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Main Course Recipes

Char Siu Experiment, Hoisin Pork Results

Last week I posted a one-off with a photo of some char siu chicken legs we had in Kauai. I don't know what the secret to char siu is aside from the red food coloring, but I'm determined to crack it. I went to Uwajimaya yesterday to check out the jarred and packet marinades and see what was in those, but the plan was to make the marinade myself. So, while some Chowhounders said there's no way a restaurant uses ketchup and hoisin, an old recipe in the Honolulu Star Bulletin said different.
March 12, 201220Comments

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Main Course Travel

Eat Local: Hamura Saimin in Lihue

There's almost nothing more comforting than a bowl of noodles. No matter what country it comes from -- China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Italy, heck, even America -- noodles fill your belly and soothe the soul. So it should be no surprise that after a 6-hour flight from Seattle to Kauai, our first stop was Hamura Saimin in Lihue.
March 11, 20120Comments

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Restaurants Travel

Food Truck Alert: Pat’s Taqueria in Hanalei, HI

I'm usually a rigorous researcher before a vacation, so at least I have ideas for things to do and places to eat in between chilling out and reading books under swaying palm fronds. But for this trip to Kauai, I was pretty much useless. Although Pat's Taqueria was in the guidebook, I didn't know that until later, so we got lucky. But if there's one guiding light, one truism that I know is actually true it's, "Where there are surfers, good Mexican chow follows." See also: Tacofino.
March 7, 20120Comments

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Travel

Eat Local: Hanalei Farmers Market on Kauai

On Kauai, the farmers market in Hanalei is serious business. It opens at 9:30 on Saturday morning next to the soccer fields and a few minutes before 9:30 a.m., there are already 20-30 people waiting to be let in. There's no leisurely browsing here, once the rope goes up, shoppers beeline for their favorite vendors. On this late February morning, there are gorgeous strawberry papayas, mangoes, rambutans, avocados, salad greens, cilantro and parsley, ginger and more. And for someone who's been eating a lot of chard and citrus, it looks like heaven.
March 4, 20120Comments

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Baking Fruit Recipes

Airplanes and Apple Pecan Muffins

apple pecan muffins I'm in the airport security line. Passengers are taking off their shoes and jackets, putting their laptops and liquids into bins for the x-ray machine. TSA employees are calling out reminders to remove belts and money from pockets. It was a morning flight, so in the bin along with my purse and toiletries, was my breakfast. "Oh, I'm sorry, those muffins can't go through," says the TSA guy. I take a beat, trying to figure out what he's talking about. Then I smile, "Oh, because they look too good, right?"
February 26, 20122Comments

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Baking Fruit

Baked Strawberry Shortcake Doughnuts/Donuts

You've heard of the Donut Man in Glendora, California right? If not, let me introduce you, because what they do there, you need to know about it. The Donut Man is famous for their fresh strawberry donuts -- that's right, they take a glazed donut, slice it in half and sandwich in an enormous portion of fresh strawberries (or peaches, later in the summer) in goo. It's ridiculously deliciously goo-d. Today, I was thinking about those doughnuts and meant to stop by Top Pot on the way home for a couple of glazed and then I promptly forgot. Instead, I came up with these baked strawberry shortcake doughnuts (or in this case: short, cake doughnuts). Doesn't it look like one of those spongy dessert cups they sell right next to the strawberries in the produce department?
February 20, 20121Comment

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Fruit Travel

In Season: Get Your Dekopon On with Sumo Citrus

If you ever want to know the backstory on a fruit, David Karp is your man. Last year, he wrote about the arrival of the dekopon, a Japanese variety of mandarin, just entering the market in California and I was all over my local stores in Washington trying to see if they'd carry them. No such luck. So when Karp heralded the arrival of this year's dekopons, marketed as "Sumo Citrus," in last week's LA Times food section and it coincided with a trip down south to visit a friend, I knew we had to find a Whole Foods in her neighborhood.
February 14, 20123Comments

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Baking Dessert Recipes

Ovaltine Nutella Cookies

World Nutella Day coincided with the SuperBowl this year and they basically cancelled each other out on the food front for me. I did make guacamole. You can't have the Superbowl without guacamole. Anyway, I've been playing a little catch up, so instead of just going the Nutella route, I did one better and came up with these Ovaltine Nutella cookies, because, well, just because.
February 9, 20121Comment

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