Southeast Asians relish a sprawling family of confections made with sweet rice or sweet rice flour (mochiko) and coconut milk. In the Philippines, there are everything fromfudges to cakes, often combined with fruit or starchy vegetables or tubers (taro, cassava).
Da Falafel King, yet another source of healthy but fast food, is absolutely lovely. Two charming young women work inside the ocean-blue truck in Moiliili (the original is still in Waikiki), greeting everyone as though they were family, taking orders, even serving pita appetizers to those waiting on their orders.
If you want to kookoo hee, you’ve got to have somebody to kookoo and a good ‘okilo ia. Got that?
Alan Wong is worried about the one in four children who go to school hungry. “That’s not a national statistic; that’s a Hawaii statistic,” he said, yelling somewhat over the band entertaining at Hawaii’s first Taste of the Nation event, a link in a chain of chef-driven events across the US seeking to end child hunger.
Speculatively eyeing the rock-hard green ovals, mango lovers are asking each other. “Is it just me, or is this going to be a great mango year?” The answer is yes.
Whole Foods already has a well-established Kahala store. Why, when you live near town, go to Kailua?
We can add fresh abalone to the short list of compensations for living in Hawaii. Itʻs a luxury item found not just in name restaurants (Hiroshi, Roy’s, Alan Wong’s, Chef Mavro) but also Whole Foods, Costco and farmers’ markets, said Big Island Abalone CEO Hiroshi Arai.
Here’s how to have a truly happy hour: Strong rum drinks, hand-crafted with muddled mint and plenty of lime, are half-priced at Soul de Cuba’s festive happy hour ($4-$6). Cuban music gets your shoulders rolling and hips swaying.
Oahu, once pretty much a two-note restaurant town (Asian, American) now offers a much broader spectrum, down to Himalayan and even a weekly Ethiopian pop-up. But for years, Southern cookin’, Cajun and Creole food have been scarce.
We’ve had a soft spot for single malt Scotch ever since our first sip while honey-marooned for 48 inclement hours in a tent in the Hebrides. As puddles became peaty lakes, our Talisker kept us sane, even cheerful.
Jews who keep kosher in Hawaii (blessings be on their heads because it ain’t easy, with no kosher groceries, bakeries or butchers and only one truly kosher deli) already know how to acquire ingredients for Passover, a multi-day festival that begins April 7. (Kosher is a complex set of regulations governing what observant Jews eat; at its simplest, no pork or shellfish and never meat and dairy at the same meal.
You’re picturing coco-palms fringing a moonlit beach, aren’t you? Rewind.
The rumor’s been fermenting that “New Korean” cuisine is the next big thing. Now it’s happening at trendy restaurants such as the recently opened Jung Sik in New York.
A very real set of the working population is turning coffee shops into their go-to offices. It’s a mobile trend we’ve written about before–the coffice–that modern businesses are quickly keying into, brewing free Internet on tap as a selling point (see local cafes like Coffee Talk, R&D and Fresh Café).
Say tsukemono and watch people’s reactions. You’ll note the experienced tsukemono eater, particularly one who likes salt, will immediately salivate.
Morning Glass Coffee + Café opened in July and now sits back, glancing at East Manoa Road. Outside tables catch a breeze.
Want to see a beautiful, passionate movie about the local food movement on Oahu? Don’t miss the Ingredients Hawaii screening Feb.
Sometimes people just want dessert for lunch. If these people are in Honolulu and are geographically lucky or social network savvy, the city’s Puffettes Egg Puffs food truck is here to satisfy them six days a week.
When Cherisse Otsuko was diagnosed with gluten intolerance in 2009, her allergy meant cutting out her favorite local foods. “I really wanted mochiko chicken and mac salad so badly,” Otsuko recalls.
Chain restaurants often call to mind relentless streams of gray burgers. Not so at Loving Hut, founded by Supreme Master Ching Hai.
Pies rotating in a diner’s glass stand, pies on the neighbor’s porch, pies proffered by friends visiting for dinner. Pie is the “aloha” staple of the Midwest–a region with a casserole-style taste that can be hard to find on Oahu.
Every season comes with it’s flavors and recipes–those signature flavors that we look forward to every year–but we eventually must also bid a fond farewell. What is it about the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks or an eggnog-flavored shake from Jack in the Box that tastes so good?
In season now, the persimmon comes in several varieties. Among them is the American persimmon, native to the US east coast, and the black persimmon from Mexico.
Cheesecake has been around since ancient Greece. When the Romans came along, they adapted the recipe, carrying it into greater Europe.
After leading the kitchen team at Roy’s for 10 years, executive chef Ronnie Nasuti received an offer he couldn’t refuse from Tiki’s Grill & Bar. Since then, Nasuti has updated the menu to include more locally sourced produce and meats.
With roots planted in the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and a presence that extends through the entire archipelago, the military’s influence in Hawaii is surpassed only by tourism. The military controls some 236,000 acres throughout the state, including 25 percent of the land mass of Oahu, and thousands of square miles of surrounding airspace and sea.
“I’m having a hard time not swearing right now,” Spike Kane says in his UK accent, all smiles after his first surf session at the second annual Hawaii “They Will Surf Again” event hosted by the Life Rolls On Foundation (LRO). “It just feels so good to be in the water again.” Kane beams.
Into Willie Sabel’s vast and detailed set enter a cast of rippled sweatshirts and oversized shoulder-pads, thanks to Dusty Behner’s sense of color and history, and Lisa Ponce de Leon’s especially-80s hairstyles. A few of the bunch even manage to hold-their-own against the largeness that is the setting of Dividing the Estate, the newest show to hit Manoa Valley Theatre.
Mayumi Oda, an artist often dubbed the “Matisse of Japan,” is a petite woman with boundless ambitions. In the book Merciful Sea: 45 Years of Serigraphs by Mayumi Oda, meetings with intensely raw and passionate artists, including Ginsberg, Rothko and De Kooning, triggered her to reflect, “I am small.
Everything’s coming up mangoes. And last week, we joined the crowd at Foster Botanical Garden to witness the first-ever Honolulu blossoming of Amorphophallus titanium, nicknamed the “Corpse Flower” for its malodorous, fly-catching bouquet.
Through the years there have been many mayors who’ve aspired to be governor, but for the first time in Honolulu ’s history, a former governor is running for mayor. At Honolulu Hale on Friday, May 18, as he signed the nomination paperwork making him an official candidate for the 2012 race, Cayetano told the room that, back in January, he made his decision quickly.
Important back stories are huddled behind last week’s Star-Advertiser headline, “Federal Judge Narrows Lawsuit on Rail.” Foremost is that the lawsuit will go forward unimpeded. The same substantive points of contention including the most important historic and cultural sites are still at issue.
In announcing his support of same-sex marriage two weeks ago, President Barack Obama reinvigorated a vexed debate. Locally, the wrangle has been deadlocked following the contentious legalization of civil unions and subsequent federal court challenge in January.
Thailand grows 75 percent of the flowers used in Hawaiian-made lei, but a flooding in the country last fall destroyed 80 percent of its orchid crops, according to Summer Campos, co-founder of the Hawaiian Lei Company. Together with the graduation season and the growing popularity of lei on the mainland, “All lei prices have inflated due to the orchid shortage,” Campos says.
Lynne Matusow’s letter [“Goodbye Bus, Hello Rail?” May 16] hit the nail right smack dab on the head. The rail may have its attributes but it seems the more we delve into it the bad seem to outweigh the good.
We have a problem with traffic congestion on the major highways leading into the city; we have the controversy over the issue of rail; and we have the concern over preserving prime agricultural lands. It would seem to me that all these issues point to one thing in one way or another and that is the development of a second city in Kapolei.
Though you didn’t discuss it in the most recent issue, there was a brief mention of how long it took for the Kinau off-ramp to be completed. Ambulances [had] ALWAYS been able to take the exit BEFORE Kinau, and turn left directly into the Emergency Room.
I enjoyed your issue on Mayoral Candidate Peter Carlisle. It would be great if you did a series on those running for the two congressional seats and the Senate race.
On [April 26] the Weekly [ran] a story damning Hoopili as you have been for quite some time. Then you are running a full-page promotional ad this week?
It’s important to understand the difference between editorial content and ads. At the Weekly, they are two completely separate departments.
We retract the letter “Questionable Ethics?” [May 9] and apologize to Herb Barboza for its inaccuracies. Mr.
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