteed using lard…

A close-up of a cut piece from the plate above…

Au with ginger-infused Ponzu butter sauce and stir-fried Bok Choy (lard)

So what’s the difference?

First of all, the lard seemed more forgiving about NOT burning the fish while in the medium (just below medium high) heat pan. Whereas the Canola oil began to darken the macadamia nut crust on the fish much faster. Actually, the underside of the Mac Nut Crusted Au on that plate is dark brown.. almost burnt, but not quite. Of course I plated it with the good side facing up. Even if you look at the non-crusted Au in the Ponzu butter sauce, you can see the one sauteed in Canola oil is a bit darker. They say lard has a higher smoking point, so that must be why it’s more forgiving here.

I must note, I was fair about the cooking method as well, using the same heat (medium) and type of saute pan (stainless steel) for both the oil and the lard.

How did they compare in taste and texture?

I tend to cook my fish just under medium, so with that said, both were moist and tender, but the lard version seemed a bit more “buttery” in texture if you will, while the Au sauted in Canola oil seemed a bit “tighter” if you will. Just a bit. Not much though.

Taste-wise, in my opinion, the Au that was sauteed in lard had a slightly richer and “expressive” flavor, but just by a slim margin. Just enough where someone might ask, “how did you cook this”? My girlfriend prefered the ones sauteed in Canola, noting that it tasted lighter, which she preferred. She also immediately knew which one was in lard and which one was cooking with oil in an initial “blind” taste test I administered to her. So that alone says, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.

I don’t think the lard version “blew away” the Canola Oil, though. At least not here where they were sauteed in just enough cooking fat so as to not burn in the pan. Actually, I was a little more generous in the amount of lard used in order to impart its flavor more. So with that I also added an equal amount of Canola oil on that side.

I think if you deep fry or use lard in a pie crust, where it becomes more of the consumed part of the food, is where you’d really notice the difference. Perhaps I’ll try fish ‘n chips next time, if I render enough more fat to deep fry with. That’s the only reason I didn’t try that, is I didn’t have enough lard for it on this first run.

As for the dish itself, the Au with the Mac Nut crust and Mango Salsa was awesome, and so was it with the ginger-infused Ponzu butter sauce. Honestly, I would order either of these two dishes in a restaurant. I really liked the how the fruity mango complimented the Mac nut. My girlfriend really liked the latter, actually preferring it switched, with the Mac Nut crusted Au in the Ponzu butter sauce. Switched around either way, it was delicious.

The Mac Nut crusted Au was easy to make. Season the Au lightly with salt and pepper, then dip in an egg wash, then in a bowl of finely chopped Macadamia nuts and pat it on until evenly coated. Normally Panko (bread crumbs) are added into the mixture, but I didn’t have any on hand, so I just used the nuts. Nuts. Then sauté until golden brown and cooked through. Plate with the Mango Salsa (or Ponzu butter sauce, up to you) and garnish.

chopped mac nuts..

The ginger-infused Ponzu butter sauce is easy. Bring 1/2 cup Ponzu (store-bought) to a boil, then reduce to simmer and add minced ginger and 1 tablespoon of cold butter and whisk until the butter melts and is fully incorporated. Let stand for at least 10 minutes to bring out the ginger flavor. Whisk again just before plating. The Au that was plated with that was seasoned with garlic salt and fresh cracked black pepper, then sauteed. After the fish was done cooking, I stir-fried coursely chopped Bok Choy quickly (just until wilted) in the same pan.

Well that sure was a tasty test!

**************************************************************

About a week ago, I also sautéed Monchong in lard just to get a taste of cooking with it.

Monchong a.k.a. Pomfret is one my favorite fish. It’s flesh is white and it tastes similar to mahimahi, except it’s more oily, making it a bit more flavorful, tender and delicate. Because it’s oily, it’s a great fish for steaming, though sautéing like we’re doing here is great too. It’s usually brought in as by-catch from longline ahi boats, so it’s not always available. Surprisingly, when it is, the market price is amazingly very affordable. Wahoo! Oh, that’s Ono. I mean, woohoo!

Here’s a 1 lb. cut of Monchong that I picked up from the Kapahulu Safeway. It’s seasoned lightly with Hawaiian sea salt…

Then I dredged it in flour and off into the pan..

Notice how nice and golden brown the color is. This seems to be one of the benefits of sautéing with lard.

I plated it with a ginger and cilantro chinese pesto sauce..

Here’s a look at a cut piece of this Monchong up close…

How did it taste?

Extremely moist and buttery-tender, though the monchong is already an oily white-flesh fish, so cooking it in motor oil would probably taste just as good. Actually, I’ve prepared this same dish a few times before, except I steamed the Monchong. It’s awesome like that.

As for the Chinese Ginger Pesto sauce, that stuff is great on just about any white meat, whether its chicken, pork or fish. I poured a little too much of it on this plate though, where it kinda’ drowned out the virtues of the lard - if there were any - which may have enhanced the flavor of the Monchong. Not that this a bad thing. Heck, I gotta’ admit this lard-sauteed Monchong and Chinese Ginger Pesto dish rocked!

I’d say lard is certainly something to at least try, as it just might add that “oomph” your dish needed. Of course, anything cooked in fat, whether it’s lard or vegetable oil, should be consumed in moderation. But when taste and texture are what counts most, lard is something to consider.

Related links:
• Praise the Lard
• The Skinny on Fats (Benefits of Lard)

Seriously, Caramel Sushi!? No. Well, actually sort of. Sushi and caramel are on the menu, just not together on one plate. But heck, it sounds interesting, and just might be one day! Read on…

A few nights ago, the lady and I had dinner at Sansei Seafood & Sushi Bar at the Marriot Waikiki Beach Resort and Spa, which was a first-time visit for us. Sansei is located in a shared space with sister (or big brother, depending how wanna’ view it) restaurant, D.K Steak House on the makai (ocean) side of the property on the 3rd floor. They were formerly located in Restaurant Row where Hiroshi now operates.

With that, both restaurants share a common entrance…

You can actually see into D.K Steak House from the front-end of Sansei, where a common bar divides the two establishments.

Paintings adorn the entrance hallway which remind you of the theme…

With master sommelier Chuck Furuya being a business partner with D.K, it’s no wonder there’s an extensive selection of wine to choose…

Once you make your way past the common entrance and hostess’ desk, there’s the sushi bar…

Then you turn the corner to the right and make your way into Sansei’s main dining area, where there are open tables, private booths and seating outside on the patio…

We were fortunate to be seated (without formerly requesting it) next to a window inside, overlooking Waikiki beach…

The window seat table we were given here offered the best of both worlds: immediate access to our server (dining room is enclosed), quiet air-conditioned comfort, and a great view. Perfect.

As for dining room ambiance, noise levels and chatter were minimal during our time there, which was between 7 and 8:30pm, though I’ve heard it can be a “shout-fest” during the late night hours (they ‘re open until 1am). Lighting (after the sun set) was a good balance of intimate in level, while still being able to see what’s on the plate.

The dining tables maximize marketing efforts by placing D.K’s “Sushi Chronicles” recipe book cover under the glass top of each table…

And for the “newbies”, a Sapporo Beer-sponsored Sushi guide…

The only condiments that are permanently situated on each table are two bottles of Yamasa Shoyu (I added the wasabi and ginger from my sushi plate)…

I like Yamasa brand. I’d say it has the smoothness of Aloha, while not being too salty or bold like Kikkoman. Perfect choice for sushi.

Our server Kiana was very friendly, attentive and knowledgeable about the menu, pointing out her own favorites, other popular dishes and a few helpful ordering tips.

Speaking of menu, that’s what stumped us. I had downloaded their online menu from their website to review what they had, only to find the menu in-house is much, much more extensive!

We decided to order mostly appetizers shared between us, and even our server agreed that as the best way to go.

So we started off with the Panko-Crusted Fresh Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll…

Panko-Crusted Fresh Ahi Sashimi Sushi Roll - Fresh Island Yellowfin tuna wrapped with arugula, and flash-fried, topped with soy wasabi butter sauce, $11

This was fantastic. It’s under their “Award Winners” category, and no wonder. The seared ahi was very fresh-tasting, with that “melt-in-the-mouth” texture. While that flavor and texture contrasts of the nori, arugula and golden brown crispy panko crust was a winner. Winner, winner. Bringing it all together is that Soy Wasabi butter sauce which sends your tastebuds into all kinds of directions, without being too complex. Awesome.

This arrived along with a (classic) dish of Shrimp Tempura…

Shrimp Tempura, $12

The shrimp tempura were decent size and beautifully moist, sweet and tender. Only thing was the batter was just a tad-bit on the soggy side. Just a bit. Still very, very good, but it could stand a little more crispiness. It’s served with the classic dipping sauce, grated daikon, ginger and a lemon wedge.

Needless to say, as hungry as we were upon arrival, we made very quick work of these starters, while looking over the menu for our next choices.

The lady wanted to try their California Rolls (her favorite), so that’s what came to the table in round two..

California Roll, $6.50

Not bad. The sushi rice, while a little on the cold side, had perfect texture and sushi-su seasoning. The fresh cucumber and avocado were well-balanced in size, but the mayo and finely chopped imitation crab filling in the center was a bit bland. I much prefer when the Imitation Crab is kept in one solid chunk. I want to TASTE imitation crab. lol

My choice for the second round was this…

Sansei’s Mango Crab Salad Hand Roll - Ripe mango, blue crab, fresh greens & crunchy peanuts wrapped in mamenori with a sweet Thai Chili Vinaigrette, $9

This Mango Crab Salad Hand Roll is another item selected from their “Award Winners” list. While I think the execution and flavor profiles of the various components worked, once again that crab filling didn’t do it for me. I’m not sure if it’s the mayonnaise they use, or the way they finely chop the crab meat up. It just didn’t have enough substance to stand up against the bold flavors and textures surrounding it. Good, but not great. Glad I tried it, but I’d order something else next time around.

Rounding out the main meal was this entree item we shared with each other…

Choice Rib Eye Steak and Grilled Miso Yaki Prawns - with garlic mashed potatoes and local vegetable stir fry with garlic demi glace and ginger lime chili butter, $32

This rocked! Especially those grilled Miso Yaki Prawns!…

The prawns were incredibly “meaty”, sweet and tender, with a pronounced char-grilled, slightly smokey hint. Supporting that is that incredible garlic demi glace and ginger lime butter sauce. KILLER! They need to seriously think about bottling that stuff, if that’s possible.

As if that weren’t enough, the fire-grlled choice rib eye sharing the same plate was so tender, perfectly done medium rare finish, encased by a lightly-salted crust. Playing foundation role were the garlic mashed potatoes, which were on the mild side as far as flavor, yet light ‘n nice, although they were a bit of a challenge to “scoop up” using chop sticks, but we managed. lol The string beans and carrots were simply stir-fried without any special seasoning. Just salt ‘n pep’ . But whoah, dip a strip of the rib eye, along with those veggies and a tad of mash in the prawns’ sauce and POW! Excellent, excellent, excellent.

After that, we were both content without being stuffed and stopped there, saving just a little more room to share a dessert…

Sansei’s Granny Smith Apple Tart - Buttery puff pastry topped with fresh Granny Smith apple slices, baked to order and served with vanilla ice cream over Sansei’s homemade warm caramel sauce, $9

Instead of the ice cream served on top, we requested the ice cream served on the side…

This is another amazing dish at Sansei! If there’s any absolute recommendation I can make based on this first visit, is to SAVE ROOM in your stomach for this dessert! The apple tart is tasty, fluffy and crispy all at the same time, while that homemade, warm golden caramel sauce is sex on a plate. You’d swear you died and gone to heaven eating this. Honestly. And this is coming from someone who’s not really into sweets. Whether you had sushi, seafood, or steak, make sure you ORDER THIS.

“Caramel Sushi” huh? Could be possible. I’m sure Chef Kodama can come up with some creative dessert dish that resembles “dynamite” sushi, with that “dynamite” homemade warm caramel drizzled over it. If I think of anything, I’ll make a comment later.

There’s so much more on the menu, it would take several months of return visits to sample everything Sansei offers. I’d really like to order “Chef’s Omakase Tasting Menu for Two” on our next visit. It’s touted as “The Ultimate Sansei Dining Experience for Two”, which includes: Edamame & Miso Soup, Sansei’s Special Sushi Roll, Island Style Seafood Poke Sampler, Panko Crusted Ahi Sashimi Roll, Japanese Calamari Salad, Sansei’s Asian Shrimp Cake and Garlic Miso Prawns, Matsuhisa Style Miso Butterfish, and Sansei’s Lobster and Crab Ravioli. All that for only $75.. for two!

Next time around, that’s gonna’ be high on my wish list.

Overall, a fantastic dining experience, and we’ll certainly return again.

Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar
Waikiki Beach Marriot Resort and Spa
2552 Kalakaua Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii 96815

Reservations and Information
808-931-6286

Dinner Nightly
5:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M.

Late Night Dining
Friday & Saturday, 10 P.M. to 1 A.M.

The Tasty Island rating:

(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)