Hawaii

New Year's on the Beach

By Nathan Tsai

March 13^th, 2018

wintering on the islands

As members of my family get busier and busier, it becomes vital to ensure that we make time for each other. Spending time at home over the holidays is viable, but it becomes too easy to fall back into the habitual drudgery of work and anti-social distractions.

The holiday season provides a perfect excuse to get everyone together, out of the house, and sharing time. This year, we vetoed Tahoe (too cold), Mexico (too far), the Central Coast of California (too rainy), and Vancouver (too cold, too far and too rainy). We ended up settling on Hawai'i—a destination that was farther from Mexico and rainier than California.

It was, at least, warmer than Tahoe.

Do-ne

1614 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96826

As always, eating is a priority. While I never have the chance to record every meal I eat as I'm too busy stuffing my face, on this trip, I was using a new lens which made it much more difficult to capture the food up close. My unfamiliarity meant that if I rushed a shot, it would end up being not usable. However, this also had the effect of filtering out the restaurants I really enjoyed; the ones I liked, I spent significantly more time trying to line everything up.

Do-ne is a cozy little place tucked into an inconspicuous strip mall. The furnishings are basic and the space is tight, but the service is wonderful and the food is homey.

Every nation seems to have their own standardized formula for interpreting the foods of other cultures. In the United States, food tends to become sweeter, saltier, and the ingredients and preperation trend towards the simple side of things.

Teriyaki is a great example of Americanized Japanese food. Traditionally, teriyaki was a method of preperation which involved soaking a piece of fish or meat in a soy sauce marinade and then broiling (yaki—焼き) to completion. The signature look of teriyaki is the shine or luster (teri—照り) the resultant food is imbued with. This is because the marinade is made only with mirin (a sugary rice wine) and soy sauce. In the broiler, this sauce acts as a glaze and the result is a slightly sweet, slightly savory, and fully flavorful morsel of meat.

This is a far cry from what we Americans know as "Teriyaki". We're used to an un-marinated, bland slab of meat which is grilled to death, then drowned in a unbearably sweet and savory sauce which in many cases, is just sugar and soy sauce. It's simple, it's got the major flavors, and it's quick to prepare. It sure gets boring.

Do-ne seeks to shed the Americanization and return to the roots of Japanese cuisine. As far as I could tell, there was only one elderly Japanese woman manning the kitchen, just one server running the entire restaurant, and a roomful of Japanese sararīman and tiny families burbling and murmuring in Japanese. Each dish was thoughtfully plated, casually comforting, and just tasty. We could have been eating in a fami-resu in Osaka and I wouldn't have been surprised.

The food was magnificent.

Easily the best meal of the trip.

night

I am still uncomfortable when traveling with a camera. I'm used to being inconspicuous as I move from one place to another; always watching, learning, and eating, but never noticed. A camera makes this a much more difficult task. Standing still in the flow of a street or pulling out a mechanical cyclops as the server politely waits to explain the food is truly contrary to my preferred way of exploring and eating.

However, I think that it's important—for my own sake—to document the things I see and learn so that my memories don't fade away as quickly.

Honolulu is a beautiful town to wander at night and the colors and streets are a wonderful blend of old American construction and modern monoliths.

MW

1538 Kapiolani Blvd #107, Honolulu, HI 96814

MW is one of the few restaurants that really, truly, sincerely tries to blend different cultures and cuisines together. I find that "fusion" restaurants end up either serving standard dishes from both cultures, or adding an ingredient from one cuisine into a traditional dish from another. Those who are familiar with "Cantonese-Western restaurants" will know that one can order a French-Onion soup (complete with Gruyère) and order a plate of pan-fried soy sauce beef noodles in the same breath.

MW makes a concerted effort to really push the boundaries on cooking and the borders of food culture. They take their tasting ideas from Japan/China/Korea, "Mainland America", and Hawai'i (which is already a fusion of American/Asian cuisine).

Take the Unagi and Butterfish Arancini (3) as an example. From a first glance, it looks very much like a bog-standard takoyaki. It has the katsuobushi and fried balls of yummy. These are no ordinary octopus balls however. Instead of using the traditional components, MW takes a leaf out of a current American dining trend and substitutes ingredients from an arancini. Instead of flour, risotto is used; instead of octopus, a more local fishy flavor of unagi and butterfish are employed. On the streets of Japan, takoyaki is served with mayonaise and tonkatsu sauce, but here, the chefs at MW think they can do better and instead use a creamy mustard (for the mayonaise) and nori tsukudani (for the tonkatsu). They reach across the Pacific on both sides and draw from local inspiration to create a dish that is uniquely local, traditional, and exotic in the same breath.

The other plates were:

"Fried Chicken" with Pressed Jidori Chicken, Garlic Soy Sauce (1): This chicken was prepared exactly like a dish at a local SF restaurant (In Situ) who in turn, borrowed it from someone else. Truth be told, I was not very impressed with the dish; the chicken was dry, the sauce boring, and the entire assembly unwieldy.

"Pizza Soup" with Garlic Cheese Bread (2): Literally soup made with pizza ingredients. Tasted like a pizza. Served with a pizza. Different.

Chef's Appetizer Trio (4): A small collection of small-bites. None memorable, all forgettable.

The entrées were the stars of the night. They were all, without a doubt, great.

However, the one dish that stood out among the others was the Mochi Crusted Kona Kampachi (3). Holy moly was that a great dish. It started off with a filet of fish cooked to perfection. Then, the fish was dunked into mochi flour (sweet, glutinous rice flour) and then flash pan-fried to a crisp. This was served over a bed of somen noodles which was sauced by a tangy yuzu vinaigrette and accompanied by a side of Korean kimchi. The flavors and textures were all there. The fish was savory, umami and tender; the mochi was sweet with hints of umami, and crispy; the noodles were delicate, fragrant, and lightly sour; and the kimchi brought in a spicy kick, crunchiness, and another mini-rush of sour-umami.

The other plates were:

Hot Chinese Roast Duck Sandwich with Japanese White Bread, Five Spice Gravy (1): An Asian take on a French Dip. Good flavor with very tender and succulent duck. It just seemed much easier to eat with a fork and knife. At that point, what's the need for the sliced bread?

"Beef and Foie Gras" with Braised Shortrib, Foie Gras, Truffeld Smashed Potatoes (2): This was a Western dish mostly through and through. The shortrib was perhaps flavored with a bit of mirin and soy sauce, but a very rich, heavy, American dish.

Smoked Kurobuta Pork Loin with Butternut Squash Gratin, Sauteed Vegetables, Cranberry Sauce (4): Japanese pork prepared in a traditional Southern style, similar flavor to the greatest pork chop I've ever eaten. Vegetables were prepared in a Chinese manner (quickly cooked over high heat) but the cranberries and gratin were distinctly American. Very cool dish.

Ah, the dessert.

The Tropical Fruit Creamsicle "Brûlée" (1) stole the show. Light, not too sweet, and layered with (from bottom to top): tapioca pearls, lilikoi sorbet, tropical fruits, and lilikoi custard. The brûlée gave the dish a nice crunch, the tapioca lent a mild chewiness, and the rest of the dessert in between was heavenly.

The Hawaiian Crown "Bannana Cream Pie" (2) was less to my taste, but was still great. Heavier and chocolatier, the chocolate pudding and banana ice cream really formed the nexus of the dish. Adding in roasted soybean flour for the "pie" and sliced bananas really toned out the dessert into a full, sweet, yummy mess.

MW had many hits, some misses, and nothing in between. It wasn't "comfortable" eating, but it sure was inventive. My taste buds and brain were being pulled from one side to another just trying to understand the food. Ultimately, MW is the type of restaurant which is great to go to every other year, but it's not a place to eat at every night.

Bokeh Fuzz

The colors of Honolulu are just lovely.

Pai

55 Merchant St Suite 110, Honolulu, HI 96813

I don't have much to write about Pai simply because I spent more than half the meal in the ER. I had been SCUBA diving and was getting over the flu and I ended up very dehydrated, hyperventilating, with a numb face and uncontrollably shaking hands.

It turns out that drinking water is a generally important thing to do.

I was told that the meal was decent, but not great. My recollection is a bit hazy, but I remember all of my dishes being unbearably salty.

pictures here and there

I want to give credit to my brother who took several of these photos featured on this trip. I was sick for a sizable length of time and he helped capture the things I missed.

Footnotes

Photos were taken with a Fuji 56mm 1.4. Gah-lee was it the wrong lens to use for food. I almost had to shove plates over to another table just to be able to take a picture that was relatively infocus.