25Apr / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Are you a jook with green onions and cilantro on the side type of person? Or are you a green onions and cilantro with a side of jook person?

I am obviously the latter. Add to that a splash of sesame oil, white pepper and preserved duck eggs and I’ll be in heaven. Thanks!

Oldie but goodie and also timely. Chan and I got to attend a UH Men’s Volleyball Fundraiser Dinner a few months ago thanks to Chan’s friend and it was great seeing the team and coach – nice to see them in aloha shirts too. It was a nice night and it’s so great to see them doing so well this season!

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23Apr / 2025

Aloha Manapua – Manoa, HI

I am fully aware that this post will be confusing. I title it Aloha Manapua (get online ordering!) but then the store front says Island Manapua. Please bear with me. It looks like Island Manapua was bought out by Honolulu Kitchen who is owned by Regal Foods (right?) and they brand themselves Aloha Manapua (per their website and sticker on the box) but still keep Island Manapua on their storefront (maybe they haven’t had time to change it yet).

In any case, my coworker brought in manapua from here to work twice and I liked it so I wanted to try some of the other food. In the end, I still think U-Choice In is the best baked manapua on island right now. I still have to re-try Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery’s version before I can make the ultimate decision. So much food so little time.

Ginger Fried Chicken w/White Rice | $14.95

Not my plate, but my friend enjoyed it! Nice crispy chicken with the cold ginger chicken sauce. How do you go wrong with that though? Not bad price for this big portion!

Roast Duck & Ginger Chicken w/White Rice Plate | $16.95

This was my plate and ehhh, it was just alright. The chicken is cold (which is expected) but the duck is also cold and I asked the very nice gentleman helping us if there is sauce for the roast duck. He apologized and said there isn’t but he could get me hoisin sauce if I wanted which I declined. I wanted to try the dish as is, how they serve it. I know the side sauce is usually just the drippings of the roast duck but I think it makes a difference. I definitely missed the sauce. The chicken was good, and I liked that I got all dark meat. Not bad but not great, but a good option to have in Manoa.

Pork Hash | $1.85 per piece
Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow) | $1.85 per piece

Chan found a short hair stuck to one of the pork hash…haha? Groce. But its okay, we powered through The pork hash is your typical local style (meaning not dim sum style) pork hash. Good, Chan liked it! The har gow is a pass for us, mushy texture. Nothing great.

Half Moon | $1.85 per piece

This is one of my favorite dim sums of all time. I grew up eating the homemade version of it and this is very similar. I heard him telling another customer it’s vegetarian, main filling is wood ear mushroom and shiitake. I enjoyed this a lot and the skin is nice and soft. I would get this again!

Baked Char Siu Manapua | $3.00 per piece

Prices of manapua is no joke guys. This box of dim sum and my roast duck/chicken plate was $61. I had to do a double take! The char siu manapua is good, nice amount of filling inside. The bread is soft but it’s mushy although we did eat it after refrigeration. I did try it fresh before but it’s not as good at U-Choice. They actually make the manapua and dim sum out in the west side and bring it to the store to sell.

Here’s a legend of the different types of manapua they have. I did not see all these flavors at Aloha Manapua at all. I would say go check them out in person to see what they have, I don’t know if I would trust the inventory control in-person versus their online ordering system.

All in all, I think it’s a nice option to have in Manoa but it’s not the best Chinese food I’ve had.

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21Apr / 2025

Hello!

I apologize for the unscheduled vacation! I got super busy and then my dad fell ill and had to go to the hospital. The hospital visit turned into a week long stay and we had some scary moments there. I don’t know if I’ve shared before but my Dad is a stroke patient so we deal with reoccurrences sometimes. It’s really hard to gauge and I give the utmost credit to my step-mother who is his full-time caretaker.

I’ve had a distant relationship with my father for a long time. There’s nothing that happened or was done per say. If you are a product of immigrant parents, you might understand my plight…or not. It’s okay, everyone has layered relationships. I tried my best to hold strong during the visit, and stayed extended hours at his bedside to allow my step-mom a break.

I’m not one to be touchy feely with my father at all, but I held his hand a lot during this time. Just wanted him to know he had family who loves him by his side as he drifted in and out. He has been discharged and is at home now, with new medication that will hopefully help him further. Have a great week folks.

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04Apr / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Homemade Jjamppong (sorta)

Chan had a craving for jjamppong one day so I got the fresh packs at Hmart. I also bought an extra pack of noodles and a bag of frozen seafood mix. It was perfect! Really hit the spot. Probably could have been spicier for Chan – spice was good for me lol.

Lomi Salmon Dip

Sorry, I know that doesn’t look too appetizing but it is so delicious. My friend Arleen served it to us during a visit and I was like, please give me the recipe. She said it’s literally a container of lomi salmon and one block of cream cheese. LOL, can’t get easier than that. I was at Sam’s Club so I got 3/4 lb of lomi salmon from the seafood/poke bar and mixed it with one 8oz block of cream cheese. It was magical. Actually if you mix it and let it chill in the fridge overnight, even more magical. It tastes great with crackers – yum!

Shake my head and fist!

This young lady was weaving in and out of lanes on a drive of mine. Can you see what is wrong in this picture?? First of all, she has these humongous headphones on so there is no way she can pay attention to her surroundings. Secondly, she has her purse on her shoulder – how can you ride and not have those straps fall off? Third, you can’t see it but she was also holding an iced drink in her left hand and sipping it the whole time. And I guess fourth is she doesn’t have a helmet on but well, that’s her decision and her life at risk. *shaking my head* Have a nice weekend folks!

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02Apr / 2025

Ringer Hut – Ala Moana, HI

Quick post today! I already posted about Ringer Hut before so Chan and I do come here once in a while. See previous post here. It’s a good casual sit-down restaurant. The food and service is good and they bring out the food pretty fast!

5 pc Karaage | $10.00

Our favorite appetizer, these are huge pieces of chicken so I think it’s worth the $10.00 price tag! You might be tempted to get the 10 piece but don’t, the 5 piece is PLENTY. Moist and juicy with a wonderful crust, delicious!

Spicy Karamaro Champon | $19.50
spicy, tantanmen taste

Spicy Saraudon | $18.50

Do I regret getting the spicy version? A little bit. Don’t tell Chan. This has somehow become my go-to dish, though I think I would like to try their tempura don next time. It looks so good and they give huge pieces of tempura! This dish is like a Chinese crispy chow mein dish, slathered in thick gravy. Delicious!

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31Mar / 2025

Recipe: Filipino Garlic Fried Rice

Garlic Fried Rice and you got me, fully. But I came across this video on TikTok and watched as they fried up the garlic and then added a can of vienna sausages which they then smushed with a fork so it was little bits, add eggs and day old rice…top with some green onions and you’ve got yourself a beautiful Filipino Garlic Fried Rice! There’s not even a full recipe, I’ll post the ingredients I used below.

Did I tell you folks I started using pre-peeled garlic and a garlic press? Wow, never has my life been easier. The taste of the garlic is not compromised. I can’t finish a whole big bag of garlic so I just put it in the freezer and use it as I need it. Thaws out really quick! Sometimes I might use fresh garlic but generally, I just use the pre-peeled one! Just like this here! Brown in a hot pan on medium low heat to get a nice brown to the garlic (not burnt).

Add a can of drained vienna sausages and mash coarsely with a fork. (Don’t pay attention to my burnt garlic). Stir fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Add 2 eggs and stirfry together to create a quick scramble. No need to cook it too much…add the rice almost immediately!

Add some chopped green onions and season with salt and soy sauce to your liking. I thought the vienna sausage was plenty salty – it wasn’t. I also prefer a bit of spice so I used a lot of hot sauce as I ate it. Just a simple and flavorful fried rice!

Filipino Garlic Fried Rice

1 T neutral oil (avocado, corn, vegetable, etc.)
2 C day old rice (rice cooker cups, I used Jasmine)
1 can of vienna sausages, drained
5-6 cloved of garlic, minced
2 eggs, whisked/combined
1-2 stalks of green onions, sliced
Soy Sauce to taste
Salt to taste

Heat pan on medium to medium low heat, add neutral oil and garlic and slowly fry until garlic is fragrant and lightly toasted. Add vienna sausages to pan and immediately mash with a metal fork coarsely, fry for about a minute. Add eggs and create a quick scramble before adding all the rice. Mix it all together and stir fry about 2 minutes. Add green onions, soy sauce and salt to taste. Enjoy!

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28Mar / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Chicken Katsu Curry | $6.99

Don’t get to frequent 7-eleven too much now but was excited to see this on my last visit so I had to try it! Not going to be a good judge because I had to microwave it myself and timed it wrong so it was still kind of cold when I was eating it but was too lazy to continue heating it after I already opened it up. They have a transparent sheet that separates the chicken katsu from the curry that you pull out when you dig in. Interesting way to keep the chicken “crispy” but let’s be real, it’s not crispy when we are grabbing this from the fridge lol. This was okay but the chicken portion is small, would rather just go L&L to grab a freshly made one.

Homemade Udon Salad

Made a variation of the Japanese Udon Salad I usually make, linked above. Same concept, I just varied up the ingredients a bit! The biggest main stay for me is the goma dressing and fresh cilantro. Other than that, you can do whatever you like! I even made Japanese styled seasoned shiitake mushrooms for the first time. Yum!

Corned Beef

Happy Belated Saint Patrick’s Day! This kine food is more Chan’s style but we bought some corned beef so we made it the other week. Threw in some potatoes, cabbage and carrots. He sous-vide the beef and then we threw it in with the vegetables into his pressure cooker insta-pot. It was spewing things out like a volcano when I released the vent. I don’t use these contraptions like ever. Anyway, have a nice weekend!

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24Mar / 2025

Alii Fish Market – Moilili, HI

I’ve seen various social media posts about Alii Fish Market and even tried a bit of their poke at a party once but never got to experience it myself. Since last week was Spring Break, I was willing to venture off campus for lunch due to decreased traffic and better parking options when I return! Alii Fish Market is located in…and correct me if I’m wrong, old stadium mall? It’s the one with Kozo Sushi, Aloha Vietnamese Foods, Golden Eagle Chinese Restaurant. It used to house Sweet Home Cafe before it closed too…oh and Tori Ton! Anyway, Alii is nowhere you would expect but it’s definitely in the same lot…just more towards the Young Street side.

Well let me just say, why did it take so long for me to come here?? Oh my gosh. How good was it? I came two days in a row lol. I first came with my co-workers and got take out for lunch. The next day I was going to have lunch with Chan in downtown and offered to do a pick-up here for him and his colleagues and they all jumped at the chance. So yeah, get ready for a long post…but man the poke here is so fresh and their prices are crazy good. Support local folks! And!! When I came the first time, it was just us in the store and the staff were so so so nice to us. The chef kept giving us suggestions and let us try the different pokes…it was really nice. And like Aunty said, being nice matters!

Clockwise from top: Spicy Creamy Garlic Ahi x2 ($10, 1/2 lb each), Smoked Shoyu Ahi x 2 ($13, 1/2 lb each), Ginger Ahi ($10, 1/2 lb), Spicy Hawaiian ($10, 1/2 lb), and Limu Ahi ($10, 1/2 lb)

Spicy Lomi Ahi (1/2 lb) | $10.00

All the pokes are good, forreal. I actually bought the spicy creamy garlic ahi myself which goes very well with sushi rice (which they have!) and some Korean seasoned nori (which the chef gave us for free – he asked if we were eating now and gave it to us!). This is the spicy lomi ahi, this was very good too, my coworker was nice enough to share a taste with me. For the lomi version, they cut the ahi up more negi style, tastes great!!!

Filet A Fish Market Sandwich | $10.00
buttered bun, fresh fish katsu, takuan tartar sauce, cheddar, local tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise

I feel a bit bad because I am sharing two sandwiches which will probably not be in season when you read this. But hey, I HAD to share it. This fish sandwich was SOOO good. And I don’t know if you can tell but they give you two huge pieces of fish katsu. The takuan tartar sauce is good and different. I enjoyed it a lot! And $10?? Way worth it! If you see this on the menu and love this kind sandwich, GET IT.

Teri Ribeye Beef Sandwich | $12.00
buttered bun, cheddar, local sweet onions, tomato, lettuce, mayonnaise

Here is my sandwich on day 2 lol. Again, another sandwich you probably wouldn’t get but it was DELICIOUS. I’m not usually a teri beef kind of gal because it’s usually hard to chew but I was intrigued by ribeye. Well, I was not disappointed…it was delicious! Great flavor and the buttered bun, for both, you can definitely taste the butter. $12 is a great deal too!

Truffle Cheese Fries | $7.00

Good truffle flavor but a bit too greasy and oily for my taste. The fries come with sandwiches so it’s probably not on the menu unless they carry sandwiches again! I actually got the fries with the fish sandwich so I just felt like it was too much fried food for one meal you know?

Poke Yaki Onigiri – Spicy | $5.00

I didn’t get this but all the diners who got this raved about it…and it absolutely remains crispy even though it is sitting out under a heat lamp since it’s pre-made. They have poke inside that’s cooked but remains soft and melt-your-mout kine goodness. Recommend!

Unagi Musubi with Wasabi Aioli | $5.00

This is probably one of my all time favorites. The unagi is wonderfully seasoned and soft, not bony like it can be sometimes. Works so well with the wasabi aioli. This must be a popular one because it was completely sold out when I tried to get it the second day. I highly suggest you utilize their online ordering located on their website! Highly recommended!

AFM Fish Patty Musubi | $4.00

Another favorite of mine. The name and look of it, not too impressive right? Wrong. The fish patty is nicely seasoned, a little bit sweet and the fish patty is moist! Not pressed too hard, no bony bits…and no real filler. It’s the perfect size musubi, didn’t think I would like it this much but I do! Recommended!

Smoked Fried Noodles (10 oz) | $7.00

Good fried noodles but nothing special, and no particularly strong smoked taste either. Good enough to get since I enjoy noodles but again, nothing special.

Ahi Patties | $15.00
Add Sauce | $1.50

Chan got this pack to share with everyone and I got to try a patty. I mean, you can’t really go wrong with it’s smothered in sauce right? But I suspect this is the same patty they use in the musubi so I think it would be good either way but don’t quote me on that.

I didn’t get a picture but got to try the Sesame Garlic Fried Ahi Belly, that was just okay. They bread it and fry it up and then smother it in sauce (imagine Zippy’s Korean Fried Chicken) so to me…it was just okay. The ahi was dry and a bit of a chew which I don’t equate to how belly should taste. I would pass on that one.

All in all, Alii is winnahs! I would definitely return, their hours are a bit hard for me to…10AM – 3PM everyday but Tuesdays (closed). When you’re there, make sure you check out the snacks and sides in the cases! I got a container of chili garlic peanuts which our friends seemed to enjoy a lot!

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21Mar / 2025

Mixed Plate Friday

Just wanted to share a picture of a beautiful sunset when I had dinner at the Kahala Hotel & Resort. I ran out onto the beach to grab some shots before the sun went down.

Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

This is one of my favorite all time pasta dishes. Very simple dish with minimal ingredients; buttload of garlic sliced thin, dried red peppers (we used red pepper flakes), fresh parsley and of course a lot of olive oil. Such a good dish…Chan and I enjoyed it! Thank you for making it lol.

Sushi Robot | Breakfast Bento | $6.00

I talked about Sushi Robot in previous posts, but this was the most recent one. It used to be $5 and I was surprised when the cashier told me $6.00 last week lol. They don’t put prices up or anything but I’ll just have to guess that inflation and egg prices got to them. Still a good deal!

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19Mar / 2025

Thai Issan Cuisine II – Moilili, HI

Chan and I had a lazy weekend and decided to order in from Thai Issan Cuisine II! I’ll try to post the prices at the restaurant because we probably paid way more for delivery. First time trying this restaurant and it was really good even though it was delivered! I had a hankering for Thai food and am glad Chan agreed to it lol. Okay, I just tried to find the prices on their website but two of our dishes aren’t even on their main menu? That’s so odd. So here are the Uber Eats prices!

Thai Stuffed Chicken Wings | $19.95
deboned chicken wing stuffed w/mushrooms, carrots, long rice, chicken and spices fried until golden brown. served w/sweet chili.

Any dish that I cannot or will not make automatically get a yes from me. I will not be deboning chicken wings and stuffing them and then deep frying them. These were delicious and pairs very well with the sweet chili sauce. Yum!

White Rice | $4.50

LOL. Crazy price but it’s delivery. Chan and I shared one order.

Lemongrass Pork Belly | $21.95

This dish is not on their menu in the restaurant. What? I don’t know why. The dish tasted fine but I couldn’t taste a lick of lemongrass on the pork at all. That was disappointing and I think some pieces could have used a bit better balance of meat and fat.

Ribeye with Crack Sauce | $24.95

Oh yum! Okay, very good dish and the crack sauce was really good. Steak is basically medium well/well but still tasted good cause it was tender and had enough fat to keep it juicy. The sauce is what makes it, I already found the recipe for the sauce so I guess I can just make this myself in the future!

All in all, it was a good meal! Chan really enjoyed it too.

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