chura pine

We recently tried a new (to us) pineapple variety called Chura Pine, which was grown on Ishigakijima.

“Chura” is beautiful in Okinawan.

And the Japanese called pineapple, “Pine” for short.

When I looked online for “chura pine”, there were different varieties that popped up.

So, I compared my photo to the different photos on a farm’s site...it wasn't a Snack Pine which is the Bogor type (which we’ve tried before).

It wasn't the Peach Pine....which is supposed to smell similar to peaches...

It was the Hawaii variety...it looked different from the pineapple we have in Hawaii, look at the "floppy" crown.

Trivia tidbit: Apparently pine cones were once called pineapples.

This pineapple had lots of "eyes", it could have been more ripe & sweeter but it was still delicious.

I'm glad we tried this and have planted the top.

Hope the heat doesn't kill it.... 

p.s. Yesterday we received our 1st vaccination...whoo. 

I think we sat in the waiting room longer than it took to actually get jabbed.

Our arms are a bit sore, but so far so good.

Hopefully the 2nd one will actually be in 3 weeks.

p.p.s. a typhoon (Nepartak or Number 8) is heading for our area today....eep!

bogor pineapple

About 2 years ago, we tried snack pine.

The other day, I bought another one called Bogor Pineapple, which was grown in Okinawa.

This time I followed the directions on the package.

Cut off the bottom and pick off the "nubs".

The fruit was overripe in places.

Still, there was quite a bit to eat.

After picking off the nubs, the center "shaft" that is left can be sliced and eaten.

I'm glad we tried this, it was also super sweet.

By the way, here's the snack pine that I planted 2 years ago...pretty big.

on the other hand, I think "someone"'s bonsai is dead...

snack pine

I picked up this teeny Okinawan pineapple called "snack pine" to try.

You are apparently supposed to pick off each "nub" and eat the fruit attached to it...kinda like artichokes?!

Since I thought that way would be kinda p.i.t.a (pain in the a)....I tried peeling it like a normal sized pineapple....

It wasn't as easy as a normal sized one.

In fact, there were still lots of hard outer parts on the pieces I cut.

The fruit is super sweet though.

I've tried planting the crown, so we'll see what happens...

odds & ends

Not enough days to blog about everything, so this post is packed with randomness...

Yesterday, we had snow, all.morning.long.

Luckily, I didn't have anything planned, so I stayed indoors and made this brownie dessert for Valentine's.

I used milk chocolate since that is what Satoshi likes. I didn't add sugar to the recipe since I was using milk chocolate and I also made a glaze/frosting for the brownies...don't ask me how much butter I used...gasp!

Earlier this month, we had some Chinese food for Chinese New Years at Lei Can Ting.

I don't think anything on my plate was traditionally Chinese New Years food, but it was fancy and really delicious.

There was a piece of shrimp coated with a sweet mayonnaise, daikon cake, half a piece of spring roll, some steamed dim sum, salad, a soup with a gyoza in it and for dessert a jin dui filled with sweet bean paste...oh an a bowl of congee topped with crunchy spring roll skins, pieces of pickled daikon and green onions...whew!

Had to try Deb's caramelized pineapple with dark chocolate, after seeing her version, here.

I didn't grill mine, just used a non-stick pan, and my sugar coating was a bit watered down, so it took awhile to caramelize, but it was so delicious with the dark chocolate.

The sweet from the pineapple and the tartness from the dark chocolate...great with wine.

And then there was an evening when we had buri sushi (amberjack).

The pieces of fish were so thick and fresh. Love the supermarket's pre-made food area.

Recently tried this imperial porter called "To whom it may concern, we didn't ask you what kind of beer you like, sorry".

Made with black sugar it had hints of chocolate and caramel...yum!

Celebrating 30 years, Haagen Dazs came out with a rose ice cream...wow the rose flavor is so nice, not perfumy or overpowering.

On the other hand, their sakura ice cream was bad, really bad....even if sakura translates to cherry, it isn't the same cherry as bing or sour cherries...blah!

Ginormous potato, and only 38 yen!

I boiled the potato and mixed in a tablespoon of andasu and some mayo for a kind of potato salad...delicious!

What have you been enjoying?

hawaii eats

My first time peeling a pineapple.

It was quite easy.

My blog friend, Genki has a great tutorial, if you've never peeled one before.

This one was really sweet and juicy.

foodie staff party (part 2)

You may or may not remember, last year we invited Satoshi's staff over for dinner. This year, Satoshi changed departments and now has 30 people in his section rather than the 12 people he had last year.

So, as a thank you for all their hard work, we invited 10 people each over 2 Sundays and a Saturday. Luckily, it is Obon season (the season to visit your ancestor's graves), so many people couldn't make it, so instead of 10 people each over 3 days, the amount decreased to about 6 people each over the 3 days.

Here's our menu:
Kamaboko Dip with Crackers
Spicy Soybeans
Bulgogi
Beer steamed clams with garlic bread
Spicy Poke

And for dessert: Macadamia nut shortbread with Ginger-Pineapple Sorbet
This was the first time for me to make these two and boy, was I glad I did. The shortbread was easy to put together and came out really flaky and buttery. As for the sorbet, you don't need an ice cream maker (which I don't have anyway) just mix well and let the freezer do the rest of the work.

Macadamia Nut Cookies from Wisteria Delights
1 cup butter (226.7g)
2/3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2.5 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Cream butter and sugar.
Stir in vanilla.
Mix in flour, salt and nuts.
Shape into 2 rolls and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
Cut into 1/4 inch slices.
Bake on ungreased sheets for 12-15 minutes.

NOTES: I had to bake mine for about 25 minutes total since they didn't get very brown after 15 minutes.

Ginger Pineapple Sorbet adapted from Sam Choy's Sampler
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice (118 ml)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 pint cream (473 ml)

Mix ingredients. Place in freezer until partially frozen, then put in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Return to freezer until frozen.

NOTES: After grating a 1-inch sized piece of ginger, I only had 1/2 a tablespoon, so I chopped up some candied ginger to make up the other 1/2 tablespoon. I also put everything into a ziploc container and mixed it up. I put the container into the freezer and waited 20 minutes, then mixed everything again and put it back to freeze. This sorbet was more like ice cream rather than the sorbet that I was used to, the pineapple flavor was strong, so the bits of candied ginger helped add another texture.

I think everyone had a nice time, oh, and there were no leftovers.

Have a great week.

we're jammin' and jellin' (part 2)

Yesterday, mom made some papaya-pineapple jam, she defrosted some papaya puree, added a couple of cans of crushed pineapple, sugar and lemon juice.

I usually don't like the smell of papaya cooking, but the house smelled pretty incredible.

Today, she got a chance to finish her original project--making strawberry guava jelly. She added lemon juice and sugar to the guava juice and although, there was a small mishap in the kitchen, everything turned out okay.

Hope your week is going well.

dishes of comfort :updated

My friend, Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice invited all bloggers to post about their "dishes of comfort". Check out her blog on November 15th to see everyone else's dishes.

I decided to post about a dish that my mom often made for a special occasion when I was growing up, and now sometimes makes when I go home to Hawaii....Shrimp Pineapple.

I'm not too sure what it is about this dish that is so comforting to me. Maybe the fried shrimp? Maybe the thick, sweet and sour sauce? The combination of these two? Or maybe just the fact that my mom made it?

I didn't have my mom's recipe, but found something in her church's cookbook, "Wisteria Delights", and think that maybe it is her recipe.

Here's the recipe:
1 pound shrimp
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple in heavy syrup
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
oil

Sauce: 3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup pineapple syrup
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 1/2 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ketchup
2-3 drops Tabasco sauce

Shell and clean shrimp.
Stir beaten eggs lightly into flour and salt and mix well. Add shrimp to thick batter.
Fry shrimp until light brown.
Place shrimp on paper towel.
Combine ingredients for sauce and cook until done.
You may either cook the pineapple chunks in the sauce or garnish shrimp with pineapple and pour over sauce.
Variation: Cook the pineapple in the sauce and add the fried shrimp to the cooked sauce and heat until warm.

Notes: the pineapple they have in Japan is way too sweet! I would definitely not have put the sugar into the sauce had I known. Also, I used olive oil to fry and it didn't come out too crisp. Next time, will definitely buy bigger shrimp! I served this with brown rice and stir-fried veggies. All in all, it was still good and reminded me of home.

Enjoy!

p.s. I forgot to mention that this event is also being hosted by Orchidea of Viaggi e Sapori

Thank you both!