ahi poke sliders on mini buns

Last Sunday, I tried the recipe for "Ahi Poke Sliders on Mini Buns" which was featured in "Edible Hawaiian Islands Summer 2009".

I had to make my ahi poke from scratch because it doesn't exist here.

I followed this recipe, which I always use to make poke. And not thinking, added the tomato and cucumber which the recipe called for....bad move.

The "burgers" fell apart...it was a mess in the pan...edible but ugly. We ended up eating most of the poke; raw, on the side. (I put some kim chee on this slider to "hide" the damage.)

So, a couple of days later, not appreciating failure in the kitchen, I tried it again, this time leaving out the tomato and cucumber and whizzing it for a bit in the food processor (which the recipe says to do, but I hadn't the first time around).

It came out better and it was great on the rye roll with a smidge of mayo (Best Foods, of course). Add an ice cold glass of beer and you have a great dinner, lunch or snack.

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try it.

Ahi Poke Sliders on Mini Buns from Edible Hawaiian Islands Summer 2009
Makes eight 4-inch mini burgers

2 pounds fresh ahi (tuna) poke, from your favorite local fish market
3 tablespoons macadamia nut oil
8, 4-inch Portuguese sweet rolls

Place the ahi poke in the work bowl of a food processor with the metal blade and pulse until poke is ground. Don't overgrind; keep it slightly chunky. Do this in two batches.

Turn on the grill. When hot, place a large skillet on the grill with the oil and heat the pan until very hot. Cook the poke burgers on the hot pan and sear both sides. Don't overcook; center should stay rare. Place cooked poke sliders on buns and serve.

Enjoy!

NOTES: After making the poke, I let it sit in the refridge for about an hour for the flavors to meld. I didn't use macadamia oil (I've never seen it here) and just used a non-stick pan.

Also, I couldn't find something close to Portuguese sweet rolls (which in my opinion is similar to brioche), so I used what I could find, rye rolls.

If you cook this on the stove, cook it on low heat for about 3 minutes on each side. The middle will be raw and the outside seared. If you don't like to eat things semi-raw, you may want to cook it all the way through.

This was so good, it was hard to put down once I started eating it.

on a side note: Did you know that the amount of ahi (tuna) the world eats a year is really high? (The world put together eats a lot, but apparently, Japan eats even more) So high that the experts are saying that if limits are not placed on fishing or purchasing from fishermen, tuna will be non-existent by 2010 (um, that is next year?!)

Fortunately, when I bought this tuna, it was cultivated in Yamaguchi prefecture (made in Japan). Hopefully, more of these farms will be able to answer the demand for tuna (and maybe other seafood too) and leave nature alone to repair itself.

food...nature...blast of heat...repeat

Sunday had to be most sauna-like day to date...this year. Still, we didn't want to stay at home, so we decided to check out the falls in Minoo Park.

From the Hankyu Minoo station to the falls it is 2.8 kilometers. Of course we couldn't just go straight to the falls, on the way we stopped into Hashimoto-tei for lunch.

Satoshi had the loco moco (900 yen about US$9), he knew when he ordered it that he may be disappointed, but ordered it anyway. When his plate arrived, he knew from the aroma that it would be different. He says that Kaka'ako Kitchen's is still his favorite.

I ordered the black curry (900 yen about US$9). This spicy concoction was delicious and had a lot of punch. It may look like a lot of rice, but with the amount of spiciness, you need it.

After re-fueling and cooling off a bit, we checked out the Konchukan (insectarium). The admission was 270 yen (about US$2.70) per person. Can you believe, that for all the years we have lived here, we had never stepped inside this place? We were glad we did though, there were lots of yucky bugs on display as well as a live butterfly area. I was amazed at how some of the butterflies had numbers written on their left wing--I think this is how they keep track of them.

From the insectarium, we continued walking toward the falls. There was another museum of sorts, but I can't tell you what it was (Satoshi didn't know what it was either)--at least there was no admission.

Right across the unknown museum, we stopped into yet another cafe (Yamamoto Coffee) along the way to keep cool. Satoshi had some coffee and I had an iced coffee (600 yen a piece--about US $6 each).

Just as we came out of the cafe and started to make our way up a slight incline, there was a man giving out samples of yamaguri (mountain chestnuts). It turns out that these are from Shiga prefecture, so they weren't local. But they were really easy to peel and delicious. We bought a bag to take home (600 yen or about US$6).

Finally, after 2 hours, we made it to the falls. There were many people in the waters below the falls. After re-energizing in front of the waterfall's spray and seeing a sign that said "beware of snakes" (eww), we started to head back.

You could hear tons of semi (cicada) in the trees and every so often a slight warm breeze would blow.

There were bursts of komorebi (sunbeams) which came through the trees.

Halfway out of the park, we were hungry again. So, this time, we stopped into Per Caffe Bianco. This cafe is right across the street from the train station.

I ordered the zuccotto (850 yen about US$8.50 comes with a drink) and Satoshi had a margherita pizza (1100 yen about US$11). Satoshi said that the pizza was really good, with lots of garlic in it.

The zuccotto had slices of grapefruit, lots of nuts and lots of cream inside. It went nicely with my cute cappuccino.

I think in the U.S. this is called latte art, but since this was a cappuccino...I love cappuccino art!

Not wanting to go out again to find dinner, we bought some ingredients to try a recipe which I saw on Deb's blog. (One thing you should know about us, no matter how much we eat during the day, we almost never skip a meal!)

Deb's ahi avocado towers with sesame-cilantro emulsion were delicious! I adapted the recipe and added diced tomatoes to 1/4 of a chopped red onion, diced 5 ounces (150 grams) of maguro (tuna), sprinkled some red alaea salt, put 1 tablespoon of shoyu, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and a pinch of black sesame seeds.









For the avocado layer, I used 2 small avocadoes. I couldn't find lime, so I used lemon juice from half a lemon without the zest.

As for the emulsion, I didn't have much cilantro, so we just used the few stalks that were on our lanai, and I added 1 tablespoon of EVOO and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil. I didn't do the crab layer. On top of that, we couldn't find won ton wrappers or tortilla chips, so we ate our towers with okara (soy lees) chips. The chips were too small to layer onto, so we just ate them on the side. I've crushed and sprinkled these okara chips onto Chinese Chicken Salad as they have the same flavor as won ton pi chips.

I was so happy to be able to use my ring molds. Since I don't have 2 ring molds the same size, Satoshi's tower was bigger than mine and he was impressed as to how the tower was put together. The "leftovers" I put into a bowl, but that was eaten up too.

Boy, we sure ate a lot today! At least we bonded with nature while doing so.

Hope you enjoyed today as much as we did, have a great week!

Yamamoto Coffee
2-28 Minoo-koen
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.722.3477
Open 9:00-18:00

Per Caffe Bianco
1-8-1 Minoo
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.725.7111
Open 9:00-21:00
Closed on Mondays (UPDATE: hours have changed to 11:00-21:00)

unagi dokoro kishi

Monday night we had some of Satoshi's friends and their families over for dinner. (We always get together with these families for Christmas.)

Usually when we have parties, we like to start them around lunch time, so that the children have time to run around outside while the adults chatter away, but this time, the party started late because everyone had things during the day, on top of that, Satoshi had to work until 18:30. By the time we started eating it was 19:30.

I made bulgogi, szechuan salt & pepper shrimp, spicy poke and apple crisp.

The other wives brought cake, and pork wrapped around bainiku (ume paste) and shiso (perilla leaves)--The recipe is easy so I'll be making this soon and share it with you!

It was a loud gathering (6 adults and 5 children) filled with lots of chatting, laughing, drinking and eating. I hope we didn't bother the neighbors too much.

Yesterday was the last day of the Golden Week. For lunch, we went to Hibarigaoka Hanayashiki, this is 3 stops from where we live. In Japan, there are many guide books for finding eating places, dessert places, just about all topics not just food--if you can be featured in one of these guide books you are almost guaranteed a boost in business. We have a book that is filled with all kinds of eating places around our area. As Satoshi was flipping through it to get an idea of where to go for lunch, he came across an unagi (eel) restaurant. This restaurant has a 230 year history dating back to the Edo period (actually we realized that the owner's family's restaurant in Wakayama, has the history).

The restaurant is very tiny, only 10 seats at the counter and 6 in back in a little room. The place was almost to capacity when we got there, but we were able to get seats at the counter, we looked over the menu and the owner explained the size differences of the unagi don (eel bowl).

Satoshi ordered the unagi teishoku (2940 yen about US$29.40) this comes with an unagi don (eel bowl), unagi cream croquette, kimo sui (broth with the liver of the eel), tsukemono, unagi jelly (terrine of unagi, yuzu (citron) and other herbs).

I don't really like unagi, but will eat it, so I ordered the small order of unagi don (1470 yen about $14.70).

After Satoshi ate his terrine and some broiled eel liver (both quite teeny), our orders of donburi came.

The eel was very tender and the sauce was light tasting. I love sauce on my rice, but to tell you the truth, my chopsticks skills suck and for me to eat rice that has sauce on it is hard because the rice doesn't stick together, so I "balance" rice onto the chopsticks and scoop it into my mouth...disgrace being of Japanese ancestry, but true. I think when I was staying with my host-family, my host-mom felt sorry for my chopstick skills because she would almost immediately bring out a fork or spoon for me during meals.

Still, the una don (short for unagi donburi) was delicious!

By the time I had "balanced" all my rice onto my chopsticks, Satoshi was finished.

Then I asked him, "aren't you supposed to get a croquette too?" He said, "it must be coming soon." Then he asked the owner, "doesn't the teishoku come with a croquette?" She replied, "I thought I mentioned that we aren't serving croquette today." So then Satoshi said, "uh, so what about the liver broth and tsukemono?" The owner's face turned white as a ghost and she began apologizing profusely.

She/her staff had forgotten to give us the tsukemono and broth to eat with our meal.

We ate our tsukemono and drank the broth. I didn't care for the broth, it was quite fishy and bitter too.

I thought they would comp our meal or at least discount it, but they didn't. Satoshi was upset that they didn't explain the menu clearer and do more to change the bad feelings. Still, the price he paid was too expensive for the amount that was served.

We both decided that even though it was delicious, we won't be going back.

ku-cha-ne-ku-cha-ne

I've learned a new saying from Satoshi...it's called "ku-cha-ne-ku-cha-ne". What does it mean? "eat-sleep, eat-sleep"...because that pretty much sums up what we've up to since he's come home. (wait a minute, since I've come home too!)
Friday, with all the changes going on in Waikiki, Satoshi was curious to see what was happening. We walked from Hilton Hawaiian Village ALL the way to the end of Waikiki. A majority of hotels are going under renovations and along with these renovations are the property name changes. Boy, I can't even keep them straight! Anyway, while walking through Waikiki I saw this group of people having a surf lesson. (Hang ten!)

And people gazing at the ocean. (You know, I miss not having benches to rest on in Japan--they are obsolete!)

Lunch was at Ryan's Grill. This place holds a special place in our hearts because it is where we went on our first date.

I was surprised to find out that they serve all of their menu items all day. We started off with some seared ahi (tuna), this tuna is coated with togarashi(chili) and sesame seeds. And served with a wasabi(japanese horseradish)-ginger aioli. They used to use a cajun spice on the outside of the ahi, but this version was still very tasty.

Fried calamari with a black bean aioli and a chili cucumber salad. This version was very light, previously they had a tex-mex flavor to it.


French onion soup--rich broth, cheese and onions...how can you go wrong?

Romaine lettuce with maytag blue cheese crumbles, slivered almonds and egg--crunchy goodness.

Saturday, Satoshi had to leave to go back for work. So, for breakfast, we hunted out one of his favorites...loco moco.

I had seen a restaurant called Koa Pancake House while we drove in Wahiawa the other day, and somehow that had stuck in my mind. I looked in the phone book and was pleased to find a location in Waipahu.

Satoshi couldn't decide between loco moco and eggs benedict (another of his favorites)...so he ordered both! Both servings were huge, as usual. The eggs for the benedict weren't runny, so he was a bit disappointed, but said that everything was delicious still the same.

I ordered the chocolate chip short stack with eggs and bacon. The pancakes were light and fluffy and had LOTS of chocolate chips inside.

The bacon could have been a bit crispier, but went well with maple syrup on them.

So, it is back to the grindstone for Satoshi...Everyone including me was sad that Satoshi had such a short stay.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ryan's Grill
Ward Centre
1200 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu
Phone: 808.591.9132

Koa Pancake House
Waipahu Town Center
94-050 Farrington Hwy C1-2
Waipahu
Phone: 808.671.7172

poke stop

Back in November, I got an e-mail from a guy named Nate. He was from Hawaii, but worked in Okinawa. He wanted to find out more about starting a blog as well as how to blog. So after giving him some advice, he started his blog, HWN PAKE IN OKINAWA. Today, I got to meet him for the first time and to lunch with him.

We met at a place that he's been wanting to try...Poke Stop. This restaurant is owned by Elmer Gusman, a guy who used to cook with greats such as Emeril, Alan Wong and Sam Choy.

The shop was rather tiny, but the menu was quite large, so it was definitely hard to decide. The eating area is outside, so try not to go on a windy day! (or be prepared to hold down your food while you eat!)

Nate had their Surf & Turf (US $9.42)--boneless korean style short ribs, with their garlic jumbo shrimp, 1 scoop of rice and Puna's potato salad. He liked this except the meat wasn't too tender.

I had their Deconstructed Sushi Bowl (US $10.42)--Cajun seasoned blackened ahi(tuna), kim chee style tako (octopus), creamy chili aioli remoulade mixed with ahi (tuna) poke, a large scoop of tobiko(flying fish roe) and a garlic shrimp all on top of sushi rice, topped with furikake and ginger--though eating the shrimp was a bit messy, this dish was worth every penny!

It was nice having lunch with my blogging friend and to have finally met face to face.

Poke Stop
Waipahu Town Center
94-050 Farrington Hwy.
Phone: 808.676.8100
Open everyday:
M-S 8-7
Su 8-5

seared ahi avocado salad

Tonight's dinner was seared ahi-avocado salad. "Ahi" is the Hawaiian word for yellow-fin tuna (the Japanese name for it is "maguro"). This salad is one of Satoshi's favorites. It is very quick and easy.

When we lived in Hawaii, a different version of this is dish is often served as an appetizer in many bars and restaurants--the ahi is usually tartare style and layered with chopped avocado and tomatoes, then drizzled with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mayonnaise and served with little baguette toasts. (I sometime make this version when entertaining his friends, or sometimes for dinner)

Before searing the ahi, I sprinkled some cajun blackening spices onto both sides of the fish. Then on a heated pan, I put a little olive oil and then put the fish on...(make sure you don't leave the fish on for more than 5 seconds on all sides.) Take it off the heat and slice. (sear the fish just before serving or else the fish may turn color with the air)

In my salad I put green leaf lettuce, sliced red onion, carrots, tomatoes and red bell pepper.

The dressing I made is similar to Sam Choy's creamy oriental dressing.
Here's Sam's recipe (from "Sam Choy's Sampler"):
Makes 4 cups
3 cups mayonnaise
1/2 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1-1/2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Whisk everything together until well blended. If the consistency is too thick, whisk in a few drops of water at a time, until you get the consistency you desire.

Here's Kat's version:
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 Tablespoons vinegar
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
*put everything into a shaker and shake until well combined.

When I served the salad, I put a tablespoon of the dressing (for one serving), then drizzled a little mayonnaise on top and sprinkled some fresh ground pepper...I think my version of the dressing may be a little more low-cal.

p.s. another version: you can also mix some wasabi into some mayonnaise and drizzle...

Enjoy!!