Archive | October 2025

T&L Market – Kalihi, HI

Oct20

I risked my life driving in a very unfamiliar part of Kalihi for this post. Yes, I was influenced yet again by Yelp and social media. Heard about T&L Market and their Saturday Huli Huli chicken special. Small mom and pop shop that huli’s whole chickens every Saturday. People seems to be big fans of the chicken and the dipping sauce so I had to try it!

Laotian Huli Huli Chicken | $25.00 (whole chicken)

Yes, you read that price right. Pricey but I really wanted to give this place a try especially since it is a local mom and pop. So how was it? Well…there’s nothing special about this chicken. There’s supposed to be a lemongrass seasoning to it, didn’t taste that. The breast meat was a bit dry and tough and the dipping sauce was like a chili vinegar dipping sauce. Nothing special honestly. I could buy my Costco rotisserie chicken and make my favorite crying tiger sauce. I’ll try to post the recipe to that sauce one day.

They do serve it with a little brick of sticky rice so if you like that, you’re in for a treat. In the end, I am glad to have tried it but didn’t think it was worth $25 and probably wouldn’t buy it again.

Chicken Bento | $10.00 (around)

I wasn’t sure what the chicken came with so I got this bento to try too. Since the chicken did come with rice, I let my brother eat this. He ate it up – I think this was a good price for the portion you get. The fried chicken was a nice big thigh piece. He said the fried chicken tasted like Genki Sushi’s chicken karaage which sounds like winners to me. The spam slice was “tick” too. Good deal. They have basically NO parking so I can’t find myself returning anytime soon. Nice to have tried.

Spam Musubi Rating:

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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.

Spam Musubi Rating:

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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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