Fried Mahimahi

I guess summer is here.  The rain has tapered off, the termites come around, and I haven't had to turn on my electric blankie for over a week.

When the weather turns warm, I try to serve food that won't add much to the heat...more veggies...less rice...no "gravy" foods.  The warm weather is also perfect for outdoor eating and "build your own" foods like fish tacos.

For several years, I've been making breaded mahi (short for mahimahi).  Breaded mahi/fried mahi, is an okazuya staple.  Pieces of golden brown fillets line trays, waiting to be packed in a box lunch.  "Breaded" usually refers to the use of panko breadcrumbs.  The Ds and The Help enjoy mahi because it's easy to eat; no bones to pick out.  I like making fried mahi at home (maybe because The Help makes the absolute best tartar sauce).  I would post his recipe for tartar sauce, but I am certain he doesn't use a recipe.  Magically, it turns out delicious every time.

In spite of willingly consuming breaded mahi, The Help isn't normally much of a fish, rice, and Japanese pickles eater.  So it wasn't a huge surprise when he broke from the norm and used my breaded mahi in fish tacos.  I suppose the stars were all in the right place. . .we happened to have won bok, carrots, purple cabbage, tortillas, AND salsa, on hand.

Whether you have breaded mahi in a bento, with rice or in a taco, making it at home isn't too difficult.  The results are delicious and well worth the effort.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Fried Mahimahi

     1 lb mahimahi, thinly sliced

     1 tbsp sugar

     2 tbsp cornstarch

     1 tsp salt

     1 tbsp sake

     1/2 tsp curry powder

     1 tbsp shoyu

     1 egg, beaten

     1 1/2 c panko

     oil for frying

Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, sake, curry powder and shoyu.  Add mahimahi and marinate for 1 hour.  Heat oil in a skillet.   Dip fish into beaten egg then roll in panko.  Fry until golden brown.

    

It seems like it's been a while since I went anywhere.  But a few weeks ago, I went to Honolulu to "fix" my shoulder.  A trip to Honolulu would not have been complete without visiting the newest (for now) member of my family, Cody.  Big congratulations go out to his parents, LA and Stason, and his beaming grandpa Miles.  Cody will have many rich years of listening to Grandpa Miles' stories about his youth, the dangers of going into Waikiki, and how he didn't enjoy napping while he was younger.

And we will forgive Stason for his ugly shirt.






Although I was in town for only an evening, I managed to get my dim sum fix.  We tried a new place called Yum Cha.  I was excited to see xiao long bao on the menu.  It was actually just okay, although this was the first place in Hawaii where I've actually had xiao long bao.  My previous experience has been limited to Din Tai Fung, so perhaps it's not a fair comparison.  The shrimp look funn was delicious.  Yum Cha is one of those places on Oahu where you can get the cute animal buns (I think the other place is Panda Dim Sum, a place I have yet to try).

The animal buns are dessert buns.  The piggies are filled with custard, and the doggies (sorry, no pic) have a black bean filling.  If you know me, then you know why there is no doggie bun pic.  I'm not a big fan of black bean.

The Help had to have his steamed char siu bao, and we also had an order of lo bok gao.  I managed to eat just one of the piggie buns because I could not leave without having my favorite, mango pudding.

For our only dinner,  it was a no-brainer.  We ended up at Tonkatsu Tamafuji.  I was smarter this time and ordered the white rice.  But next time, I think I will try the oyster and shrimp combo.  I don't think I need to eat the pork loin katsu again...not because it wasn't good, but it was just too heavy.

Since returning home, I've been putting a lot of time into my recovery.  In addition to physical therapy, I've been trying to stretch and do more at home.  While I am not back to normal yet, I can tell that I have made progress.  I can actually put on my own deodorant and wash my own hair.

While all this was happening, Kilauea volcano continued producing lava.  It is rather difficult to grasp the magnitude of changes which have occurred in the lower Puna area in the past 5 weeks.  I know of several people who had to evacuate, as well as others who have actually lost their homes.  D1 called me last week Thursday to tell me her long-time friend no longer has a home in Kapoho.  This is not a stranger.  This is someone who has spent time with our family over the years.  It's difficult to find words.

The Help allowed a friend to try out his Fuji, and he captured this amazing picture from his bedroom.   The foreground is bayfront (downtown Hilo).  The lava fountain (fissure 8) is about 20 miles away.

photo credit:  Nakaz42

And yesterday, I received an awesome gift from the valley of the sun. . .D1 returned! 😻

Okazuya Food: Eggplant and Spam Tempura

Once again, the short week did me in.  I just cannot seem to get my act together.  And being pulled out for one of those four days didn't help.  I need to pull up my big girl panties because I will be out two days this week. 

I spent a few hours on Saturday at a band festival.  I am so NOT a band person.  The hook to getting people there was all-you-can-eat hot dogs.  Red hot dogs.  Hilo kine.  Anyone from Hilo knows exactly what I mean.  Always a step behind, I ended up buying all ten tickets D2 had to sell.  Fortunately, I had a few hungry friends (ollieMama and her crew and The Keeper) who were willing to give up a few hours on Saturday to eat hot dogs and listen to adolescent band kids perform.  KikukatMom and KikukatDad were also in the house.  I thing the band made $ off of us.  Nobody ate more than two hot dogs.  Oh wait.  I think The Help ate three five.

The band festival was in the gym at the high school down the road.  KikukatDad almost died there when a lady with horrific body odor sat by him.  He HAD to move.  How could the lady not realize she stinks?  How could the people with her allow her to get so stink?  This wasn't an old person. . .40-something.  No excuse.  And people sitting rows above could smell her too.

After the band festival, D2 had a few friends over.  They spent the afternoon and part of the evening hanging out.  I thought they might play in the pool, but the afternoon was overcast so nobody went in the water.

Believe it or not, I had a goal for the weekend.  The goal was to eat some poke.  Several times this week, I passed a sign outside of WikiWiki Mart advertising fresh poke.  It was a reminder that I haven't had my favorite poke in a while. . ."mixed plate" poke from Suisan.  I meant to get a half-pound of it this weekend, but by the time I was able to get to Suisan, there was hardly anything left.  I ended up with a half-pound of wasabi salmon poke (this is probably the only time I eat a lick of wasabi, and it's only because I can't taste any wasabi in the salmon poke), which I planned to have for dinner.

But on the way home, I didn't feel much like cooking, so The Help suggested we go out for dinner.  I'm not sure why he suggested it, but thirty minutes later, we found ourselves headed to Noodle Club in Waimea.  Yummm.  The bao buns are a no-miss.  The KFC (Korean Fried Chicken, which is not the Korean chicken I posted the other week) was a winner too.  In fact, I'm going to be attempting a copycat version of it with some homemade kochujang. . .when I'm done with all of my other projects.

After all that feasting, I turned to something simpler for Sunday, eggplant and Spam tempura.  This is something KikukatMom cooked occasionally.  Aunty Mo, my friend Colleen's mom also made it.  I see it occasionally at Hilo Lunch Shop, but I stopped buying it after I had a few bitter eggplant ones.  I even saw it at some small okazuya in Honolulu (located on a side street near one of the Kim Chee restaurants between Makiki and McKinley High School).  I have no idea where The Help has been all these years, but he thought I invented this dish.  He was skeptical of my "creativity", but he ended up eating mound of these.

I tried cutting the Spam two different ways:  as coins (Hilo Lunch Shop and KikukatMom style) and as logs (Aunty Mo style).  I think I prefer it cut as coins, but the coins only work if the eggplant has a certain diameter (1-1/2 inches or more).  Skinny eggplants should be cut as logs.  As with all fried foods, leftovers should be reheated in a toaster oven.

 click on recipe title for printable recipe

Eggplant and Spam Tempura

     4 long eggplant
     1/2-1 can Spam
     1 c flour
     2 tsp baking powder
     1/4 tsp salt
     1 c cold water
     oil for frying

Slice long eggplant into 1 1/2" slices (same as width of a piece of Spam).  Eggplant can also be sliced into coins, 3/4-1" thick.  Cut through middle of eggplant, but do not cut all the way through.  Slice Spam into 1/4" thick slices.  Cut Spam to fit into slits made in eggplant.  Set aside.  Heat 1 - 1 1/2" of oil to 375 degrees.  Sift flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add cold water and mix gently.  Dip Spam/eggplant pieces into batter and fry until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.