koa pancake house & liliha bakery

BFF had to get a blood test done, so we went bright and early then hit Koa Pancake House afterwards for breakfast...corned beef hash, over easy eggs and a short stack (3) all for $6.95 (plus tax)...cheap eats!

Loved how crisp the corned beef hash was and the pancakes were fluffy!

We then went on a little errand in town and hit Liliha Bakery on the way home.

Went in for cocoa puffs but came out with a poi doughnut and maple bacon doughnut.

I had seen a lot of hype about these poi doughnuts online.

They are good AND not greasy!

The maple bacon doughnut was more like a brioche dough with thick maple glaze and bacon...so good!

Early morning foodie adventure...Thanks W!

instant nozaki corned beef curry

We recently tried Nozaki's instant corned beef curry.

I bought the medium spicy and it had lots of shredded corned beef in it. Serve it with lots of rice.

I saw on their website that they have sausages that look like vienna sausages. I'm gonna keep an eye out for them.

remembering mom

I think I inherited this pan when I moved to Japan back in 2001.

In our family, this pan was used for one thing...corned beef hash.

My mom used to open a can of corned beef, the one with the diced potatoes in it, and put it into the pan.

After heating the corned beef up a bit, she would press the back of the spoon into the corned beef hash to make divots.

Then she would crack an egg into each divot.

When the eggs were cooked, the corned beef hash and egg were scooped out and put over rice.

Dinner was served.

We recently tried Okiham's corned beef hash, an Okinawan maker.

The spices are a little different from Hormel Mary Kitchen's.

The amount in the package is too little to do what my mom used to, but it's the memories that count, right?!

Miss you Mom, Happy Birthday!

corned beef

Our food culture in Hawaii is "unusual" to many.

We eat SPAM as well as other types of canned mystery meats.

One mystery meat in particular is canned corned beef.

Growing up we would mix a can with some onion, cooked potato and an egg.

Spoon out a dollop into a heated pan with oil, cook on both sides and dinner is served.

If your family was larger, more potato was added to "stretch" the can of corned beef.

I recently learned that there is a shortage of corned beef.

Apparently, anti-parasitic drugs in high levels were found which stopped the export of the canned goods from Brazil.

This in turn, caused the price to sky rocket here.

In fact, I've seen stores stock their corned beef behind the customer service counter, so no one "walks" off with them.

They're that premium.

A market recently had a sale on this and we picked up a couple cans.

It made for a great comfort food dinner.

What is a comfort food for you unique to where you live?

craving home

It's winter here, which means it is cold, sometimes dreary, not much sun to warm up the body or the soul.

I saw a photo on my friend, Deb's Flickr page and was reminded of corned beef hash patties.

The next day, I immediately went out to buy a can of corned beef.

The cans of corned beef in the local supermarkets are "so cute" only 100 grams...on sale for 258 yen (about US$2.58), especially when you compare it to a SPAM can.

As I was walking back from the supermarket, I realized that I had forgotten to buy a potato to make the patties.

Since I was already out, I walked to the closest market which was a co-op.

Luckily, I had a filled point card which gave me 100 yen (about US$1) off, so a bag of potatoes (5 potatoes) costing 128 yen (about US$1.28), was only 28 yen (about US$.28). I guess that was worth the extra walk.

I think corned beef hash patties were a food eaten by people in Hawaii on the plantations or after the war(?) or both.

By adding a potato (or two), one could stretch out the corned beef and make more patties to feed their large family.

So, that is what I grew up on, a large batch of corned beef hash patties, we would usually have them for dinner, lots of rice and lots of ketchup, a salad on the side.

From this teeny can, I used one potato, one egg and half an onion and made 4 normal sized patties for dinner and 6 tiny patties for breakfast.

We had the patties for breakfast with an egg and rice. This combination can be found during breakfast time at most places in Hawaii.

If you can find those regular sized cans of corned beef, you can make your own corned beef hash patties.

2 potatoes, peeled, cooked, mashed (kinda chunky)
1 onion, diced
1 can of corned beef
1 egg
oil to pan fry

Break up the corned beef and add the potatoes, onion, egg, mix well.
Using a soup spoon, scoop and put onto a heated pan with oil.
Using the back of the spoon, flatten out the scoop of mixture to make a patty.
Cook for about 2 or 3 minutes on each side.
Serve with lots of rice.

*if eating for breakfast, top with egg cooked as you like, we prefer over easy or sunny-side up.

NOTES: I only used 1 tablespoon of oil to cook these, but in Hawaii we usually use more, putting the finished patties onto a paper towel to drain. This is one food that is good eaten cold too.

american influences

The US military's presence in Okinawa is still quite visible today, even 60 something years after the war ended, they have several bases scattered around mainland Okinawa and you can also see bits of American culture here and there.

For one thing, Spam is readily available here--cheaper than what I pay for at the gourmet supermarket. The day I bought this it was on sale--195 yen (about US$1.95). As well, as corned beef hash 80 yen for a tiny package (about US$.80) and pork and beans 100 yen (about US$1). Oh and some American brands of toothpaste can also be found--I was actually looking for Colgate but bought this Aquafresh, we can get Aquafresh on mainland Japan too.

The drive-inn is still around in Okinawa. Drive up, park and order. They bring the food out and you eat in your car. I had to explain this to Satoshi as it was the first time for him to see this.

Drive-thrus can be seen here and there too. I was fascinated with this Starbucks drive-thru (sorry very blurry). I haven't seen any SB drive-thrus in Osaka.

A & W--we used to have one in Kailua when I was younger, I remember going to one after the 4th of July parade and having the baby burger with a frosty glass of root beer. (If I'm not mistaken they used to have a papa burger, mama burger and baby burger)

Anyway, I ordered the BBQ burger 220 yen (about US$2.20) A burger with an onion ring, lots of chopped onion and BBQ sauce on it. I really miss Southern BBQ sauce!

Satoshi had their Mozza burger (I think it was called this because of the mozzarella cheese in it) 400 yen (about US$4) And of course we ordered onion rings. Free refills for your rootbeer (I don't think mainland Japan has free refills of anything or anything free for that matter).

JEF burger is a Japanese company (JEF stands for Japan Excellent Food), but they have an American style drive-inn system. Their burgers are "healthy". Goya (bittermelon) omlettes in their Goya burger--282 yen (about US$2.82)

Add spam and cheese to the goya burger and get their Nu-yaru burger which means "what is this, exactly?" in Okinawan. 314 yen (about US$3.14)

Deep fried goya (bittermelon)--this stuff was super bitter! 252 yen (about US$2.52)

The portions are American sized. How is this iced coffee I ordered in Urasoe? The cup on the right is the "normal" serving size. This iced coffee was called "tappuri ice" or lots of ice....the cup was 4 times the normal size! 450 yen (about US$4.50)...had to go bathroom every 5 minutes...yikes!

Blue Seal/Big Dip (a subsidiary of Foremost)--you can find ice cream parlors and stands all over Okinawa. They have "okinawan" favorites like beni-imo (purple sweet potato) and goya (bittermelon). But I usually go for the mint chocolate chip as it isn't readily found on mainland Japan. We checked out the one in Chatan. Satoshi had the beni-imo and I had the mint chocolate chip. (260 yen each about US$2.60)

Tacos can also be readily found. Something that isn't seen too much on mainland Japan. An Okinawan version of tacos called taco rice can be found on menus all over Okinawa.

Everyone has their own recipe and style. We tried a taco pilaf (800 yen about US$8) and taco curry (800 yen about US$8) at a cafe in Naha...delicious.

Spam musubi---or pork musubi as their are called in Okinawa can be found in convenience stores all over Okinawa.

I tried two different types: spam, egg and tuna 210 yen (about US$2.10). Good but I was looking for the tuna....only found it at the last couple of bites.

spam, egg and abura miso 200 yen (about US$2). I think abura miso is made from pork fat and cooked with shoyu, sugar and mirin to get a thick miso-like sauce. I enjoyed this one best.

I really enjoyed seeing and tasting these bits of American culture in Okinawa.

sundays

In our family, Sundays mean gathering for dinners together. Growing up, my mom, and her two sisters would take turns making the meal and we would go over to each other's houses to eat. Since there were 5 adults and 4 children, the children usually had a special table all of their own, called what else, the "kid's table", here the 4 of us would get to eat alongside the adults then hang around the "adult table" to hear all of their chatting and gossip. When our grandparents came for a visit, things got even more lively.

As we got older though, most of us moved away for college and work. But the gathering rituals still continue to this day.

In Japan, most families do not get together with their families unless it is a special occasion, which is why coming home is really special.

Tonight was no exception, and although there were only 5 of us, it was still a nice gathering and we all got to catch up on things.

Here's what we had: (sorry the pictures are a bit dark)
tofu (soy bean curd) salad with taegu (Korean-style cuttlefish), cucumbers and tomatoes.

Corned beef and cabbage with onions

And konbu maki (pork, carrots and gobo (burdock) wrapped with konbu (kelp) and tied with kampyo (dried gourd), my mom also threw in some araimo or satoimo (dasheen).

Lots of good food and conversation...Sundays.

It's great to be home, hope you have a great week!

new bag

After two (brrr) freezing days of rain and flurries, the sun is back! (yeah!!) I spent most of the morning between several loads of laundry and making a new bag.

I ran into a few problems and the bag didn't come out as the book pictured. (Guess I'll have to try it again!) But, I think it will serve its purpose. When we moved to Japan 5 years ago, I hadn't sewed since home economics class in intermediate school, still, I had Satoshi buy me a sewing machine.

Besides food, another thing I love is BAGS, so I figured instead of buying them, I would try to make them. Since then, I have made my own tote bags which I use when grocery shopping. At the grocery stores, they give you extra points on your point card for using your own bag not using their plastic bags.

And we often take these totes with us on our trips or when galavanting around Osaka, they fold up nicely and come in handy especially when we need another bag to bring home our souvenirs or purchases.

In a couple of days, it will be St. Patrick's Day. At home, my mom usually cooks fresh corned beef with cabbage, carrots and potatoes. Since I couldn't find fresh corned beef in our markets, I decided to use canned corned beef and made another dish which we have in Hawaii....Corned beef and cabbage.

There are two ways that my family has this dish. One is with salt and pepper. The other is with shoyu (soy sauce) and sugar (we say shoyu-sugar or satojyoyu). I decided to make it the shoyu-sugar way.

Ingredients
1 can corned beef
1 onion
1 cabbage

1T sugar
1T shoyu

Cut cabbage into bite sized pieces, slice onions
Cook in a non-stick pan
After cabbage and onions slightly wilt, add corned beef
When everything is mixed and heated, add the shoyu and sugar.

An easy dish for busy people!
Enjoy! and Happy St. Patty's Day!