15Mar / 2014

Recipe: Natto Pizza

All the talk on Jalna’s blog about natto got me to bust out this recipe again. I wanted to show her another option for eating natto – not sure if it will work for her but anything’s worth a shot after her recent post about natto and its amazing health properties! Not much ingredients here, I’ll show you folks the pictures and credit the youtube video I learned it from!

Natto Pizza! You can use naan or pita bread. Spread on some mayonnaise and wasabi (optional). Mix up your natto as you normally would, since the natto usually comes with it’s own sauce and mustard – I used that and don’t add wasabi to the mayonnaise. Add the natto and sprinkle on whatever cheese you like!

I throw it in a toaster oven and let it toast for about 8-10 minutes. You are really just wanting it to warm through a bit and have the cheese melt…

Sprinkle nori right after the toaster oven and slice up your mini natto pizza and be ready to eat!

Yummy…give it a try! It doesn’t mask the natto in any way for those are looking to get away from the slimy-ness of the natto. I don’t think you can ever! Anyhow, I thought this was a creative way to eat natto – it’s good to play around with different recipes so you don’t get bored of the same preparation.

Recipe Credit: ezjapanesecooking on YouTube (awesome channel – I really miss his updates, he did some great and simple Japanese recipes)

Post Views: 5,069

Permalink 2 Comments

14Mar / 2014

Yajima-Ya – Honolulu, HI

I ran an errand in Ala Moana recently and finally got to try Yajima-Ya food truck! I was very curious about where this place was and if it was on the same lot as the Yajima service station. I also wonder if it’s affiliated with the actual service station or if it’s just taking advantage of the name recognition? Well I found the truck and it’s located in the back behind Hinone Mizunone in it’s own little lot. It shares a lot with another food truck, there are about three parking stalls fronting the trucks as well. I had the pleasure of struggling to back out of the lot into the busy two lane road and realize I was gassing it with my brake on. Good job Jenny. Anyhoo! I came here to try their food and had to try their signature, Mushroom Chicken! Check it out!

Yajima-Ya Menu as of February 2014

Here is the mushroom chicken on a bed of rice, spinach salad and a potato salad

Close-up of the chicken – nice and tender pieces of chicken

The glorious mushroom gravy slathered on. Look at the huge chunks of mushrooms. Thank you for using fresh mushrooms! The details as I say, always count. Super nice Japanese man runs the line – they pack up the gravy in its own container separate from the plate. No leaky plate! So what did I think? I thought it was good! A little salty since the chicken tasted seasoned and the gravy is of course salty so maybe you could use some of the gravy first and adjust according to taste. Give them a try!

Post Views: 3,031

Permalink Leave a comment

13Mar / 2014

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers – Fish Sandwich

Hey folks. Just a quick update of a sandwich I got from Teddy’s. I went to a burger joint but felt like fish so that’s what I got! Check out the pictures.

The usual toppings they place on the beef burgers

Two great pieces of fish! I’m pretty sure this was cod…the sandwich was really good!

Post Views: 2,139

Permalink Leave a comment

12Mar / 2014

Recipe: Angel Hair with Tomatoes, Peas and Basil

I played around with a recipe this past week and came up with this dish! I’m very happy I did because it tastes delicious! And other than the dab of mayonnaise you throw in to make it creamy, it is very good for you! Let me share the pictures first:

Doesn’t that look good? I tried to make it look good for a picture, I need to wipe the sides off better next time, lol.

I used three roma tomatoes and two pints of grape tomatoes

Me and my crazy garlic again, I used a whole bulb

My basil was a bit wilted in the fridge but they tasted fine! I sliced up 20 basil leaves for this recipe

Angel Hair Pasta – cooked just below al dente since you heat it up in the sauce too

Frozen green peas, it can be left frozen even up until cooking

Heat up some good olive oil and saute the garlic

Add the tomatoes

Once the tomatoes release some liquid, add the basil

As the mixture cooks down, more liquid comes out. I added about 1/4 cup of mayonnaise to this to make it creamier

Add the peas in just as the sauce is done. You don’t want to overcook the peas so add it at the end to just warm them up

Here it is! Finished! And so delicious. I added salt and pepper to taste and then added a mozzarella and parmesan shredded cheese right before consumption.

Angel Hair with Tomatoes, Peas and Basil

Ingredients:

1 lb. Angel Hair Pasta (I used Barilla brand)
1 bulb of Garlic, minced
3 T Olive Oil
3 Roma Tomatoes, chopped
2 pints Grape Tomatoes, sliced
20 Basil Leaves, julienned
1 package of Frozen Peas

1 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Pepper
1/4 C of Mayonnaise
Mozzarella/Parmesan Cheese according to your taste

Heat up the olive oil in a big skillet, add the garlic to saute. Once the garlic has browned for about a minute, add all the tomatoes. Once the tomatoes has cooked down a bit and released liquid, add in the basil and mix it together. Lower to medium heat and continue simmering. Once the mixture has released enough liquid to become a sauce (about 5 minutes), add the mayonnaise to thicken the sauce. Add the frozen peas and simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning according to your taste.

Turn off the heat. Add the noodles in and mix it up. Sprinkle cheese on top as you serve the dish. Enjoy!

Post Views: 2,762

Permalink 3 Comments

11Mar / 2014

Nature Republic – Peeling Foot Mask

This is the opposite of a food post. Any guys who read this post can go ahead and ignore this post but if you are interested in magic, read on! Hahaha. So I love the new Nature Republic store, it’s another Korean cosmetics company that is now in Hawaii. I think I enjoy their products more than Face Shop for what that’s worth. Anyhow, the store I like to go to is the Ala Moana location, it’s right next to Center Stage…I think it took over the Cathedral store.

The Lemon peeling foot mask instructs you to put on the plastic booties that have a water liquid in it. You leave it on for 60-90 minutes. I left it on for 90 minutes because my feet are BAD. Can you walk around with it? I say yes you can, but I would limit that. I didn’t want to puncture the booties and the liquid in the socks are really like water so easily to come out. After you keep them on for the 60-90 minutes, you rinse it off and go about your life. According to the package, your feet will start to peel in 4 days and continues up to 7 days after use.

I was super skeptical about it, who wouldn’t be?? Why does it start peeling after 4 days? Did they mean I have to use this 4 days straight?? Well the answer is, no you don’t use it for 4 days straight and yes, IT DID START PEELING AFTER 4 DAYS. It’s super weird to witness. My feet really looked the same for the first few days. Then 4th day, boom – peeling! I showed some coworkers the day after and they both said gross so like of course I didn’t wanna take pictures to show. They did say, while they thought it gross…they meant it in a good way cause they were surprised by it too!

It doesn’t hurt at all. Believe me. And underneath the peeling comes some nice baby skin. So it peels around your toes, and the entire bottom of your feet and heels. I really suggest you give it a try, it’s so cool. The bad thing? Your feet are peeling…so yeah…they are peeling, I think you can picture that.

This mask costs $5.90 – what a steal! I’ve seen similar ones at Don Quijote and they cost like nearly $20.

Post Views: 4,431

Permalink 2 Comments

10Mar / 2014

Homemade Korean Goodies

Hey folks. As I write this, I am at home hacking up a storm. I am coughing and my nose is like a dripping faucet. Sorry for the TMI – so while my brain is somewhat lucid, I don’t think my coworkers would appreciate me spreading germs at work. Yesterday was definitely the worst of it, I must have slept all day. I hope that today is the end to the worst of it. Hope you all are doing well! I heard the flu is going around so take care of yourself! Luckily, I think I only have a cold. Anyway, I wanted to share some banchan I got to try from my friend. This stuff was brought straight from Korea (don’t ask me how) from her in-laws. How lucky am I to get to try it? Very!

Here is the kimchee. Um. If you know me at all, you’ll know that I am a kimchee freak. I couldn’t really eat this. It was already very old and sour…and I think if you eat it, you will have to make it into some kind of pork stirfry or stew. I hope the kimchee is still good, I still have it but haven’t been able to eat it!

Garlic! Check this out. My friend said that they use specially bought garlic…which are huge…and DELICIOUS. I don’t know how they made this but it had no raw taste! It was very crunchy and delicious. And how did they find garlic without the inner root?? Oh wait, do I just use junk garlic? Hehe…anyone know what this garlic is called in Korean?

Post Views: 2,095

Permalink 2 Comments

09Mar / 2014

Papa Ole’s – Hauula, HI

The first time I heard about Papa Ole’s was from Lance, a reader of this blog! Thanks for sharing Lance! After his suggestion, I saw it pop up on my yelp feed and the pictures had me salivating. I. had. to. go. And go I did. I went a few weeks ago for the first time with some family. It was a great ride out there and the staff were very friendly. We ordered a pulehu ribs plate and a shrimp plate to share. It was not even 11 am on a Sunday morning and we already snatched up the last pulehu ribs plate, I couldn’t believe it! Here’s my sad part of the story, the ribs were SALTY. Like crazy salty. I could pick off grains salt to create a mountain if I wanted to…but the meat. Oh the meat, it was so good. Thick cut ribs…cooked medium rare – oh so tender and good. It was hard to get past the salt. I figured since we got the last plate, we had the saltiest bunch.

Well, I had to drive out to Laie this week for a meeting and I suggested to my coworkers to eat at Papa Ole’s and we did. Everyone got the pulehu ribs and sorry but it was so salty again! Don’t get me wrong, I know when you get anything pulehu or pipikaula style, it’s going to be salty but this is beyond what I can handle. One of my coworkers actually got a combo kalbi and pulehu plate and let us try a piece of the kalbi. The kalbi was very good. The seasoning was on point and they served it thick cut like the pulehu…unfortunately they also also cooked them to like a crisp. Even though it was cooked way over, the meat was fortunately still tender. I think if I do return, I would ask for the kalbi ribs done medium rare. Sorry for all the text, let’s get to the pics!

Let the rooster greet you. He just walks around like he owns the place. Pretty smart if you ask me, that’s some good crumbs he’s getting!

Portuguese Eggs and Rice Plate – $9.00
For the kids and it comes with toast too! I think this is overpriced so I wouldn’t get it again.

Sauteed Shrimp Plate – $12.00
This is like shrimp scampi style, a little bit creamy – pretty good!

Pulehu Ribs Plate – $12.00
Look at that meat, how can one resist? The ratings are crazy high on Yelp so maybe you need to try these yourself to see if you like it!

Pulehu and Kalbi Ribs Combination Plate – $12.00
My coworker couldn’t decide between the two so they said they can put both on the plate and charged the same price! Glad they did, I got to try the Kalbi!

Pulehu Ribs View

Kalbi Ribs View – it wasn’t too charred on this side but when we turned it over…it was completely black!

This is the size of their mini Pulehu Ribs plate. Great deal for $7.50, comes with 3 ribs!

Another thing – the first time I came here they asked if I wanted mac or green salad. We decided to get one of each. This past time, they didn’t ask us which we wanted so we got mac. I totally forgot about that and wish they had. The green salad and dressing is delicious and honestly, you should eat the greens to offset the ribs a bit. So just wanted to let you folks know about the green salad option! In case you don’t know, Papa Ole’s is located in the same shopping center as Longs Drugs and Tamura’s.

A picture from my first drive over…have a good one guys!

Post Views: 2,865

Permalink 2 Comments

08Mar / 2014

Pho Thinh – Moilili, HI

I’ve mentioned on my blog before that I enjoy Pho Bistro 2 and also mentioned that I enjoy Pho Thinh. I am now here to some pictures at a recent meal! They serve this dish called Bun Rieu which is a Crab Noodle Soup. It is so delicious! I took my three brothers one Saturday afternoon and it was a great meal. Kids love pho, did you know? Anyhow, the staff is great there and everything is so CLEAN. You gotta check it out, everything is obsessively clean and everything tastes great. Here are my pictures.

Doesn’t that look great? Shrimp and Crab…awesome!

Here are the veggies that come with it. It comes with raw bean sprouts and the greens are sliced ong choi stems. It also comes with lemon and sliced peppers. I throw the ong choi right into the soup right away so it can cook a bit – it’s great because it maintains its crunch!

Everything goes so well together. Tomatoes, fried tofu, noodles, green onions, shrimp and crab. It looks spicy but it really isn’t!

Ah what a perfect post for a rainy day…

Post Views: 4,251

Permalink 6 Comments

07Mar / 2014

Agu Ramen Part 3

Yes, another visit to Agu Ramen! This is going to be my last visit for a while. Oh wait, I may have to take that back. I heard they started serving a extended appetizer menu! I don’t know if it’s worth another visit for a while still…

Kotteri Tonkotsu – you see all that black liquid? That’s all oil. Yeah…it’s covered in oil. It was too much. The flavor was all right and I still like the noodles they serve but I wasn’t a fan of this bowl. I think if I do return, I’ll have to try their Jidori version since it’s supposed to be healthier for you.

Part 1
Part 2

Post Views: 3,108

Permalink 4 Comments

06Mar / 2014

Asahi Grill – Honolulu, HI

You folks remember Kam Bowl? I wish I was old enough to grab food all the time when this was still open. They of course had the famous Kapiolani Coffee Shop Oxtail Soup and other good stuff. All bowling alleys seem to have the best food yeah? Luckily, the Oxtail Soup is still alive and well in various shops like Asahi Grill! It’s a great dish but I gotta be honest about something. The last time I got a bowl of this stuff – I found a piece of hair in it. I was really disgusted because it showed they don’t wear hair nets and also meant that it was stewing in the pot with the rest of the soup. Sorry! I know that’s sick but that was just my experience. I think I will work my way back to eating this one day…just not yet.

My cousin’s oxtail soup (lol…sorry Tony!). It’s still a great soup and I love that they are generous with the cilantro.

Here is my Chicken Katsu Curry. I also like their regular fried rice…yummmm…comfort food.

Post Views: 2,154

Permalink 2 Comments

← Older posts Newer posts →

maybeitsjenny

Monthly Archives: March 2014

Recipe: Natto Pizza

Yajima-Ya – Honolulu, HI

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers – Fish Sandwich

Recipe: Angel Hair with Tomatoes, Peas and Basil

Nature Republic – Peeling Foot Mask

Homemade Korean Goodies

Papa Ole’s – Hauula, HI

Pho Thinh – Moilili, HI

Agu Ramen Part 3

Asahi Grill – Honolulu, HI