Soup is perhaps one of my favorite comfort foods. Either by itself as a meal, or part of a 3 or 4 course lunch or dinner, the likes of a good ‘ole bowl of Portuguese Bean Soup, Miso Soup or New England-style Clam Chowder always warms and sooths the soul.  And interchangeably depending on mood between those just mentioned, New England Clam Chowder often turns out my number one choice. Love the stuff.

The tomato-based Manhattan style is OK, but nothing can beat the creamy, hearty, rich character of the New England style. That, along with some crispy crackers or toasted baguette and it’s all good.

Here I was impulse-shopping at the Hawaii Kai Costco yesterday, when as usual, some kind of soup lands in my cart. Besides, it was due time I stock back up on my supply of Progresso brand New England Clam Chowder, something I usually have on-hand, which Costco sells an 8-pack of 18.5 oz. cans (148 total ounces) for $10.99. That calculates to $1.37/can. That’s a very good price, especially when compared to individually sold cans in the supermarkets that go for around $2 each.

Seeing this in the dry aisle reminded me of the other brand I just looked at moments earlier in the refrigerated section. Going back there, I see it’s Harry’s brand, which was more than twice the price based on quantity at $10.65 for two 30 oz. tubs.

Of course, when it comes to eating good, I’ll take quality over quantity any day. A virtue I’m assuming is the case with the higher-priced Harry’s  label. Since I’m always up for a brand A vs. Brand X taste-off, decided to pit the higher-priced, more obscure Harry’s brand against the well-known and established Progresso; a competitor Campbell’s execs probably wish would just go away.

So, as that whacky host on Iron Chef America always says, “Let the battle begin!”. That guy cracks me up, I swear. lol

Here you see Progresso provides a handy-dandy pull-tab lid, no can opener required…

And gosh darned it, we better have these in our pantry the next time there’s a extended blackout! Always the case, when you need it most, no moah. lol

And here’s a 30 oz. tub of Harry’s Chowder…

If you notice on the label, it says, “Once open, used promptly”. I’m guessing within 2-3 days. So you must commit to 30 oz. of Clam Chowder once you pop the top, which is vacuum-sealed for freshness by a plastic liner under the lid. Not sure if you could freeze the unused portion.

Most of you will probably agree that heating food (especially canned soups) on the stove top tastes much better and has better texture than the lazy way of nuking it, therefore that’s how I heated both brands up. Hot enough to be scalding, which also bought some time to take photographs before partaking in the taste test.

Without further ado, here’s a hot bowl of Progresso New England Clam Chowder…

Progresso New England Clam Chowder, 9 oz. serving

and here’s a hot bowl of Harry’s New England-style Clam Chowder…

Harry’s New England-style Clam Chowder, 9 oz. serving

Now looking at the two, which have both been standing in the bowl less than a minute since being dished, you can see the Progresso looks chunkier due to the large diced potatoes that remained piled on the surface. While the clams and smaller-diced potatoes in Harry’s chowder have, for the most part, sunk below the surface.

Now let’s look at a spoonful of what lies beneath…

Spoonful of Progresso New England Clam Chowder

and here’s a spoonful of Harry’s…

Spoonful of Harry’s New England-style Clam Chowder

Here you can sort of see the Progresso has larger potato chunks, with smaller, sparser pieces of clams in it. While Harry’s has smaller dices of potatoes, yet more clams in it. Much more clams. In fact, while trying both in this side-by-side comparison, I’d say Harry’s is a Clam Chowder that just so happens to have potatoes in it, while Progresso is a Potato Chowder that so happens to have clams in it.

And that abundance of chunky, meaty clams vs. chunky potatoes, along with its thicker, creamier, hint of butter ‘n bacon soup base sets Harry’s several laps ahead of Progresso in the “best store-bought chowdah” race.

On the back of Harry’s packaging, they describe this product like this: “Our New England-style Clam Chowder is loaded with Eastern sea and ocean clams and russet potatoes in a cream-based stock with a hint of butter.”

That description is pretty much what you get. “loaded with clams” being very much true. There indeed also is that hint of butter, yet not so rich that you’d feel sick after eating half a bowl.

Back to the viscosity, here you can see how each one coats the back of a spoon, first looking at Progresso…

Progresso New England  Clam Chowder spoon-coating viscosity check

Harry’s New England-style Clam Chowder spoon-coating viscosity check

You can tell just by looking at it that Harry’s has a much thicker viscosity, along with the more abundant pieces of clamd sticking to it. Yum.

Not to knock on Progresso though, as it’ s still respectably delicious and authentic to the dish, and if I didn’t have the more upscaled Harry’s side-by-side to shadow over it, I’d be just as content with that, as I have been for years now. There’s also a few obvious advantages to the Progresso, with one being much more affordable, and two being much easier store due to it not needing refrigeration.

The only thing disappointing about the Progresso now that I have Harry’s to compare it with is its lack of bacon flavor, which is reinforced by it not being listed in the ingredients on the label. Harry’s has that essential ingredient, if for just a hint which it gives Harry’s that much more savory depth.

There’s probably an even better brand out there that I’m not aware of, which you’re more than welcome to comment and bring to our attention. And I know there’s serious chowder enthusiasts out there who’ll scoff at me for giving acclaim to Progresso, or any other store-bought chowdah for that matter. In fact, they have major, highly publicized Chowdah cook-offs up on the east coast that I’ve seen featured on the Food Network. I wonder if I entered one of those competitions with a vat full of Progresso or Harry’s in the pot, if they’d be able to tell. Ya’ think? lol Progresso for sure, but the Harry’s could probably fool many, as it has that real chef-prepared restaurant taste.

One last note, you may have noticed I used Diamond Bakery Soda Crackers to go with these soups instead of the more traditional Oyster Crackers. Sorry, but that’s where I keep the “Hawaiian Connection”, as Diamond Bakery Soda Crackers are my favorite and usual choice to go along with soups.

Diamon Bakery Original Hawaiian Soda Crackers (unsalted tops)

You can get these crackers in a large bulk-size box at Hawaii Costcos and most other grocery stores, but we prefer the one packaged like this in individually wrapped packs of four crackers. We find they’re crispier and stay that way longer. I like the saltine version too, especially with a slice of Lumber Jack, Gouda or Brie Cheese on it.

My other favorite brand is Sky Flakes from the Philippines.

What? Harry’s New England-Style Clam Chowder
From where and how much did it cost? Costco Hawaii Kai. $10.65 for two 30 oz. tubs
Big Shaka to: Choke, big, chunky pieces of clams. Creamy, thick soup base. Hint of butter. Hint of bacon. Chef-made restaurant quality and taste. Ready to serve (no water necessary). Especially ono with Diamond Soda Crackers thanks to abundant clams and thick texture that coats the cracker beautifully.
No shaka to: Relatively expensive. Not enough potatoes (but I’ll take the trade-off for the clams!). Potatoes a little mushy. Requires refrigeration. Being scoffed by Chowder enthusiasts. Being called a “Chowdah Head”. lol
SPAM Musubi rating: 4

What? Progresso New England Clam Chowder
From where and how much did it cost? Costco Hawaii Kai. $10.99 for eight 18.5 oz. cans
Big Shaka to: Plenty big diced pieces of Potato. Potatoes are nice and al dente, not mushy. Smooth, milky-creamy broth. Distinct clam flavor. Acceptably authentic to the dish (*yet see below). Relatively affordable price. Ready to serve (no water necessary). Long shelf life and easy to store (no refrigeration necessary). Easy to open, pull-tab lid.
No shaka to: Not enough clams. Broth a little too thin, which also makes it less ideal to eat off a Soda Cracker. *Lacking hint of bacon flavor in the broth. Being scoffed by Chowder enthusiasts. Being called a “Chowdah Head”.
SPAM Musubi rating: 2

What? Diamond Bakery Soda Crackers
From where and how much did it cost? Long’s Ala Moana on sale at $2.49 for a 13 oz. package, which includes 7 packs of 4 crackers each
Big Shaka to: Crispy & fresh, thanks to being wrapped in individual serving sizes. Neutral, very basic baked cracker flavor that compliments nicely (doesn’t overpower) with soups and sliced cheese toppings. Relatively cheap. Made in Hawaii.
No shaka to: Big box size, which often goes stale before you can finish them. Not (as of yet) being available in “oyster” shape/style. Being called a “cracker”. lol
SPAM Musubi rating: 5

The Tasty Island’s Project Dry Mein, exhibit C (mixed)

Ever since recently hearing about and seeing first-hand photo accounts of  Sam Sato’s famous dry noodles, also referred to as “Dry Mein”, something about it had me bent on recreating the dish at home. Perhaps it’s the purely simplistic concept the dish seems to have.  “Seems” being the operative word, that increases my curiosity even further, along with the “Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?!” thought slapping me across the face. This, compounded by the many sentiments of high regard and enthusiasm over the dish made in comments by readers here over the surrogate review I did a month ago on Sam Sato’s, makes it that much more intriguing.

Since I’m on Oahu, not Maui, and can’t just conveniently drive on over to Wailuku to get some myself, the next best thing I can do is attempt to deconstruct the dish in order to recreate it.

And all I’ve got to work with are a few photos, as well as a few fellow diners’  first-hand accounts of how the dish is presented.  Along with the flavor profile of the broth side dish, and most importantly, the flavor and texture of the noodles.

Let’s take a look once again at the real McCoy, a serving of Dry Noodles from Sam Sato’s…

Sam Sato’s Dry Noodles, $4.95 (small)

Now look at my attempt at recreating the dish…

The Tasty Island’s Project Dry Mein, exhibit C

Notice I named this one “exhibit C”, as this is my third attempt, and the best one yet.

Color-wise, my broth is obviously darker and less neutral-looking, if you will. An attestment to perhaps a little too much dashi in the chicken stock? Dunno’. Still ono though! My Sun Noodle Saimin-based noodles also aren’t as fat and could use a little more oil to coat, but still, it worked. Completely. Absolutely! According to those recently trying Sam Sato’s, spot on.

Which reminds just how complex this “seemingly” simple dish can be. Not quite as easy as just cooking the noodles in boiling water and serving it on the side with a dashi-based saimin broth.  I tried that initially-assumed method, and It turned out rather bland and just, eh, OK. Surely not as good the one everyone raves about over at Sam Sato’s.

I was confident I already had the right noodles for the dish, which is the superior Hawaii’s Original Saimin Old Style from Sun Noodle…

Since I wasn’t satisfied with the first attempt, I went on to plan B and searched online for recipes, coming across really what was the only one I could find that sounded close, posted over at AlohaWorld.com.

Reader Jocelyn left a comment mentioning she thought the noodles are flavored with oyster sauce, dashi and oil.I also noticed one reviewer of Sam Sato’s who didn’t speak so highly of the dish mentioned the broth tasted like chicken broth. Which actually sounded like something worth trying!

So using ALL those ingredients, as well as the basic method of preparation from Aloha World’s recipe, I set off to refine it.

One mistake I made in following AlohaWorld’s recipe was to use ALL the sauce ingredients as instructed when tossing the cooked noodles in the bowl, which turned out too salty and over-flavored. So much for exhibit B.

Finally I came up with a winner on my third attempt with exhibit C. Here’s the recipe!…

Dry Mein Project Exhibit C recipe
Noodles:
1 serving Sun Noodle brand Hawaii’s Original Saimin Old Style (including dashi broth packet)
1 14 oz. can chicken broth
2 cups water

Sauce:
2 tablespoons shoyu
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon dashi or saimin broth powder diluted with 2 tablespoons hot chicken broth
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Broth:
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon powdered dashi saimin broth
Chopped green onions

Garnish:
Charsiu, cut into strips
Kamaboko, cut into strips
Bean Sprouts
Green Onions, chopped

Bring entire can of chicken stock to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Pour about a half-cup of the hot chicken broth in a small serving bowl on the side. To this, add 1 tablespoons of the powdered dashi saimin broth (in the packet) and stir to fully dilute and combine. Garnish with green onion (this also adds flavor!).

To the chicken broth pot, add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil once again. Once its boiling,  add the fresh saimin noodles and cook until al dente, about 3-4 minutes. Drain noodles thoroughly (you can save the hot chicken stock & water to cook another serving by pouring it out into another pot).

While the noodles are cooking, in a small cup or bowl, combine the shoyu, oyster sauce, diluted dashi saimin broth and oil together using a spoon, whisking briskly to infuse the oil with the other ingredients. This is the key component in the dish, so the better you mix it and taste it to your liking, the better!

Immediately after draining, place hot, cooked noodles into a large mixing bowl. Now drizzle the soy, oyster, dashi and oil sauce mixture slowly (emphasize SLOWLY!)  onto the noodles and toss to evenly c0at. Add just enough to taste, better underdoing it than overdoing it. Go by the feel of the force, Jedi master. lol But seriously, do that.

Then add sauce-coated cooked saimin noodles to serving bowl and top with all your garnishes. Serve immediately while hot along with the side bowl of broth. Enjoy.

The Tasty Island’s Project Dry Mein

In summarizing this Dry Mein’s deconstructed and reconstructed project, the noodles are absolutely the star of the dish, to which the Sun Brand “Nama” style saimin is the preferred choice, to the best I’d consider based on what I’m told about it. It’s not quite as thick or same in profile as Sam Sato’s, but close enough to pull it off. Especially the flavor and texture of it.

Another key is getting the “sauce” that you toss the noodles with, right. You can most certainly  play around a bit with the recipe to make it your own. Perhaps add ginger. Less shoyu. More Oyster Sauce. In fact, I even added a dash of Chinese style abalone sauce to mines, and it was really ono!

But those core ingredients listed in this recipe should get you on your way to a great Dry Mein. I thought so.

It would be great to hear from all you Sam Sato Maui regulars on your take on the Dry Noodles, and how you would decontruct the dish, and whether this recipe sounds on the money.

Until I get to Sam Sato’s myself, I think it’s  darned close.

The next Chinese New Year takes place on Monday, January 26, 2009, but for the rest of us living by the international calendar, it takes place tomorrow. Yet in the same spirit — especially for us Hawaii folks — today’s New Year’s eve is filled with a number of cultural and family-oriented festivities; the Chinese tradition of setting off fireworks to chase away the evil spirits perhaps the highlight of them all.

In light of that, I bring to you yet another great contribution to humanity courtesy of the Chinese: Manapua and various other dim sum, once again from Libby Manapua Shop in Kalihi. This spread, courtesy of Diner C and AC. Mahalo!

Eight steamed charsiu manapua, 4 chicken manapua, half-dozen pork hash and half-dozen halfmoon

Like everywhere else, the prices have gone up at Libby’s, yet they’re still one of the lowest in town in comparison to its main competitors. A steamed Charsiu Manapua is now $1.10 each, which ain’t bad considering that’s just 15 cents more than they were two years ago. This in comparison to Chun Wah Kam, who’s current rate are $1.45 each. The Pork Hash are now 55 cents each, up just 10 cents from 2006.

Gon Lau Mein

Chow Fun

Shrimp Paste with Curry Sauce Spring Rolls

Libby Manapua Shop plate 12.08 - Steamed Charsiu Manapua, chicken Manapua, Curry Shrimp Spring Roll, Halfmoon, Pork Hash, Gon Lau Mein and Chow Fun

Whoah, whoah, whoah, stop the press! OK, that chicken manapua looks great. And it was great. In fact, we liked it even more than the Charsiu Manapua! But what is up with that Charsiu Manapua? You may remember not long ago I mentioned Libby’s having a reputation lately for lacking in the charsiu filling department, and it appears, they’re still playing “Pake” on us. Wassup wit’ dat?

This, in comparison with Char Hung Sut, where as you see by this very recent example (from a box we had just this past month) who are still filling their Manapua adequately…

Steamed Charsiu Manapua from Char Hung Sut, 12.08

Also, the Chow Fun had more cabbage than actual Chow Fun noodles in it. Perhaps they should rename it Chow Choi. lol Ono flavor though. Hopefully there’ll be more chow fun noodles in the mix the next time around.

Another thing lacking from BOTH Manapua shops, in case you haven’t noticed, is the red color of the charsiu. Look at the photo of the Char Hung Sut Manapua that’s adorned this Food Blog’s masthead from the start, and you see back then it was much more red. Is food coloring becoming expensive, too?

Regardless of the lacking Charsiu filling, red color, and Chow Fun noodles in the Chow Fun lol, Libby’s is still overall my favorite Manapua shop due to their superior (and now abundant) buns, with Char Hung Sut a close second.

And New Year’s eve is all about making resolutions, so let’s hope the good folks at Libby’s turn over a new, less Pake leaf in 2009 and start filling their buns with more Charsiu.

Hey, speaking of which, folks continuously comment here asking how they can get either Libby or Char Hung Sut (or any authentic Oahu-made) Manapua shipped to them on the mainland. To which I called Libby’s up to ask if they would provide that service, which they do! Guess how much though? $72 for one dozen manapua. Yup. almost 3/4th of a hundred buckaroos for these. Reason being is that they need to pack them specially in dry ice in a cooler and send it 1-day air via Fed Ex. I think you’re better off saving up a few hundred dollars more and just taking a Hawaii vacation to pick them up in person. You can take these on an aircraft as hand carry. And the folks at Libby’s are trained to know how to pack their Dim Sum for air travel, as they’re a popular place where folks stop by to get Omiyage for friend and family back home on the neighbor islands and abroad. Especially since they’re located within close proximity to HNL.

Speaking of Chinese Dim Sum, my sister and ohana just got me this fantabulous cookbook for Christmas titled DIM SUM APPETIZERS and Light Meals…

Guess what the first set of recipes are on? Manapua!…

For risk of Copyright infringement, I can’t show you the blown-up version of the content, but this gives you an idea what’s inside.

Oh, I am so going to try this out in the near future. And you know you’ll see and hear about it right here first!

Of course, there’s many other delicacies in the Dim Sum genre, including various styles of Siu Mai…

And other steamed goodies…

And not to forget, after Turkey (Thanksgiving), there’s Jook!…

This looks like one cookbook I’ll be making plenty of use of. If you see a copy in the store, pick it up. Highly recommended.

Anyways, to all of you and yours…

Kung Hee Fat Choy,

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou,

Shinen Omedeto Gozaimasu,

Happy New Year!

A digitally-altered mock-up of what the product label would look like

“Saimin Survival Kit” could just as well be a catchy name for a new instant noodle product line designed with the local college dormitory student or Hawaii resident on a budget in mind. A product which already exists under several guises and brand names, just not named so.

Or it could be a nickname I’ve hypothetically given to what we have here with this handy-dandy Portable Butane Stove, or as the manufacturer calls it, “Portable Gas Burner”. Another product that’s been readily available in retail stores for years now. Yet, I must confess took this last Oahu-wide power outage for me to finally come to grips and throw one in the shopping cart as I went grocery shopping the next day.

Common’, I know there’s some of you out there who’s been through this before, too. You’ve seen those camping/emergency supply kit cross-merchandise displays at the front of Don Quijote, City Mill or your favorite big boxer and thought, “hmmm, I really should get one of them stoves”, but just kept putting if it off, until, like me, finally came to your senses, realizing when - not if - another extended power outage happens again, this will make life back in the stone ages that much more bearable.

Or, some of you just may have not bought one because you were either intimidated by the thought of using butane as fuel or the appliance itself. Or you already have a propane stove or other cooking device as an emergency back-up.

If you don’t already have an alternative energy cooking appliance ready the next time the power grid goes down, a Portable Butane Stove looks is a great choice. It’s relatively cheap for the hardware and software, is lightweight, compact, pretty much all-in-one convenient, and easy to store. Most importantly, after reading on here, you’ll see it’s also capable of putting out a darned good hot meal.

Let’s take a closer look at it.

This particular model named Mr. Hotman Portable Gas Burner was purchased at the Kaheka Don Quijote for $13.99 sale price. It includes the unit, a convenient carry case and instruction booklet. The Butane Gas Cartridges are sold separately, costing $1.17 each from the same place…

The unit itself is fairly light weight, yet hefty enough to feel confident it isn’t going to fall apart after one or two uses. At least we hope not!

Of course safety is the primary concern when it comes to using a tool such as this which uses compressed combustible fuel. unlike propane stoves  and grills that use 1 lb. disposable canisters or a 20 lb. refillable tank, these use 8 oz. disposable butane gas cartridges that look like this…

Click image to see back label

The tip looks like an aerosol spray paint nozzle nub, sans the plastic nozzle…

The notched flange around the tip’s base serves a purpose, which you’ll see in a bit.

Back to the stove, here you see the cooking grate (support grill) is removable…

…this not only makes it easier to clean in case you get a spill-over, but also is necessary, as you must invert this part in order to fit the unit in the carry case.

The four vertical supports for the cookware are called the Trivet, while the circular part around the burner opening functions as a windshield. Also notice there’s a difference in sheen, as the support grill portion is made of a heavier gauge stamped and welded steel construction with a more durable high gloss baked enamel finish, while the surrounding chassis is made of a much lighter gauge stamped steel with a satin black finish.

The control panel on the front of the unit includes the two essential functions: the cartridge lever to lock the butane cartridge in place, and the control knob which dials in the amount of fuel from the regulator to adjust the flame output…

Notice there’s two stars next to the ON on the flame control knob: what that indicates is that if you click the dial past the full-on position, it makes a significant “click” sound which triggers a built-in Piezo electric flame starter, so guess what? No need matches or a lighter! It’s all ready to go, just add fuel. Very nice.

Here’s a close-up of the burner manifold, with that needle-looking assembly pointed towards it the Piezo electric starter…

“Under the hood”, on the right side of the unit behind the control panel is where the butane cartridge is installed…

Lock ‘n load…

Earlier I pointed a that notched flange around the base of the cartridge nozzle. What that does is keep the cartridge’s nozzle tip properly guided into the regulator receptor…

That spring-loaded metal tab is a lock that fits within the notch of the cartridge flange. You simply pull that open to install and remove each cartridge.

If you look back at the photo of the cartridge housing area, take notice to that rectangle-shaped metal “tray” on the bottom. That part is connected to the Cartridge Lever on the front panel via a spring-loaded mechanism. The lip on the back end of it serves as “clamp” to effectively compress the cartridge inward toward the regular receptor.

Here you can see the entire chassis revealed, including the cartridge lever mechanism, burner manifold assembly, it’s support beam underneath, and how it connects to the regulator valve to the right via a welded copper tube connection…

Click for alternate angle

While the steel, cast aluminum/copper manifold and regulator assembly looks adequately built to perform the task of delivering serious BTUs, the safety loop isn’t complete without a sturdy base to support the weight of a scalding hot pot or pan with food cooking on top of it. Which is addressed with four level rubber feet underneath…

And there’s enough clearance between the underside of the burner manifold support that, unless you have a major “Chernobyl” situation,  shouldn’t pose any concerns with heat-related damage to say, a countertop or stove top. For the latter, I wouldn’ t worry about it; for the former, to be safe, I’d still place it on something you could toss in case that does happen, in which I used a large cutting board as a subplatform.

So let’s fire it up!

As mentioned earlier, turn the control knob past the full-high ON position and wait a second for the fuel to flow out the burner manifold, then turn it a bit more until you feel and hear a “click”, which triggers the Piezo electric starter. Flame on, then from there you can immediately bring it down to low, which reveals a beautiful blue-hot, even flame. Here it is at the lowest setting…

Portable Butane Stove at the lowest flame setting

Here it is at medium, or halfway on the control knob…

Portable Butane Stove at medium flame

And here it is on high with the pedal to the metal…

Seeing this makes me wanna sing Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” Top Gun theme song. lol

According to the specifications, this model burns 7,200 BTU/hour.

OK, flyboy, enough fantasizing turnin’ and burnin’ in an F-14, what can this thing do as far as turnin’ around a decent home-cooked meal?

To that I started with one of the most basic cooking methods there is, which is to boil water. Oh many great meals can be had with the magic of H2O when it reaches 212ºF. All the basic staples can be prepared that way, whether it be rice, noodles, pasta or potatoes.

And what else in Hawaii when it comes to basic survival from a  sustenance standpoint to cook using boiled water than either rice or saimin. For this demonstration I chose my favorite, hence the name “Saimin Survival Kit”.

To that, I set off to put this stove’s BTU output to the test by making a bowl of Sun Noodle’s “Hawaii’s Original Saimin”, which is actually a featurette in itself here…

Click to see reverse side of package

According to the directions, this saimin calls for 6 cups total of boiling water; 4 for the noodles and 2 for the broth. I pushed it even further by adding an extra 2 cups water to make a solid 2 quarts of water to boil. Besides, what if, say I wanted saimin, while someone else just wanted some hot chocolate? Covered!

Yeah, sure, realistically during a power outage, you probably wouldn’t attempt to make this “Nama” style of fresh noodles, where everything is less “instant”.  For practicality, you’d probably just open up a can of ready-to-serve (no water needed) Chicken Noodle Soup to heat up or boil just enough water for a Cup Noodle.

But since I really wanted to test the capability of the stove out and see if it could really COOK, not just heat stuff up, decided to go with the “nama style” saimin.

After about 8 minutes with the flame at its highest setting, the water finally began to show signs (bubbling on the bottom) that it was reaching temperature…

It took this pot with 2 quarts of tap cold water a solid 25 minutes to reach a full rapid boil…

That’s a long wait for a bowl of Saimin. To confirm I had “pushed it”, I later boiled 6 cups for another bowl of Saimin, finding out that cut the time almost in half, coming to a rapid boil within 10 minutes.

So obviously you’re not going to set off and cook a community-sized stock pot or vat of beef stew on one of these little light-duty burners.

While the water’s boiling, that’s plenty of time to get the saimin ready…

The package says this includes 2 servings, which is evident by the inclusion of 2 broth packets, but not so evident by the noodles, which are clumped together. Just divide it in half with a knife, so you can cook each serving individually.

Like making ramen, to make this saimin, the powedered dashi-based broth packet is combined with water in the serving bowl before the noodles are added…

Add 2 cups hot water and stir to combine…

That extra time as the water boils also give you time to prepare the protocol “local style” saimin garnishes…

Once you get the water boiling, these fresh “nama” style saimin noodles cook to al dente quickly, within 3 to 4 minutes…

Scoop out or pour cooked noodles into a sieve to drain water and immediately add to the hot broth in the serving bowl…

Those last two photos are the very reason this entire effor exists, which is to showcase those simply fanstastic Saimin noodles Sun Noodle manufactures for this particular product. This is by far THE BEST store-bought Saimin product I’ve ever tried, and my girlfriend seconds that opinion. In fact, being that she just had a bowl of Sam Sato’s Dry Mein, says these are comparable in character, flavor, and texture. Just a little thinner than that, but very comparable.

Of course, saimin just wouldn’t be complete without all the fixinz…

That’s more like it. I could have added sliced omelet in the mix, but wasn’t inclined to go that extra mile for this particular effort. Charsiu (home-made), Kamaboko, Bean Sprouts and Green Onion are enough to round out the dish.

Here’s another angle…

Itadakimasu!

As you see, I spent as much effort presenting this Hawaii’s Original Saimin by Sun Noodle as I did the Portable Stove used to cook it. If you’re a saimin or ramen fan and haven’t tried this one yet, you must. I’m pretty confident you’ll agree it’s one of the best of the genre on the market today, whether from a restaurant or grocery store.

Back again to this portable butane stove, I’ve found it’s also very capable at pan-fying items like Portuguese Sausage, eggs and fried rice or sauteeing a fillet of chicken or fish . I wouldn’t go as far as deep-frying (in a cast-iron skillet) with it though. A stove with more BTUs would be better suited for that. Besides, trying to duplicate Colonel Sanders original recipe while the power’s out isn’t a good idea anyway. Not to mention the added risk of fire doing that.

At just 13.99 on sale, this particular model certainly isn’t the Lexus or Cadillac of the genre in either build or perforomance; there are better models out there, including those with brass burners, cast aluminum or stainless steel housings, and higher (up to 10,000) BTU ratings. Yet this one looks and feels built, and so far performs well enough to serve a hot, home-cooked meal on those few occasions when the power goes out.

As easy as it is to set-up, it’s just as easy to put away for storage. Let the unit cool completely, then simply slide the cartridge lever up to the “OUT” position, which decompresses the cartridge nozzle out of the regulator receptor. Lift the spring-loaded flange lock clip and lift the cartridge out, then cap it. I marked the one I used as “Partially Used” as seen here…

I put a total of approximately 40 minutes on that cartridge, to which according to most manufacturers specifications of these 8 oz. butane cartridges, are rated up to 100 minutes of use each, depending on your stove’s BTU output and how high you set the flame. I know someone who works serving hotel banquets, and they said these typically last about an hour and half each for serving guests at an omelet station.

Finally, to complete my emergency preparedness kit (and to make using this appliance that much safer), I replaced my old fire extinguisher with a new one from City Mill…

Notice this model is UL (Underwriter Laboraties) Rated at 5-B:C. This indicates that this  extinguisher could handle a 12.5 square foot fire that is flammable liquid or electrical based, and therefore ideal for most small kitchen fires. Even if you don’t have a portable propane or butane stove, it’s still recommended to have a working fire extinguisher(s) around the home. Smoke detectors too.

• What? Mr. Hotman Portable Butane Gas Burner Model #GS-90 (a.k.a. “Saimin Survival Kit”)
• Where did you buy it? Don Quijote - Kaheka street locationHow much did it cost? $13.99 sale price, plus $1.17 each Butane Gas Cartridge
• What are its features and benefits? Pressure-sensing shut-off safety device. Aluminum burner head. Piezo electronic ignitor. Gas leak prevention system.
• What are its specifications? 7200 BTU/hour gas consumption. 2.1 Kw nominal heat input. 220g Butane Gas cartridge.
• Big Shaka to: Adequate BTU output for smaller stovetop cooking tasks. Well-managed low-to-high heat control. Even flame distribution at the manifold. Lightweight and compact. Quick and easy set-up and storage. Affordable main unit and replacement fuel costs. Built-in starter (no need matches or lighter). Sun Noodle Saimin, served hot with all the fixinz.
• No shaka to: Not adequate for large (bulk) cooking tasks (ohana style). Questionable long-term durability. Eating cold canned soup  in the dark. Power outages.

Now that was a day-after-Christmas “episode” that took what I said in the last entry “basking in the moment” to a whole nother level. Almost literally, time stood still.

You’re probably already well aware of the island-wide power outage Oahu experienced from approximately 6:45pm yesterday (Friday) evening, until, at least for my section of the Honolulu grid, 7am this morning (Saturday). A solid 12 hours.

While not quite as long as our last major outage that occured after the 2006 earthquake, it was enough to test our patience, as well as our emergency supply kit, having us break out every candle, flashlight and bottled water we had. We even lent some of those supplies to a neighbor who wasn’t quite as prepared. Like most other folks, eventually we just called it a night and went to bed early, vs. what we normally like to do on a Friday night, which is to stay up late and watch new release Blu-Ray movies.

So what does this Shrimp Wonton Soup have to do with a power outage? Well, in pointing out the obvious, three essentials are needed in order to properly store and serve this soup as packaged:  1.) a refrigerator/freezer 2.) water, and 3.) a microwave oven. All of the above requiring basic utilities.

You know the saying “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. That saying can be applied to health, relationships, and, yes, POWER. As in electrical power, then having a trickle-down effect from there. Especially when you’re a condo-dweller like me, where every necessary household function is reliant on that, from the elevators to get you up to your floor (try walking up and down 24 or more flights of stairs twice consecutively), the lights and appliances (of course), to the water supply. High rises depend on electric-driven pumps to get water to the upper floors, and when that’s not operating, once the pressure is gone, pau, no H2O. All you got is what’s in the plastic bottles.

And without any or all of the above, this Shrimp Wonton Soup is a no-go.

So now you’re probably thinking, “why didn’t you just boil water on a portable stove to serve that?” Believe me, I wish I could have done that, but I DIDN’T HAVE ONE! And this latest power outage reminded me of that very essential survival item that as of yet is the missing link in our emergency preparedness supply kit. Therefore today I’m heading straight to Don Quijote after this writing and picking one of them butane-fueled stoves up. They’re currently on sale there for $13.99 plus $1.17 each for the butane cartridges. That’s a good price.

Secondly, this being a frozen food item, wouldn’t be a good choice, as you must open the freezer door to get, causing unnecessary loss of valuable cold air needed to keep your other frozen foods in tact. Better stick with canned soup from the pantry in this situation.

That said, in all its glory, now that electrical power has been restored thanks to all the hard-working HECO crews out there, I’m celebrating it by enjoying a good ‘ole frozen, open the freezer door whenever needed, ready-to-serve meal, cooked quick and conveniently using fresh, clean TAP water and the microwave oven. YES! Just one of the many conveniences and modern luxuries we take for granted day-after-day, never really appreciating what it takes behind the scenes to keep them running.

Now let’s take a closer look at this microwavable CP brand Shrimp Wonton Soup. The box shown above contains 6 individual shrinkwrapped bowls like this…

Each bowl measures 4¾” diameter x 2¾” height from lid to base. They’re not barcoded for individual sale, and the instructions say to keep them frozen, so I’m not sure if they could be sold even in a refrigerated vending machine, lest the shrimp spoil quickly once it’s defrosted.

Let’s open the cover and see what we got…

It’s still frozen here, so of course isn’t going to look very pretty. If you look carefully at the bottom of the black plastic bowl, you can see there’s an oily broth base, along with chopped  green onions. You simply add water up to the line marked in the bowl, which is about halfway up the height of it (not to the top rim).

Then it says to cover it loosely and microwave on high for 2½-3 minutes. Then enjoy…

For the love of me, I tried my best to “arrange” this to look as good as it does on the label, but it just wouldn’t behave. The shrimp wontons seemed to have a mind of their own, tossing and turning under their own will. lol

Here’s a pretty good angle…

…the angle going into my mouth as I’m about to eat it!

And how is it? Not bad. The broth is rather mild, nondescript and neutral; not bold like, say, shoyu or chashu ramen broth (OK, I’m biased!). It tastes like wonton soup is supposed to taste, I suppose. I’m not a Chinese soup expert anyway, so I can’t assimilate which one it tastes like. But I CAN say, after the first few sips,  I immediately added a dash of shoyu to give it a little more zip, which certainly helped.

The wonton is simply an entire Vannamei shrimp tail wrapped in a wonton. It says there’s also soya, gluten, sesame and egg, which I’m guessing are more functional than for flavor.The wonton wrapper itself was a bit too thin. It could have been thicker to hold up to the tougher flesh of the shrimp. If it had been thicker, that may have sealed the deal.

Here you can see the quite sizable Vannamei Shrimp encased within the thin and delicate wonton wrapper…

Next time I’ll make Wonton Min (Saimin with wontons in it) using the the stuff inside this bowl. I’m betting that’s gonna’ be ono!

Whether it’s frozen Shrimp Wonton Soup, TV Dinner or any other culinary convenience that makes our life easier and tastier, let’s  show an appreciation of thanks to the hard-working folks at HECO and celebrate the use once again to the technologically-marvelous, so-glad-we-have-it, electrically-powered, never-take-for-granted REFRIGERATOR and MICROWAVE OVEN!

What? Shrimp Wonton Soup
Who makes it? CP Products (Charoen Pokphand Foods & Public Co., Ltd., Thailand)
Where did you buy it? Costco Hawaii Kai
How much did it cost? 12.99 for a frozen carton of six 5.1 oz. bowls
How is it prepared to serve? 5.1 oz. of food and 8 oz. of Board of Water Supply Water, heated by 700 microwave watts of HECO power
Big shaka to: Just-add-water microwavable convenience, generous amount of shrimp, inclusion of chopped green onions, HECO restoring our power
No shaka to: Not having a portable butane stove, wonton wrappers too thin, rather non-exciting broth, elongated power outage (delay in watching Invincible and House Bunny on Blu-Ray)

Kamehameha Bakery’s claim to fame: the Haupia Doughnut, 60 cents each

Hope you all had a great Christmas. Hey, but it’s just the day after, so while still basking in the moment, let’s continue sharing what’s been landing on the dining table in celebration of the holiday spirit. Which brings us now to two full-sized boxes of a variety of pastries from Kamehameha Bakery, courtesy of Diner E…

while most of what you see here are pretty much what you could get at most other bakeries around the island, What sets Kamehameha Bakery apart besides that fantastic signature Haupia-filled Doughnut is their PRICES.

According to Diner E, both these boxes packed full with a variety of pastries came out to well under $20. Try doing the same from the bakery at your favorite supermarket. Need some for that presentation you got scheduled  for the first week of January? At just $6 for a dozen glazed doughnuts (or 50 cents each), that’s one of, if not THE lowest going rate in town. The twisted glazed are not much more at just 6.60 per dozen (or 55 cents each). Or get your custard on, with size to boot with a few Long Johns thrown in the mix at just 75 cents each.

Really though, if you ask my opinion, the Haupia Doughnut, at just 60 cents each, are the ones to impress the recipients or guests. If you look at the filling in the first photo shown, you can see there’s actual minced shreds of coconut in the sweetened gelatinous filling. The dough is light and fluffy, yet chewy enough to have substance. It’s basically a shortened, rounded, yet oblong version of the Long John, including being topped with confectioners sugar, sans the custard in exchange for that delicious, slightly lighter Coconut “haupia” filling.

I haven’t been there personally recently, but do remember there being ample parking behind the building. They’re open very early in the morning during the week at 2am. If you get there during the peak morning rush hour, expect to wait in line. Of course for large orders, phone them in.

So for a “winnah” Haupia Doughnut, plus many other ono, fresh-baked pastries at one of the best prices in town, with the early hours to accommodate your pick-up schedule, check out Kamehameha Bakery. Another one of Kalihi’s decades-old institutional eateries.

Kamehameha Bakery
1339 N School St (and Houghtailing)
Honolulu, HI 96817
Tel. 845-5831

While  the Kellogg company continues to manufacture and sell the Famous Amos® brand of chocolate chip cookies, Wally Amos - the Godfather and namesake behind that brand  - is back in the business once again with a new product line called Chip & Cookie™.

There are currently two brick ‘n mortar Chip & Cookie stores  on Oahu where you can get them: in Waikiki in the Royal Hawaiian Center, and  in Kailua, where Wally Amos calls home. So there’s probably a likelihood you’ll meet Wally in person if you visit that Windward Oahu shop.

In fact, I had the chance to say hello to him once when he was promoting his Muffin line at the Hawaii Kai Costco. Super nice guy.  I’m not sure if the Chip & Cookie product line is available in Costco (yet), but if it’s not, he surely must be working on it.

Speaking of which, offering a product for sale at a membership warehouse retailer means packaging a product in bulk, which is already addressed at Chips & Cookie, where you can get all five cookie varieties they currently offer to go in one neat carry box…

I like the logo. Simple, yet unique font style, with the usual coconut tree to signify it’s a Hawaii product.

It says right on the package that they’re handmade, although surely not all by Wally himself. While that’d be nice, If it were the case, after just two months of sales in Costco, he’d probably have to retire due to carpal tunnel syndrome. lol

Actually, his name isn’t emblazoned on the label at all, except for just a signature following this description of the product on the side of each package:

You are about to enjoy America’s Best Tasting Cookies. At least, that’s what people tell me My Chip & Cookie handmade cookies remind me of my Aunt Della’s homemade cookies; made with lots of love, using the best ingredients.

I hope you enjoy them often. Share with your family and friends. Or, share with a stranger and make a new friend!

Please send your comment and suggestions to: wallyamos <at> chipsandcookie.com

Thanks a lot,

Wally Amos, The Cookie Man

Wow, that’s quite a statement to call your product “America’s Best”; especially by cookie bakers all across this great nation who think the same of their own wares.

What is emblazed on the label are two tag lines: “Delicious” and “All Natural*”, along with “O grams Trans Fat”.

Well let’s have a taste for ourselves and find out if  all this holds true, starting with the “base model” Chocolate Chip…

Mmmm. Crispety-crunchety. Very fresh-tasting. And there’s no shortage of chocolate chips in it. I’m not a chocolate chip cookie enthusiast per se, but FWIW, I’d say this one is way better than a Chips Ahoy.

While I don’t have a Kellogg’s-manufactured Famous Amos cookie on-hand to compare it with at the moment, to the best of my memory eating them (which was within the past year), I  do think this recipe is a bit different.

Moving on, we have Oatmeal Raisin…

As expected, it’s, well, very “oatmeally-rasiny”. lol The oatmeal causes this one to be less crisp than the chocolate chip version. I have an idea where I think this could really work… Chip & Cookie™ Ice Cream Sliderwich™! Basically a miniaturized ice cream cookie sandwich. Miniaturized due to the size of these cookies, which are no more than an inch-and-a-quarter to an inch-and-a-half in diameter. Perhaps I’ll email wally with my suggestion.

Next up, we have the Chocolate Chip with Pecans…

This one returns to being very crispy-crunchy, yet the Chocolate Chips overpower the Pecans. It either needs more of the latter or less of the former to be in balance. Still ono though!

Next we have the Butterscotch Chip with Pecans…

Ding ding ding ding ding! We got the winnah right here. I prefer the butterscotch chips over the chocolate, which really help punch out the flavor of the pecans - not overpower them. My only problem with this one was it wasn’t as crispy as the chocolate chip models. Not a problem though. A quick dunk in some cold milk and it’s all good. All good. Yup, if I go back and get more Chip & Cookie™ cookies, the Butterscotch with Pecans will be the first one in my shopping basket.

Finally we have the Chocolate Chip with Macadamia Nuts…

This one had the same issue as the pecan version, with the chocolate chips overpowering the rather tiny chopped pieces of nuts mixed in it. If he makes the Macadamia nut pieces bigger, that would really help. I’d be willing to pay extra for that. Also, this particular bag tasted almost stale. I think there’s some packaging issues that need to be addressed. But that was  only for this particular one, which might just be an isolated incident.

Again, my favorite is by far the Butterscotch Pecan. Ono.

If there’s two suggestions I would make should I decide to email Wally, one will be to offer a Butterscotch Chip with Macadamia Nuts (with bigger Macadamia nut pieces) and, as said earlier, make the Chip & Cookie™ Ice Cream Slidewich™. Man, I should go into the product development field. Well, I sorta’ do that with my day job already.

Anyway, stop by the Waikiki or Kailua Chip & Cookie store and pick a few up to try for yourself, then come on back and comment what you think. Wally Amos’ Chip & Cookie cookies are also available online at their website at:
www.chipandcookie.com

P.S. Mahalo to Shannon and gang for this tasty holiday omiyage!

Sam Sato’s signature specialty, the Dry Noodles, a.k.a. “Dry Mein”

This past week my girlfriend took a trip back to Maui to take care of some business. While there, one of the places she had lunch with her friends at was Sam Sato’s in Wailuku.

She noted how popular (crowded) this place is, to which they had to wait in line for about a half-hour just to get a table.

Sam Sato’s signature item is their Dry Noodles, or as the regulars call it, “Dry Mein”, which perhaps could also be spelled “Draimin”.

Sam Sato’s Dry Noodles, $4.95 (small)

Made by the Iwamoto Noodle Factory in Pa’ia , these “dry” noodles were explained to me as being thicker than typical saimin noodles, and  a bit firmer and more chewy.  They’re cooked al dente and served as stated, meaning they’re not immersed in a broth. It’s topped with the usual Saimin style charsiu, bean sprouts and green onion garnishes.

A small bowl of hot dashi broth is served along side the noodles, which the diner uses to drizzle (not pour the whole thing) on the noodles for added flavor and moisture. Of course you could do that too, or not use the broth at all. Up to you.

She said the noodles alone (with or without the toppings or broth) are super ono and worth the visit (and wait to get in) to Sam Sato’s. A must-order dish when coming here.

If dry isn’t your thing, order the Saimin…

Sam Sato’s Saimin with Vegetables, $5.70

Ooh, that looks ono too!

Looking at the menu, there’s also wonton mein and chow fun to round out all the local style noodle favorites.

If a savory entree with rice is more on your mind, this Hamburger Steak plate looks like a winnah…

Sam Sato’s Hamburger Steak plate lunch, $7.00

Then there’s the Chopped Steak…

Sam Sato’s Chopped Steak plate lunch, $7.25

And finally on the table on this visit was the Mahimahi plate…

Sam Sato’s Mahimahi plate lunch, $n/a

All the plate lunches come with the protocol two scoops rice (white only) and your choice of tossed or mac’ salad.

Looking at the prices, it’s no wonder this place packs a crowd. Especially with the cost of living in Maui. My girlfriend went shopping at Star Market in Lahaina, where she said (at current retail/sale price) a gallon of milk was $8, a can of SPAM $3.50, bottle of Furikake $6, package of Nori $3, loaf of basic white sandwich bread $4 and a 20 lb. bag of Hinode rice $15.99. Ouch! It’s probably cheaper to eat at Sam Sato’s than to buy groceries and cook your own meal.

Back to Sam Sato’s, here’s the lunch menu…

There’s also a breakfast menu not shown here. Sam Sato’s is also know for their crispy Manju and peach, apple, coconut and pineapple turnovers. I’ll keep that in mind next time I’m up there looking for Omiyage to bring back to Oahu.

Here’s how the building (located in Wailuku) looks…

Soon-to-be Sam Sato diners await their turn for a table…

That window counter near that gentleman in green to the left of the gray entrance door is where you leave your name to be called for a table. Don’t forget to sign in or you’ll be waiting all day!

Slurping up oodles of noodles is likely a common site among diners at Sam Sato’s…

So next time you visit Maui and are craving some local style noodles or a good plate lunch, Get in line then get in on it at Sam Sato’s.

Sam Sato’s, Inc.
1750 Wili Pa Loop
Wailuku, Hawaii  96793
(island of Maui)
Tel. 808-244-7124
Meals: 7am-2pm
Manju pick-up: 7am-4pm

A sample plate from Taco Del Mar catering service (Kaneohe location)

Burger King’s slogan is  “Have it your way”. While that sounds great for burger enthusiasts and  picky eaters, it’s gotta’ be a nightmare for the hard-working employees behind the counter who have to make it YOUR way. That said, imagine if fast food burger joints offered their wares self-serve buffet style, with stacks of plain Jumbo Jacks® or Quarters Pounders ®  in unassembled form in respective order of build: first tray buns, next tray patties, next tray cheese, next tray lettuce, and so on and so on.

Now apply that same fast food “your way” concept south of the border and you have what we have here with a quite tasty catered lunch our office enjoyed a couple months ago via catering from Taco Del Mar.

I’ll come straight-up and say I love Taco Bell. FWIW, the place offers completely satisfying Tex-Mex grub on the cheap. While I couldn’t eat there every day, once a week to once a month, it hits the spot.

What always makes me chuckle is when I see a “new” menu item from The Bell, which is essentially the same ingredients assembled a different way. lol I’m still waiting for the Nacho Taco™, where they pile nachos on a taco. How hard is that? lol Or the Nacho Burrito™, where, what else? They wrap nachos in a tortilla. Common’, that ain’t rocket science!

The ultimate would be the Taco Bell® “Cha Cha Cha” Shake™, where they take all the core ingredients: tortilla, meat, rice, beans, cheese, veggies, etc., and put it in a blender Jamba Juice style. Now THAT would rock!

But until Taco Bell® or Taco Del Mar® collaborate with Jamba Juice®, we’ll have to rely on good ‘ole creativity to reinvent how a tortilla is consumed. And nothing can afford us a better opportunity to do that than with a self-serve buffet line of all the goods, catering style, which is exactly what we have here from Taco Del Mar®.

As Taco Bell says, “Think Outside the Bun”, which is how you must think at Taco Del Mar as well, laying the foundation of your latest and greatest creation with either a soft or crunchy tortilla…

Soft flour tortillas

Crunchy corn tortillas

Now select your choice of meat, either ground beef or shredded chicken…

Seasoned beef

Seasoned chicken

Balance that out with some greens…

Lettuce

In the spirit of Christmas, add red to that…

Salsa

Cheese lovers rejoice…

Mexican cheese blend

Now it’s time to open all the windows and loosen your belt, then make your choice of two styles of beans, either refried or black…

Refried beans

Black beans

Gohan, Mexican style…

Spanish rice

Now you can rebuild the entire meal on the side in a slightly different way, nacho style…

Tortilla chips

Red sauce

Guacamole

Sour creme

Finally for dessert, have a cookie…

Cookies

Now looking at this spread, without instructions or experience on how all that stuff is plated, the possibilities of the outcome could practically be infinite, right? Does the rice go in the tortilla or on the side? Does a soft tortilla mean it’s only for making a burrito? Can I make a burrito out of a crunchy tortilla? lol These are the burning Jalapeno questions. Hey, speaking of which, where’s that!?

As you’ll see in the next sequence of plates assembled by my beloved coworkers, how one assembles a Tex Mex meal, may just help map out their inner soul…

This person is organized, regimented and particular. They enjoy reading non-fiction novels, walks in the park and taking care of their pet Shih Tzu.

The  person who made this plate is an experienced culinarian, and would probably know how to pair the right wine or even beer with this dish. He/she is also probably adventurous yet responsible in making decisions.

This person probably wears and has taste in really nice clothes, yet doesn’t ever hang it up neatly in the closet, but has it lying around piled up high on their dresser or on the floor in the corner of the bedroom (that’s YOU, isn’t it?!).

This person is trying to make a plate lunch out of Tex Mex food. Witness the dominance of rice with the beans spread on it, Zippy’s Chili and rice style. Also take note of the lack of a tortilla, either crunchy or soft. This person doesn’t even like sandwiches. In fact, we might as well offer he or she a pair of chopsticks to eat this. Perhaps we should have also given them an ice cream scooper so they could dish the guacamole in the shape of a ball, Mac’ salad style.  lol When this person isn’t working, they’re in a t-shirt, shorts and rubbah slippahz, and enjoy fishing and kite flying as a hobby.

This person enjoys all that life has to offer (two kinds of tortillas, plus the chips), yet indeed know what their preferences are (lack of rice).

This person probably drives a silver car, has a white leather couch, a black Poodle, eats Cup Noodle 5 days a week and is probably still wearing the same pair of shoes they were given as a birthday gift by grandma 10 years ago (the broken tortilla shell). lol

Wow, give a person a tortilla shell and a bunch of toppings and I told you the possibilities would be endless! Suprisingly no one rolled one up burrito style. I’m not sure what that would indicated from a psychological point-of-view, but it must mean something. Perhaps we all like to see exactly what we’re getting ourselves into (vs. a burrito where it’s all concealed under wraps). Or maybe we like to keep  our options open (adding a little more cheese here, salsa there, etc.).

How would you have assembled your plate, given the choices above?

Whatever the case, our catered lunch from Taco Del Mar was delicious. While, like Taco Bell, they’re not going to topple authentic Mexican mom & pop restaurants such as Los Chapparros anytime soon, it’s still a nice change with enough variety in the basic spread to satisfy just about everyone.

After all that zesty goodness, it’s time for dessert..

Cookies and a brownie

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”
—Brillat-Savarin

Pinakbet & Pork Adobo plate from Kay’s Kitchenette in Kalihi valley, $3.99

How’s that for contrast? Not just from a culinary standpoint, but also geographically, with one from deep within Kalihi valley, and the other from way across the island up in Wahiawa. Besides, you know us island-locked motorists: the drive from Pearl City to Waikiki is considered “far”,  likened to driving from Las Angeles to Las Vegas. lol Well OK, that’s an exaggeration, but you know what I’m sayin’.

Diner E was running his daily errands in Kalihi valley earlier this week, when he finally cured his curiousity and checked out this obscure hole-in-the-wall lunch stand in an old business building located across Kalihi Uka Elementary named Kay’s Kitchenette.

It’s the adventurous, open-minded spirit like that which leads to wonderful new discoveries, as turned out to be the case here. Yes, that 2-choice, “dwarfing L&L” full-sized plate of Filipino favorites was a Peso-busting $3.99.  Yet belying its much-lower-than market price (especially in comparison with other Filipino restaurants), the Pork Adobo and Pinakbet here really hit the mark! Even Diner C - who is originally from the Philippines - tried some and gave it two thumbs up. All her trained palate could have asked more of was perhaps a dash or two more Patis (fish sauce) or Bagoong (shrimp paste) in the Pinakbet, but still, for what its worth, she thought it was authentic and very good. The Pork Adobo was moist and  tender inside, while having a perfectly-balanced shoyu/vinegar/peppercorn/bay leaf/whatever other secret ingredient thing goin’ on. As far as I’m concerned, both masarap (delicious) to da max. lol Fo’ realz! Who would have thought? Kay’s Kitchenette!

Now that we sampled some grinds from “LA”,  lets head on over to “LV” and get our dessert on with some of Wahiawa’s famous Sunny Side pies!…

Sunny Side Bakery’s Blueberry Pie

“An apple a day keeps the… ” oh never mind, I can’t think of anything clever to make of that right now…

Sunny Side Bakery’s Apple Pie

Never judge a book by its cover, especially when it involves chocolate…

Sunny Side Bakery’s Chocolate Creame Pie

In case you’re a regular reader here and feeling Deja Vu, yes I have covered Sunny Side pies in the past here. Yet back then, I was more reserved on photo file sizes due to server space and bandwidth limitations.  Therefore, since I have much more hosting liberty now, here’s some bigger photos of the same pies (Sunny Side’s most popular), fast-forward December 2008.

As was the case then is repeated again this year, with one of our company vendors offering these as a token of appreciation for the business in the giving spirit during the holiday season. Which is another reason why going on a diet between November 1st and December 31st is pointless.  If you can resist any of these sitting on the break room table, you are STRONG my friend. Jedi Knight strong. lol

Let’s have a “slice” of the Chocolate Cream pie first…

Sunny Side Bakery Chocolate Cream Pie slice

Reason I bring this one up first is because there’s an important point we realized must be made when serving pies from Sunny Side: they need to be CHILLED. As they were served at this particular moment, they were room temperature, to which the pudding-based fillings were at a melting point. Especially this Chocolate Cream. As  you can tell by the photos of it, it’s practically imploding. Which is why this one in particular looks so “hammah-jang”.

Still! The core of the sum of its parts all work together so beautifully, especially the buttery, crunchy crust, that you could just as well mash and mix  it all up in a bowl over a some ice cream and still be a happy camper! Hey, I think I’ll try that next time: a Sunny Side Pie Ice Cream Mash.

Next we have a scrumptious slice of Sunny Side’s Blueberry Cream Pie…

Sunny Side’s Blueberry Cream Pie

You’ll have to fight me over this piece.

Finally the apple…

Sunny Side’s Apple Pie

While not quite the decadent buttery devil that is Holy’s,  Sunny Side still shines in the crust department, including this apple pie. Oishii.

Sunny Side really should consider expanding  into mass-production for distribution to the supermarkets like Teddy’s Bakery. That’d be fantastic if they can pull that off.  Investors, anyone?

Bonus “Grindz of the Day” addition!

Last Sunday I made Chashumen (Shoyu Ramen with plenty Chashu in it) with Shrimp Shumai and Ponzu dipping sauce  for da’ gang. Like sample some? Here’s a virtual bowl for ya’…

Sun Noodle Shoyu (nama) Ramen with Chashu (chashumen), menma, boiled egg, mung bean sprouts and negi, along with shrimp shumai and ponzu dipping sauce

Amano (Hilo’s Finest) Kamaboko (Steamed Fish Cake), $1.79 each (sale price @ Marukai)

When I spotted this green-colored Kamaboko sitting in the refrigerator case next to the standard pink ones at Ward Marukai the other day, I immediately thought “Oh cool, they got a Christmas theme goin’ on!”  I’ve never seen Kamaboko this color before - whether it be Okuhara or Amano brand.  Therefore,  I called the Amano factory in Hilo (the company who makes this one) to find out whether the green version is indeed a special limited Christmas holiday edition, to which they confirmed it is.  So no more green ones after December.

Of course holiday-themed colored food ain’t nothing new - especially in candy land - with the likes of M&M’s first in mind, making orange ones for Halloween, green ones for St. Patrick’s Day, and, like these Kamaboko, red and green ones for Christmas. Speaking of that, I remember at a Generation Kikaida event a few years ago, they had Blue & Red frosted cookies for sale. Toh!

Let’s take a closer look, starting with the packaging…

As you see, they’re vacuum-sealed, extending their shelf life.  If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can read the ingredients, where you’ll see they included the green version’s food coloring information so that it’s a one-label-fits-both deal (cheaper production). Other than that, the main ingredient in both versions is Surimi paste, the same “mystery fish” stuff used to make imitation crab.

The best part of all, now let’s cut a few slices of each one and have a taste!…

Any difference between the two? Yes: the green one tastes like Peppermint and the pink one tastes like strawberry. Nah, just kiddin’.  Ya’ think that would work though? A sweetened, mint or fruit-flavored fish cake? I don’t know and am not in any hurry to find out. lol

No, actually, there’s no difference in flavor. The only way you might think otherwise is if you let your mind trick you to think otherwise based on their outer appearance. Quite honestly, the green one by itself looks kinda’ unappetizing to me. Mainly, probably because I’m used to pink Kamaboko. Yet when they’re presented side-by-side, they instantly both become festive and full of holiday cheer.

If you’re not familiar with Kamaboko made in Hawaii, it tastes similar to imitation crab (you HAVE tried that I hope), except, well, just not as “crabby”. More “meaty-fishy”,  yet obscure of exactly what it’s made of thanks to that Surimi paste its mostly comprised of. Texture-wise, it’s like medium-soft rubber, yet easy to cut through and chew.

Now all you creative cooks out there are probably already rubbing your hands together, thinking of the culinary possibilities available using these holiday-themed Kamaboko. Especially in the flexibility in how Kamaboko can be sliced up for different types of presentations. I’ll be showcasing three of them here.

The very first dish that came to my mind when in the store was a Christmas-themed Somen Salad, so that’s exactly what I did…

Pomai’s “Everthing but the Kitchen Sink” Somen Salad Platter, Christmas Holidays Edition

Hey, gotta’ admit, that does look full of holiday cheer!

The two green blobs on the corner are dollops of Wasabi paste, while the light pink stuff on the bottom left corner is Sushi Shoga (sweetened pickled ginger), and on the top right Beni Shoga (tart pickled ginger).

I had all kinds of debates within on how I was gonna’ arrange this, settling on keeping the green on one side and red (pink) on the other. From there I mixed it by putting the red charsiu on the green side and green cucumber on the red (pink) side.

My other option was to either alternate the Kamaboko red/green/red/green///, or to itemize each type in their own section like this other one I made as a take-out plate for my niece…

That’s how Zippy’s arranges their Somen Salad…

My next thought was making the classic local style bowl of Saimin with the red and green Kamaboko, and here’s how it turned out…

Sun Noodle Saimin with holiday-themed Amano Kamaboko, charsiu and green onions

That looks pretty good. Shucks though, I should have used my red or green pair of  Hashi (chopsticks).  It also would have been cool to have green-colored charsiu to go along with the classic red charsiu. I must note, this Sun Noodle brand “Hawaii’s Original Saimin” is fantastic. The best I’ve had yet. The noodles’ texture and flavor rules!

Finally I decided on making my very own Kamaboko Sashimi Platter. I came up with this idea during my days of singlehood, when finding anything in the kitchen to make a quick meal was a common occurance. One day I was craving sashimi, and was too lazy to run to the store for some fresh Ahi, then when I spotted the open package of Kamaboko in the fridge, I was like “Bingo!”. So I shredded some cabbage on a plate, sliced the Kamaboko thin like Ahi Sashimi then just whacked it like that along with my “why clear just one nostril when you can clear your entire sinus cavity out” hotter-than-hot wasabi shoyu dipping sauce. Sashimi purists would probably frown upon my Wasabi-choking madness, arguing that too much will kill the flavor of the fresh Ahi, but I don’t care. That’s how I like it.

Here I present a Christmas version of my  Kamaboko Sashimi Platter…

Kamaboko Sashimi Platter, Christmas Holiday Edition

Notice the ratio of Wasabi