Korean Style Katsu

What's up with L.A., and the good eats in the food courts of Asian markets? There's Santouka for ramen in the Mitsuwa Market (Venice and Centinela in Culver City), and now there's Katsu for a Korean spin on Japanese katsu in the Galleria Market (Devonshire and Reseda in Northridge).

This Korean style katsu is called donkkaseu, and both are basically chicken or pork cutlet that  have been dipped in panko (bread crumbs) and fried. Apparently you can also get shrimp or hamburger at this place. The Korean version of katsu includes banchan, which in this case are sides of marinated jalapeno and radish kimchee. 

I thought that was it for the Korean spin on katsu, until I had already ordered and paid for the chicken katsu, when the cashier stepped aside and I read "kimchee pork cutlet."

Kimchee pork cutlet? I quickly changed my order and paid the...wait for it...56-cents more for the kimchee stuffed pork cutlet. It was the best additional 56-cents I've ever paid.

This combination just makes so much sense (okay, maybe it's because I'm from Hawaii), that I'm surprised I've never heard about this before. I don't know why it's not being served in Hawaii!

This is now my new lunch spot. And I am thrilled because there aren't very many great options near my work. By the way, I read about Katsu while researching restaurants on the Los Angeles Magazine website. I happened upon a blog by Eddie Lin, and the very next day, I left my leftovers at home, and went for my first round of dokkaseu.

Yes, You Can Find Good Italian Food in Hawaii

When at home in Hawaii, I never want to eat Italian food. In fact, I secretly cringed a little after I read that the restaurant I was going to with my friends was the new Italian place (sorry, Ms. K.), Prima.

I was so wrong!

Prima was one of my better food experiences in Hawaii. It bills itself as modern Italian/American, and is located in Kailua. We ate pappardalle (with curry bolognese and fried curry leaves), Brussels sprouts (with prosciutto and bordelaise), di bologna pizza (pepperoncini, mozarella, soft poached egg, rosemary and mortadella), meatball pizza, and the pistachio glace (pistachio semifredo, dried sour cherry hibiscus, semolina, grapefruit and black sesame). I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single dish. I wasn't blown away by the Brussels sprouts, but that's because every restaurant does Brussels sprouts. But the rest of it...well, like I said, this was one of my better food experiences in Hawaii. And when I say "better," I mean that I was in a very happy food coma when dinner came to an end.

 

 

The pappardalle with curry bolognese is a great fusion-type dish. The curry is more like Japanese curry than Thai or Indian curry. The flavors work really well.

The meatball pizza, is actually a spicy meatball pizza. I like spicy foods, and I thought this had a pleasant kick to it. 

Now this was an interesting combination on a pizza. Mortadella, pepperoncini and a poached egg are not my go-to pizza toppings, but it was yummy.

 

Our group was torn over this dessert. I think two of us really liked it, and the other two were more like, "Meh." I was one of the ones who really liked it. I enjoyed the tart, the crunch, the creaminess of the pistacho semifredo. 

Prima also happens to have OnoPops on their menu, but none of the flavors my friends said that I had to try. After a fruitless search for the fun flavors (butter mochi, crackseed lemon peel, etc.), we decided to go to Bubbies for mochi ice cream. No kidding, this the best mochi ice cream ever.

From left to right, you are looking at mochi ice cream in chocolate peanut butter, salted caramel, and green tea. Forget the salted caramel. The chocolate peanut butter and green tea are way better!

My other great food experience while at home for the holidays was at SALT. This place has been on my "list" for months, so I was very happy to go with another group of food fans. We shared the oxtail empanadas and chicken fried local rabbit, as well as all three desserts. I can't remember the exact names of the desserts, but my favorite was the apple and bacon crumble, topped with cheddar ice cream. My entree was the brown butter gnocchi.

The empanadas and the chicken fried rabbit were delicious. I especially enjoyed the empanadas, which came with a tomato and golden raisin chutney. The apple and bacon crumble was amazing. Well, amazing if you like savory in your dessert, which I do. Some of us felt like there was too much bacon, but I was not part of that "us." As for my gnocchi? It was my favorite dish. Gnocchi is not normally something I order, but I did not want fish (not a fan), duck ramen (good ramen is easy to find in Hawaii and California), or the brick pressed jidori chicken (everyone does jidori chicken). I am so glad I went with the gnocchi!

The only thing I'm bummed out about SALT is that I missed the pork belly! I was looking for a dish called "porky belly confit", but it is actually called "bacon and egg." The dish is made up of confit pork belly, space egg, kim chee miso and english muffin. I will be back SALT!

Please, Be Kind

It's Christmas. I will say it again. It's Christmas.

It seems as if people have forgotten. Someone murdered 20 children and six adults on Friday, December 14. And today, Senator Daniel Inouye passed away. How are the two linked in my world? I don't need to say anything about Newtown. We are all in pain. As far as Senator Inouye goes; well, today, on the day he died, someone had the nerve to say that he did not serve our country because he was a Democrat.

I never knew Senator Inouye as a person. I just remember always being proud of that he represented my home state and I will always remember him in his suit and red carnation lei. I'm sure he has had his not-so-fine moments; I know I do. But this man who was a World War II veteran, a man who lost his arm in war. Let's also not forget that he fought for our country when our country interned people of his own ethnicity.

Again, Senator Inouye fought for our country.

Something that I cannot comprehend choosing to do.

But, I digress. I think people have forgotten that it's Christmas. So I can't help wonder, if not during this season, when will we be kind to one another?

There's a built-in reason to be kind right now, and in all our shock and grief, we have forgotten to be kind to other people. I am guilty of it myself. I assure you, I have been a very angry, hateful person for the past three and a half months, but I don't want to be anymore. I want to find a way to be consciously kind to someone everyday. And I'm not talking about the kindness where I buy someone's coffee or help the disenfranchised by volunteering or giving money.

I am talking about a simpler form of kindness. For example, today, I got in a huff because I was trying to make a left turn into the In-n-Out drive thru, but someone turning right cut in front of me, and a second person was about to do the same. So I cut her off. I was completely aware of my action, and I felt bad as soon as I completed that left turn. What I'm saying is I want to be kind in an everyday sort of way. I also want to be kind to my friends and family. That will most likely manifest in me sending you a text or email saying thank you for the friendship and love you have shared with me. I don't always know what's going on in your life, and maybe my message will make you smile or make your heart lift a little.

This is what I think we all need to do right now. Maya Angelous is right, we do need to say "I'm sorry" to one another about what happened in Connecticut. But, we also need to be more kind.

Fooding it Up at Home

A couple of weekends ago I went home to help out with some family stuff. It wasn't the easiest trip, and I needed to blow-off some steam, so the best outlet was trying a couple of new-to-me restaurants. My sister and her boyfriend took me to Home Bar & Grill one night, and on another night I went with friends to Pint + Jigger. These are two very different places.

Tater Tot Nachos

The food at Home Bar was great, but the atmosphere was pretty lacking (bright and loud). They did local food really well. Between the tater tot nachos, neguri poke, fried rice, smoked pork, and tofu, we were stuffed. My favorites were the smoked pork, poke, and tater tot nachos. The nachos are pretty heavy, but so good going down. The smoked pork is fantastic bar food, and the poke was awesome. They actually have two versions of the poke, but get the neguri if you're there.

Neguri Poke

Then my friends and I went to Pint + Jigger the following night. Cool atmosphere, great beers, and good food. Granted, I only had tastes  because I had just come from family dinner where we had my auntie's  beef stew, garlic chicken, and edamame rice, but I would go back for more than their beer list. My friend ordered the Scotch egg, handcrafted pigs in a blanket, and the Pint + Jigger Oatmeal Stout Burger. I tried the Scotch egg and pigs in a blanket. Both good, but I really enjoyed the cherry tomato relish...I really need to try and make my own ketchup one of these days! My favorite part was ordering off the beer menu which divided the offerings into:

• LUCKY 21 On Tap
• Ridiculously Good Beers!!!
• Brews That Don't Suck...
• Aluminum Suds!!
• Beers???

If you are one of my friends at home, or you are visiting Honolulu some time soon, please go to these places! I am so glad to see the level of foodie-ness on the rise in Hawaii, and want to be able to eat my way through my next visit home.

The Chocolate Haupia Pie Did Not Go Over Well

I am so disappointed.  My first chocolate haupia pie was kind of a fail.  Kind of because it looked right and tasted right, but apparently I should have shared with those who have acquired the taste for such a pie.  Mr. Sweeth Tooth did not like it.  Something about the consistency.  Granted, the chocolate pie was a not as light as I would have liked, but I didn't feel like it was that bad. 

Insert sad face here.

The recipe came from Hawaii's Best Local Desserts.  It was an easy recipe, the hardest part was finding frozen coconut milk.  In fact, I could not find the frozen stuff easily, so I bought the canned version.  To confirm, I sent a text to my friend who I figured would know, and of course she knew (she writes the myfoodaffair blog).  When she make haupia, she uses canned coconut milk, and finds it more flavorful. 

By the way, haupia is a coconut dessert from Hawaii.  It's kind of like jello.

Here's the recipe, hope it goes over better for you than it did for me.  By the way, I added my notes directly in the text below (I'm being lazy), and made the copy bold.

Chocolate Haupia Pie
adapted from Hawaii's Best Local Desserts

• 1 frozen prepared pie crust (9-inch)
• 1 can frozen coconut milk, (12-oz), thawed (canned coconut milk is okay)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• semi-sweet chocolate (7-oz)
• 1 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Shaved chocolate for garnish

Bake pie crust at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.  Cool.

To make the haupia, whisk coconut milk, milk, and 1 cup sugar in a sauce pan.  In a separate bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water.  Bring the coconut milk mixture to a boil.  Reduce to simmer and whisk in cornstarch mixture until thickened.  I don't think you have to use the entire cornstarch mixture, but I could be wrong (maybe someone can comment on this for me).

Microwave chocolate pieces for 1 minute, or until melted (I go for soft and then stir so it doesn't get too hot).  Pour half the haupia into a bowl.  Mix the remaining haupia with melted choclate and pour on bottom of pie crust.  Spread out evenly.  Layer white haupia on top.  Spread evenly.  Cool the pie in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.  Whip heavy whipping cream with 1/4 sugar until stiff peaks form.  Garnish the pie with whipped cream and shaved chocolate.  Chill for 1 hour.

Kalua Pig

Sometimes I need a little bit of food from home. It might mean spam musubi, or mochiko chicken, but recently, I decided to make Kalua pig. I found a slow cooker recipe awhile ago, and it turned out pretty well. It is super easy, and I do love my crockpot. Enjoy!

Kalua Pig in a Slow cooker
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 6-lb. pork butt*
1 1/2 tablespoons Hawaiian salt
1 tablespoon liquid smoke

Directions
Pierce pork all over with a fork. Rub salt, and then liquid smoke all over pork. Place roast in slow cooker*. Cover and cook on low for 16 to 20 hours, turning once during cook time. Remove meat from slow cooker and shred. Add drippings as needed to moisten.

*My minor modifications: I use pork shoulder, and I place the roast in fatty side up, and do not turn during cooking.

Granola and Another Song

It has been about six months, and I am finally reunited swith my cooking stuff! The first thing I made was granola. This granola is not good for you. At all. But it is tasty, so who can help themselves? If you like sweet granola, I recommend that you be heavy handed with the honey and coconut.

Granola

1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
1/2 cup slivered almonds
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons good honey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss to combine. Place on a sheet pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Shake the pan every so often. Let the granola cool, and stir once.

Now for the song. Oops, I am only on Day 06.

Day 06 - a Song That Reminds You of Somewhere
Home in the Islands by The Brothers Cazimero

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy birthday to my Dad! Hope you get to eat that yummy, yummy lemon crunch cake from Diamond Head Market & Grill.

This Tree Grows in Redwood City

I am struggling to find any sort of words to say, but I am stuck. All I can process is that after Saturday, ginkgo trees have special meaning for me. Particularly, a young ginkgo tree recently planted in Redwood City. You see, it was planted for and dedicated to the little guy I wrote about in January.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who got together to make sure the tree was planted so that we could all gather together for the dedication.

In Thanks

So I've been sitting on this blog topic for a little bit, and every time I think I want to write about it, I change my mind. Between the earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami activity of the past 24-ish hours, I changed my mind again.

It's time I say how thankful I am for my friends and family. I never say it enough to my family, but I do appreciate them—more than they could ever imagine. But really, I want to "talk" about my friends today.

My friends freaking rock. I pretty much have always known that, but lately...well, lately they have really gone the extra 5,280 feet for me. The most tangible example I can give you is that I need more than two hands to count the number of friends who have opened their home to me. And I don't mean for a short visit.

And that's really all I can say on this right now.

That, and thank you, thank you, thank you.

Happy Girls' Day!

March 3rd is a day known as Girls' Day in Hawaii, or Hinamatsuri in Japan. Culturally, I can't tell you much about it, but we celebrated it in Hawaii when I was growing up. Mainly that entailed having the boys put up all the girls' chairs at the end of the school day. Now that's something from the hanabata days.

Nowadays I don't do anything at all to celebrate Girls' Day except for make some sort of status update on Facebook. Some years I have been known to call up my mom and lament the fact that she didn't send me a Girls' Day present. This year I did no such thing as I am just being grateful.

Happy Birthday to My Grandma

Today is my Grandma's birthday. She rocks. Some tidbits about her:

• She taught me how to sew and iron.
  
• She also used to pick my sisters and me up everyday from school.
  
• When she picked us up from school, my grandma always had some sort of ice cold drink for us. Mostly I remember that it was Tang.
  
• She can't sit still!
  
• She made dinner every night, packed it up, and sent it home with us when my mom picked us up on the way home.

Happy birthday, Grandma! You are the best person I know in this world, and I hope I can some day be as patient and kind as you.

By the way, the picture above is slightly old (circa 2006 I think), but I love this picture of my grandma and her girls.

Happy Birthday

Can't say that I remember when this happened, but my sister, Mindy, was born on this day, 30-something years ago.

Happy birthday, Min! Did you have your spaghetti dinner?

In my family, you get to pick your birthday dinner, and it's been many years since Mindy's had anything else but my mom's spaghetti. If I was at home, I would make her some cupcakes. Next time, next time. Hope you enjoy your annual subscription renewal to National Geographic Traveler, and a new addition to your photo props inventory (obviously, it's not a secret).

How Today is About Football and My Sister

I'm a little distracted by the BCS Championship, so about all I can manage right now is to talk about two things: 1) the BCS; and 2) Mindy Metivier Photography gift certificates.

The BCS. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but I always want to watch the national championship. This year especially (for reasons unknown even to me), I wanted someone to take down the SEC. Maybe it's because I have lived in California since 1996, or maybe it's because I've been brainwashed by all my Trojan and Bruin friends and I cheer for the Pac-10 when my Bows aren't in it (they're never in it). Whatever. I was pulling for the Ducks.

So much so, that the neighbors probably think I'm nuts.

Yes, I yell at the TV.

Well, the yelling is over. The Ducks lost. Ugh.

Silver lining. Silver lining.

Oops, sorry, it's something I've been hearing a lot lately.

So today's silver lining is that soon you will be able to buy gift certificates to Mindy Metivier Photography. How is it silver-lining? Well, even though Oregon lost the BCS today, it is also the same day that my sister announced that she will soon have gift certificates available for purchase. That's good for her, so by extension, I'm thinking it's good for me.

Silver lining. Right.

Eating With the Angry Korean Lady

Last week I went home for Christmas and New Year's, and enjoyed one of my most interesting dining experiences, thanks to my neighbor J, and the Angry Korean Lady.

J and I grew up next to one another, and he's like an older brother to me. Of course, now that we're grown and I live in the mainland, I rarely see either of the T-brothers, so I asked if we could meet up for drinks. For some reason we didn't think about food until a few hours before, and decided to get some Korean food instead.

Lucky me, J suggested Ah-Lang.

Located in the Imperial Plaza at 725 Kapiolani Boulevard, you will find a small Korean restaurant, operated by one woman. She calls herself "the Angry Korean Lady" and on the tables are notes that explain that she is "a one-woman show." Seriously. She does all the cooking, busing, etc. so she has no problem with you filling out your own order and bringing it in the back.

Feeling hungry? Becareful. If she feels like you ordered too much food, she'll come out and tell you that she's changing your order. Think you can handle a spicy rating of 10? You better be able to, because she will come out and tell you to scale it back. There's even more to the story, but I think you should experience it for yourself. One last thing...

Don't go here if you're in a rush. The service happens as its own pace; after all, there's just one person cooking. But, you can bring your own beverages (you gotta love Hawaii) and enjoy a leisurely meal.

In case you're wondering, we ordered kalbi and soon do bu. It was so yummy and affordable!

Great, now I'm hungry.

There's No Place Like Home

Akemashite Omedetoo Gozaimasu.

In case you're wondering about the photo above, that's how we celebrate the New Year in Hawaii. Culturally, we pop firecrackers to chase the bad spirits away; pop-culturally we do it for the fire and explosions.


If you have never spent a New Year's Eve in Hawaii, you are missing out. The food is great and there are firecrackers galore (until 2011 becomes 2012). I think I would feel totally discombobulated without all the noise and smoke.

Other New Year's traditions include cleaning the house (again, to get rid of all the bad spirits), pounding mochi, and eating ozoni and kuromame.


The mailbox has been through quite a lot over the years. This is how it looked in the first few minutes of 2011.

The Last Baby Blanket of 2010

Here's a blanket, made by special-request! It was a little weird making a blanket with two different football teams (this was for a two-team household), but that is mostly because I struggled with matching the fabric. It seems to have turned out okay though.


An up-close view so you can see the hand-quilting I did, and so you can see my team, the Colts.


This is just so you can see a bench that has appeared in photo shoots by Mindy Metivier Photography. By the way, this blanket was made in California and Hawaii.

Until We Meet Again

Aloha 'oe to you, my sweet, inquisitive, little friend. The opportunity to know you is one of the best things about my life in the Bay Area.


Here we are in the summer of 2008 at a concert in the park.


And here you are on the first day we got to meet you. I think you're sleeping in the blanket I knitted for you.

I've been looking for something that best sums up the sadness I feel, and I found what Alfred Tennyson wrote:

Gone-flitted away,
Taken the stars from the night and the sun from the day!
Gone, and a cloud in my heart...

My Grandma. In Her White Car.

Yesterday, my dear friend, author of the Footprints blog, shared a story about the car her dad drove. This immediately reminded me of my most embarrassing moment with my grandma, and this is something Mrs. S. wants me to share.

My story also involves an oh-so-shame car.

Let me start with this: my grandma is freaking awesome. She is one of the nicest, kindest, most generous people I have ever known. My grandma epitomizes the word, "grandma." From elementary through the early parts of high school, she picked us up from school everyday in her white 1960s Plymouth.

The embarrassing moment came on one of those days, in that car.

So the car was this huge, white, 1960s American behemoth. As a kid, it was embarrassing because it was so old. On top of that, my grandma drove extremely slow (she got her license late in life, after my grandpa's incapacitating stroke, and she never drove on the freeways). I always felt bad for the people behind us. Of course, my grandma was oblivious.

Then one day, someone did something that made her mad, and out the window she yelled, "DAAAMMNN YOU!!!" She may have shaken her fist out the window.

Are you sinking down a little in your chair for me? Maybe covering your eyes? I know I did. After all, she was driving so slow that you could see all the people on the sidewalks turn and look.

Can you even imagine my sweet grandma bellowing those words out the window of her car? Well, she did.

Come On People

There are days when all I can do is roll my eyes, sigh and angrily grumble, "People suck." Unfortunately, it feels like these days happen on a much-too-frequent basis.

Yesterday was a "People Suck Day" after I read a high school friend's status update on Facebook. Some people broke into her grandma's house and robbed it. Included among the stolen items was the urn containing her grandpa's ashes; which also happens to be the one and only thing they want back. Their story is making it's way through the news reports in Hawaii, and hopefully the thieves see the story and the message sinks in. Just give back the ashes and the urn.

It is awful enough to be robbed. Not only are you missing things of value, you are left with a tumbling mass of helpless frustration, anger and emptiness. It would be infinitely worse to have something of such great sentimental value stolen. People really need to start thinking about other people and how they would feel if the roles were reversed.