Looking for an interesting cookbook, filled with stories, facts and recipes for Christmas?
Looking for an interesting cookbook, filled with stories, facts and recipes for Christmas?
“An Okinawan Kitchen” by Grant Sato is one you might like. It is the third in a series of cookbooks partnering with Mutual Publishing and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Grant Sato is the chef-instructor at Kapiolani Community College and credits his grandmother, Jeanette Setsuko Akamine, for her knowledge of Okinawan cooking.
He affectionately writes about this grandmother, to whom he dedicates the cookbook as she is his closest confidant and life coach.
Grant lives with his 90-year-old Okinawan mentor, who is very active, making sushi and jellies and still is an inspiration to him.
“Kanduba Jushi” is rice gruel with sweet potato leaves and a great way to consume left-over rice that was refrigerated. Grant’s grandmother thinks Okinawans live long, healthy lives because sweet potato leaves, or “kanduba;” bitter melon, or “goya;” and ginger, or “sannin,” are part of their regular diet.
Grandma Jeanette Akamine’s Okinawan Sweet Potato Leaf Rice Gruel
Serves 8
8 cups Japanese broth of dashi
2 cups day-old cooked rice
2 slices ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup kanduba or sweet potato leaves
1/4 cup takuan or pickled turnip, chopped
Bring broth to a boil in a medium pot. Add rice and ginger. Stir well until rice is soft and liquid is thickened, or about 30 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of pot.
Season with soy sauce and add kanduba. Stir another three to five minutes until the leaves are wilted. Serve in a bowl garnished with chopped takuan.
•••
Goya champuru, — “a traditional stir-fry of bitter melon, tofu and eggs” — is possibly the most familiar Okinawan dish to Americans.
It has been a favorite in our house, in many forms and variations, for as long as I can remember.
Goya Champuru (Stir-Fried Bitter Melon with Tofu)
Grant writes: “The key to this simple dish is to drain the tofu well before adding it to the wok or pan. Wet tofu will leach water and you will end up ‘boiling’ the ingredients instead of searing them. If you choose not to use pork, a small amount of vegetable oil will be needed to sauté the bitter melon. It should be slightly charred to give off a smoky flavor. In Okinawa, Spam is sometimes used in place of pork to create a savory salty champuru.”
Recipe:
1/2 pound pork belly, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 cups goya (bitter melon), cut into 1/4-inch thick slices*
1 (10-12 ounce) block firm tofu
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
Heat a wok on medium heat and add pork bellies. Stir-fry until fat is rendered, then turn heat to high. Add goya and quickly stir-fry about one minute, then take a spoon and scoop bite-sized pieces of tofu from the block directly into wok. Stir-fry another minute, being careful not to break tofu. Season with salt.
Move mixture to back of wok and add egg; lightly scramble. Toss eggs with the rest of the ingredients and serve hot.
*Select goya with firm flesh and skin of uniform color. Look carefully for “bite marks” — dark perforations in the grooves of the skin — as they could indicate an internal worm. Goya should be refrigerated if not used immediately. Left at room temperature, it will ripen. The flesh will become softer, turn from green to yellow to red, and become slightly sweet and extremely bitter.
The basic preparation for the fruit is to cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out all the seeds and carefully scrape away the internal pith, which contains a fair amount of bitterness. Sliced or diced goya can be soaked in slightly acidulated water (lemon water for example) to help extract more bitterness (soaking in salted water enhances the bitterness). Goya can then be sautéed, steamed, stuffed, fried or marinated.”
•••
“Andagi” is a must whenever there is an Okinawan event.
Chef Grant spent many years working in the andagi booth when the Haebaru Club participated in a festival. Typical of a creative chef, Grant writes that you can replace the one cup milk with sweetened condensed milk for a sweeter andagi, or add sour cream to create a very fluffy, cake-like andagi.
Andagi or Sata Andagi (Okinawan Fried Doughnuts)
Makes 20-30 pieces, depending on size
4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable oil, for frying
Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients (except oil) separately, making sure each is mixed well.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix by hand until batter is smooth and thick. Chill one hour. (Batter can be chilled up to three days before frying.)
Add vegetable oil to pot to a depth of 4 inches; heat to 325 degrees. Carefully drop 2 to 3 tablespoons batter by hand into the hot oil; fry until golden brown on all sides. Drain on paper towels to absorb excess oil.
“An Okinawan Kitchen” by Grant Sato is available at Basically Books in downtown Hilo.
Foodie bites
Congratulations to Brian Hirata, who is now the chef instructor for the Hawaii Community College Culinary Program, taking care of the second year students.
Replacing Brian as lecturer is HCC culinary graduate Karen Daniels, who was formerly the pastry chef at Kilauea Lodge.
What a great team.
Chef Sandy Barr Rivera retired and is now enjoying her garden and spending time in her kitchen.
Don’t forget — this Saturday is The Hawaii Honey Festival from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Nani Mau Gardens. Admission is $5, with children younger than 12 free. Be sure to cast your vote in the People’s Choice honey tasting competition while participating in the festival activities.
On Oahu this week?
Nov. 17-23 is Restaurant Week Hawaii and one of the participants, The Pineapple Room by Alan Wong, is featuring a Prix Fixe dinner menu inspired by recipes in “The Blue Tomato” cookbook. Cost is $45 per person or $70 with wine pairings.
The ACF Kona Kohala Chefs Association Culinary Scholarship Benefit, Christmas at Kamakahonu Bay-Dining with the Chefs, is scheduled for 5:30-8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, at The Courtyard King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel seaside luau grounds.
Tickets are $85 or reserved table of 10 for $1,000, and are available online at www.konakohalachefs.org or by credit card by calling Kailua Candy Company at 329-2522.
A special standard room rate of $189, which includes the breakfast buffet for two and parking, is available by calling 331-6330 and asking for the Christmas at Kamakahonu rate.
If you are interested in attending, do not wait, there will only be 400 tickets available.
Email me at audreywilson808@gmail.com if you have questions.