Mixed Plate Friday

Oct10

Fat Pig Fried Rice | $10.95
bacon, kalua pig, portuguese sausage, scrambled egg

Had a quick breakfast at Yogurstory and you can’t go wrong with the fat pig fried rice. I must be getting old because oh man was this dish salty. I really prefer blander foods now other than spicy (ha!). It was very good but I always forget how the dish comes and find myself asking where the portuguese sausage is. It’s just chopped up as part of the fried rice! Duh! Anyway, good dish but like I said…salty and probably get MSG.

Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti | $14.25
including 2 pc garlic bread

Mini Cold Ginger Chicken (all rice) | $9.89

Back at Lucky Box Restaurant again – can’t go wrong with their food. Tried a new dish this time, the garlic shrimp spaghetti. How was it? Good. It’s just garlic shrimp scampi on spaghetti noodles and well, the noodles are a bit bloated because I think they pre-cook it and just throw it into hot water again to warm them up for orders, so yeah…not at all al dente. That’s okay with me though, I like noodles in all shapes, sizes and textures. The garlic shrimp tasted good. And the cold ginger chicken? Well nothing new there, still good as always. I think I like their cold ginger sauce the most of all that I’ve tried. I am pretty sure they add garlic to it too which makes it lip smacking good. Love it!

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Recipe: Crispy Chow Mein with Shrimp Egg Swirl

Oct8

I’m always on a look-out for recipes during the week that I can meal prep during the weekend for the next week’s lunches. It’s hard because I want to cook something I won’t get tired of eating 4 days in a row. I think I found a winner recipe this week! It’s super easy to make and I have almost all the ingredients at home already! I would definitely make this again. I’ll type out the modified recipe before but I will also give credit to the original recipe below!

Crispy Chow Mein with Shrimp Egg Swirl

Ingredients
1 pound shrimp, deveined deshelled
1 bulb of garlic, minced
4 pounds chow mein noodles (I used the fresh Sun Noodle Chow Mein noodles)
4 tablespoons avocado oil divided
2 bunches choy sum, cut into 2 inch pieces
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons cool water
4 eggs

For the Marinade
Pinch Kosher salt
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper plus more for garnish
2 teaspoon Shaohsing wine

For the Sauce
2 cans chicken broth
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil.

In a small bowl, marinate shrimp with pinch salt, ½ teaspoon cornstarch, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, shaohsing wine. Set aside.

In another small bowl, lightly beat eggs.

In another small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in cool water to make a slurry.

Blanch the noodles in the boiling water for 30-60 seconds. Drain well.

In a large frying pan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons avocado oil. Add noodles and pan fry for about 2-5 minutes until golden brown. Flip and fry the other side, adding another tablespoon of oil along the side of the pan. Remove the noodles onto a serving platter and set aside. (I didn’t pan fry my noodles – you can do this step if you want to!)

Add another tablespoon oil and add shrimp. Cook 1-2 minutes until almost cooked through. Add garlic and stirfry for another minute.

Add broth and vegetables. Let broth come to a low simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Stir in slurry. Add the slurry to the sauce and stir until thickened.

Gently pour beaten eggs in a slow stream to create a ribbon. Stir gently. Turn off the heat.

Scoop mixture over the noodles. Garnish with a pinch of ground white pepper.

Full Recipe Credit: https://flolum.com/crispy-chow-mein-with-shrimp-egg-swirl/

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Local Boy Sushi – Kaneohe, HI

Oct6

Chan and I’s yearly pilgrimage to Kaneohe to lay flowers for my mother’s memorial day. I appreciate Chan taking time off to come out with me, it’s a nice chill day. We headed to Koolau Times for flowers and I kept looking at the DMV in that lot and remarking how I’ve never seen a more empty DMV. Chan remarked that he’s actually due to renew his driver’s license so on a whim, we decided to go inside and check it out with no appointment. Let me tell you, it was a breeze. The worker warned that anyone who had an appointment would be taken in front of Chan and we said that was fine. Chan was pau with his renewal within like 30 minutes and this was without an appointment. That was crazy awesome!

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to try Local Boy Sushi for a while now and were both STARVING by the time we were pau with the Kaneohe visit and some errands. We were the only customers there at first and then a whole bunch of folks came after! They make the order fresh so be prepared to wait for a bit since it’s a small operation. All in all, I’m glad to have tried it but think I won’t go again. The sushi was alright, nothing special.

Salmon Pack | $17.00
5 pc salmon nigiri, 5 pc smoked salmon

I was craving some salmon this day and this hit the spot. My favorite was the fresh salmon nigiri. The smoked salmon sushi is like…tuna-fied smoked salmon. How do I explain that? Like a salmon dip mixed with corn on top of a sushi. Was a bit odd but also good?

Lava Roll | $14.00
shrimp tempura with avocado, spicy ahi, sweet chili, unagi sauce, green onions

Another good roll! Can’t lose with shrimp tempura smothered with spicy ahi. It was good!

Spicy Pack | $16.00
10 pc spicy ahi

I am a fiend for spicy ahi or spicy tuna. They do it pretty good, nothing special though. I used to love the genki sushi spicy tuna – I haven’t been there long time so I can’t comment on if it is good anymore. I think they drizzled unagi sauce on this too – not sure if that’s needed.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Oct3

Alii Fish Market Weekend Special | Crispy Mochi Mahi Mahi w/Smoked Tsuyu Cold Soba & Spicy Ahi “Lava” Poke | $21.00
cold soba, smoked tsuyu, mari’s garden green salad w/yuzu vinaigrette, “spicy lava sauce,” sumida farms watercress namul

Alii was having this as a special the other weekend and my brother generously treated me to lunch. We placed the order and headed in after doing an errand, they quoted a 30 minute cook time. It took an hour. The parking lot is also horrendous especially during the weekend. If you are pre-ordering easy stuff like musubis/onigiris and just poke – I’m sure your order will be ready quick. If you order a special, I would set aside extra time before heading in to grab it. I don’t think I want to return on a weekend anytime soon.

Oh! And the food! It was good, not great. The mochi mahi mahi was already soggy when I ate it. The tsuyu wasn’t super smoky, nothing I noticed extra. It’s a good plate though, glad I tried it.

Chili Cheese Fries

Mini Cold Ginger Chicken (all rice)

Mini Chicken Katsu Curry

Mini Loco Moco

Everyone keeps raving about the L&L Hawaiian Barbecue at the Manoa Marketplace (when did they stop calling themselves L&L Drive Inn??) so I decided to give it a try. I’ve tried it a few times because thankfully UH has restarted their shuttle service to the Astronomy lot which is behind the marketplace. I can do some farmers market shopping and grab my lunch here. It’s funny because we have L&L Drive Inn on-campus which offers in-app ordering which I like, this location does not allow for app ordering. The one on campus does not serve the full menu so it’s nice to have one near by that does. The yelp reviews are right, the woman up front is very friendly. All the dishes I got were good! I can’t taste the difference between the two locations but I’ll continue coming here anyway.

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Okdongsik – Ala Moana, HI

Sep29

Okdongsik is a new restaurant in the new Renaissance Hotel across from Ala Moana. They specialize in dweji-gomtang which is basically a clear pork broth with thin slices of pork and rice. Chan and I have been waiting to try this place since they opened but wanted to wait until the hoopla died down. The best reason? His credit card recently started covering some dining credits and this restaurant is part of it! They are definitely still busy but you can make reservations on Resy so I highly recommend that.

Diet Coke | $3.00

This is just funny to me because I call everyone bro. People at work? Bro? Chan? Bro? My brothers? Bro. Just felt like fate.

Ok Donggeurangttaeng | $5.00
meaty seafood cake, lightly seasoned with soy sauce

This was good! It has the texture of a fishcake patty – very nicely seasoned and it is pretty meaty. Pretty good price for $5.00. I would get this again!

Lard Donkatsu | $21.00
pork loin cutlet with cabbage salad, pickled pepper, soup and rice
Limited to 40 servings daily

This was just alright. They are doing a good job selling it as limited supply and frying it with lard. Didn’t taste much of a different in the frying method. It is nice and crunchy but the pork inside is a bit dry. It was good, not great. Just realized they have shrimp tempura too, maybe we can try that next time but it might not be available as a stand-alone, looks like it has to be an add-on to this donkatsu. Not sure yet.

Dweji-Gomtang | $18.00
clean and savory pork broth with abundant vegetal aromas. served with rice, sliced pork, geotjeori (kimchi), and gochu-ji.

Star (?) of the show. Was it really? I don’t know. I wasn’t that impressed. It was a nice comforting rice soup dish but is it worth $18.00? It’s a pretty poor showing of pork slices. Too much broth and too big of a bowl makes it hard to eat it too. It was good but once again, not great. Their menu is pretty limited and this is one of the only main entrees so if this not your thing, no come.

Soup Spoon Shot!

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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep26

Spicy Peanuts | $17.69

I thought I planned out the perfect Costco trip. I took my car in to get my tires rotated and they gave me a 1.5 – 2 hour time frame. I sat in the food court and read my book for a little bit, then as the last hour crept up, I went in to order my contacts and then do my shopping. Well, I certainly took my time walking the aisles this day. It was also crazy that it was way busier at 3 something than at 5 something. What? Are people not working? Anyway, long shopping trip means I buy stuff I don’t need. This is one of the things…but it’s good! It comes with 3 medium sized packs inside! Kind of spicy – it has like a mala flavor. Oh by the way, it took almost 3 hours for my car to be done. It’s complete madness.

Honolulu Okazuya Company Kettled Cooked Products

I saw these in the frozen section of Don Quijote the other week. Have any of you tried this? I was quite intrigued. Get “naporitan” pasta, teriyaki yaki-udon and yakisoba noodle. These are all fully cooked, just heat and eat kine. It says they are all small batch and kettle cooked – just throw the whole bag in boiling water for 20(!) minutes and then you can serve it up. I wonder how it is. and don’t let the name fool you, it’s actually a Japanese company.

Tangle Garlic Oil Pasta

Yes, the continuing saga. I got the garlic oil version as a cup noodle and tried it at work. It was better than the bulgogi flavor but not great. I followed instructions for water measurement and placed it in the microwave – it completely overflowed into the microwave enough though I barely had water inside. It was okay but not great.

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Recipe: One Pan Caramelized Onion Pasta

Sep24

Chan loves onions so when I saw this recipe for a one-pan caramelized onion pasta – I had to make it!! I don’t know how you folks cook but when I follow someone else’s recipes – I follow it to a T in the beginning. After the first try, I will then know what tweaks I need to do to make it better. Chan’s comment was that there was something a bit off about this dish, when I told him I squeezed an entire lemon into it – he realized that’s what it was. He added a bit of MSG afterwards and liked it. I liked it with and without the MSG – I like that it is a very savory dish and I didn’t miss not having meat in it. It’s a very easy dish to make other than cutting up like 5 onions…the onions and garlic roasts up very nice in the oven for the hour.

Look at all those onions…yes, I cried

Onions with the bulb of garlic and seasonings ready for the oven…

Out of the oven after an hour (stirred it around 30 minutes in)…doesn’t that look great??

One Pan Caramelized Onion Pasta

Ingredients
5 small yellow onions sliced, or 3 large
1 head garlic top sliced off
½ cup sun dried tomatoes chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp dried parsley
½ cup coconut milk
3 cups farfalle pasta cooked
1 handful fresh parsley chopped
1 handful fresh basil chopped
1 lemon juiced


Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400F.

To a casserole dish, add the onions, sun dried tomatoes, paprika, salt, pepper and dried parsley.
Toss, and then place the whole garlic head in the middle. Drizzle the entire dish with olive oil or the leftover sun dried tomato oil, cover with foil, and then pop in the oven for 1 hour, tossing halfway through. The onions should be caramelized by the time it comes out of the oven.

About 20 minutes before the casserole dish is done, prepare the pasta according to package directions, reserving up to a cup of pasta water.

Remove the garlic from the casserole dish, and when safe to handle, squeeze out the cloves. Add the fresh parsley, basil, lemon juice and coconut milk, along with the cooked pasta and pasta water as needed. Stir and enjoy!

Full Recipe Credit: plantyou

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Mariposa – Ala Moana, HI

Sep22

A delayed birthday celebration but no less special. Chan took me to Mariposa for my birthday dinner and I was quite excited! Mariposa is located in Neiman Marcus and from Friday-Sunday, they have a sunset lounge menu and that’s the only menu you can order from. It’s okay, I could have ordered from either menu and have been happy!

Complimentary Popover with Strawberry Butter

I believe they used to only serve the popovers with their lunch menu but I am happy to report they served it to us at dinner. Am I the only one? I don’t see the big deal with these popovers and everytime I get them, they seem to be raw in the middle. Not a huge fan, I wouldn’t mind just some plain bread. Sorry to be a party pooper. The strawberry jam butter is nice but also nothing special.

Truffle Fries | $18.00
parmesan cheese, rosemary aioli, chives

These fries were it man. So good, fried perfectly and nicely seasoned. The aioli to me is a bit much since the fries are already rich. The ketchup is a good accompaniment to cut into the richness of the cheese, truffle and fried potato! Would order this again.

Braised Pork Belly & Scallops | $26.00
island watercress, lilikoi brown butter, pickled onions

Good, not great. The watercress was awful, super bitter and pretty old looking. Some sad greens. The braised pork was good and the scallops were great! Glad I tried it, probably wouldn’t order it again.

Lion’s Mane Mushroom Bruschetta | $24.00
sauteed “super food” mushrooms, brandy green peppercorn sauce, grilled bread, truffle whipped cream

Big disappointment. And you know what? I got myself mixed up, I thought it was going to be the same lion’s head mushroom I got in Korea, I read it wrong. This dish certainly SOUNDS good but it wasn’t. There was something very sour about this dish, not sour as in gone bad but just a sour taste. It wasn’t good. Do not order this.

Lobster Fra Diavolo | $44.00
maine lobster meat, spicy pomodoro sauce, spaghetti pasta

Our main dish! Chan and I split this pasta so this is my serving of it. They offered to split it into two plates and me being the good Chinese girlfriend I am – I asked if there was a charge for that (there isn’t!). This was a delicious dish. I love pasta and love seafood so I knew we couldn’t go wrong. I probably could have downed the entire entree myself, don’t tell Chan.

While we were stuffed with this dinner, I was surprised they didn’t serve a complimentary dessert since we booked it as a birthday reservation. It looks like they used to but we didn’t get anything. It’s okay, the waitress we had was very good so it was a nice dinner.

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Mixed Plate Friday

Sep19

Tangle Bulgogi Alfredo Pasta

This is the newest trend in instant noodles from Korea. It’s pasta but not really cause it looked like ramen noodles to me lol. And man I should have known since it said alfredo that due to my previous experience (anything cheesy or creamy in Korean cuisine is sweet), it was sweet. I did not enjoy it. I also added the exact amount of water they told me to add and it came out as like a soup and not like a pasta dish. They tout high protein in these noodles and get other flavors too, give it a try! They sell it at Don Quijote.

Another trend I saw on TikTok – just combining Kraft Mac and Cheese and Shin Ramyun. I didn’t realize I was making this an instant noodle mixed plate today. But yeah, I bought this mac and cheese thing just to try it.

It was definitely better than I expected but you could just make a regular shin ramyun and add sliced cheese on top. I used to put Kraft’s American Cheese on top – that was good and similar to this.

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Recipe: Banana Bread Mochi

Sep17

I love banana bread and mochi so why not combine them? I found this recipe on TikTok and was crazy curious about it. It came out good! It tastes like banana bread but not…it has the taste of banana bread but not the texture because well, it uses mochiko! The office enjoyed it and the entire pan was destroyed. 🙂 Recipe credit below!

Banana Bread Mochi

  • 4 large, very ripe bananas (I used 5)
  • 3 eggs, room temperature
  • ½ cup salted butter, melted 1 stick
  • 1¼ cup dark brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 16 oz Mochiko flour (sweet rice flour) generally 1 box
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt

Instructions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add your ripe bananas and mash. *Note: I prefer when there are still some clumps in your banana mash because it creates small pockets of concentrated banana flavor and helps your mochi stay moist.
  3. Add the rest of your wet ingredients – the eggs, melted butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and whole milk.
  4. Whisk your wet ingredients until well incorporated and set aside.
  5. In a medium mixing bowl, add your dry ingredients – the Mochiko flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  6. Mix until combined.
  7. Add your dry ingredients to your wet ingredients in batches – add in about 1/3 of your flour mixture to your large mixing bowl, whisk to help incorporate, add the second 1/3 of your flour mixture, whisk to incorporate, and then repeat for the last 1/3 of your flour mixture.
  8. Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan and pour your mochi mixture in.
  9. Place in the oven for about 45 to 50 minutes or until the top of your mochi is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. *Note: Avoid over baking by keeping an eye on your mochi intermittently, and pull the pan from the oven as soon as your mochi turns golden brown.

Notes:

  • I used 5 bananas because I had 5 bananas haha
  • I added the mashed bananas at the very end (right before pouring batter into the pan) and folded them in so I could keep the lumps.
  • I add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in 2-3 batches.
  • Did not grease the pan, I also used a glass pan
  • Mine was done at 50 minutes

Full Recipe Credit: Kristi’s Kitchen

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