Oyster Rolls

I love oysters.

I will eat them raw.  I will eat them cooked.

I've eaten raw oysters on both coasts of the United States and in a foreign country.  I bought oyster shooters from some seafood stand in Pike Place Market.  In a fit of drunkenness, my friend DY and I went to a seafood restaurant up the street from our apartment, sat at the bar, and had a bunch of oysters before stumbling home.  My raw oyster experience on the opposite coast was much tamer.  My family and I went to a raw bar in Lexington Market (Baltimore) and filled up on oysters and clams.  I couldn't believe how fast those guys could shuck oysters!  When The Help and I went to Victoria, we enjoyed a cold platter at a seafood restaurant near the harbor.  I got to eat all of the raw oysters on the platter.

Whenever I go to Miyo's, I cannot help but order the fried oysters.  Having attempted, with very pathetic results, frying them at home myself, I can appreciate Miyo's.  I wanted to try the grilled oysters on sticks which were being sold on Miyajima, but I never got around to it.  Until I go back, missing out on the experience will always haunt me.

Unfortunately, the people I live with don't share my enthusiasm for oysters.  They just don't get it.  Losers.

But they will eat oyster rolls.  Go figure.  I think its because the oysters are chopped and there are other ingredients in the mix.  I suppose you could say it's rather underhanded of me to "hide" the oysters.  Oh well, it works.  And in spite of being allergic to some shellfish, D1 can eat oysters, which is a big plus for her since much of the food she associates with home contains oyster sauce.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Oyster Rolls

     2 cans (8 oz each) whole oysters, drained and chopped
     1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
     2 can (4 oz each) mushroom stems & pieces, drained and chopped
     2 tbsp cornstarch
     2 eggs
     1 lb fishcake paste
     2 tbsp sugar
     1 tbsp shoyu
     1/4 tsp 5-spice
     1/4 c chopped green onions
     panko
     oil for frying

Combine cornstarch and eggs with a whisk.  Mix in fishcake paste, sugar, shoyu, and 5-spice.  Stir in oysters, water chestnuts, mushrooms and green onions.  Heat oil in a skillet.  Place panko in a small bowl.  Drop heaping tablespoons (#40 disher) of mixture into panko.  Coat completely with panko then shape into 2-inch long flat oval.  Fry in heated oil, turning once.  Drain on paper towels.  Serve with shoyu-oyster sauce mix.

I barely survived the stress from the Summer Ends music festival from a few weeks ago, when D1 dropped another bomb on me.  She told me her school has a fall break too and she was going to visit friends in California and she was going to take the Greyhound bus to get there.  I was okay up until the "take the Greyhound bus" part.  I was hoping Mr. Dependable would put the brakes on this, but he didn't.

So D1 went on an 8-hour bus ride to downtown LA with her friend A, who was actually going home for the break.  She had contacted the SoCal Uncles earlier in the week, and fortunately, UDus was in town and able to get her from the station, which, I discovered, isn't too far from Skid Row.  Frick!  UDus got her safely to Orange County where she met up with Hawaii friends.

D1 sent me a bunch of pics from her trip.  I guess she had a lot of fun.  She mentioned going to Knotts.  Gee, it's been over 20 years since I've been to Knotts.  I'm sure the attractions have changed a lot.  I wonder if they still offer the chicken dinner.

Of course, all the vicarious happiness garnered from D1's fall break trip was tempered by the anxiety of her getting safely back to AZ.  OMG!  I was on pins and needles hoping she'd make it back to the Greyhound station on time.  It didn't help that she was going back on the overnight bus.  Then came the worry of how she'd get to campus.  I'm glad all went smoothly, and later that day, I received a pic of yukgaejang and banchan from HoDoRi, which seems to be the mainland doppelganger of Restaurant Osaka (she said they also make good katsu).


While D1 was stretching her wings and doing all kinds of shit, D2 was also keeping busy.  Mr. Dependable arranged golf lessons for her.  So far, things seem to be working out.  She hasn't grumbled about going.  We'll see how long this will last. . .

On behalf of all of us here, I'd like to extend a huge high-five to the man who re-energized my career.  Thank you for bringing be back and giving me the opportunity to spend valuable time with my children.  Thank you for helping me remember why I do what I do.  Thank you for having faith in me.  Best wishes in your new endeavor.  I hope our paths will meet again one day.

A Healthier Spam Musubi

Christmas came and went in the Kikukat house.  All decorations have since been put away, and the tree has gone to the tree graveyard.  I can't believe I waited until I was on vacation to get sick.  I managed to avoid catching a cold all semester, yet I somehow had to be sick at Christmas.  Being sick certainly put a damper on my enjoyment.  Bleccchhhh.  I'm a little better now, but I am still hacking away.  I hope to be better by New Years, especially since I've been tasked with making a bunch of desserts for a party at CAE's house.

Since we are on vacation, the Ds have been home with me and are always looking for food.  We have a pantry full of food they can have, but they never seem to like my suggestions.  I guess even Cup O Noodle gets boring.

D1 isn't too picky about food.  Her food range is huge so she can usually find something to eat.  D2 is my picky eater.  She seldom wants what we have.  For a quick lunch, I've driven up the road to Ainaola Mart to buy the Ds mini laulau plate, but I can't do that every day.

One thing both Ds like to eat is Spam musubi.  Spam Musubi is such a decadent dish.  Sure, it may have humble beginnings with the Spam, a relatively inexpensive filler (rice), and a thin seaweed wrapper, but it is certainly decadent in terms of taste.

The easiest place to get it is 7-11.  They seem to have an endless supply.  Unfortunately, we don't live close to any of the four 7-11s in Hilo.  L & L Drive In also makes Spam musubi, but we don't live near any of those establishments either. 

The next, and obvious choice, is to make it at home.  It takes some time (waiting for the rice to cook), but homemade Spam musubi is truly better than what you can buy at 7-11, L & L or any okazu-ya.  We make ours a fraction healthier by substituting some of the white rice with brown rice.  Most kids don't care much for brown rice, but it's barely noticeable in a 1:3 proportion.  Some places do not do a good job of seasoning the Spam.  I've had Spam musubi where the Spam was just fried.  When you make it at home, you can go through the effort of cooking the Spam in a generous amount of teriyaki sauce.  When putting together the musubi, we also sprinkle on some furikake (Ds like katsuo or ebi flavor).  Kikukat Mom adds a squirt of neri ume (paste) for another taste dimension.  Some places will go the extra step and bread and fry the Spam (Spam katsu musubi) or add a thin sheet of fried egg into the musubi.  I noticed that KTA will make Spam musubi with beautiful edamame rice.  The possibilities are endless!

As the cook, there is also lots of latitude in presentation.  I have a mold which enables me to wrap a long Spam musubi (2 slices of Spam at a time).  Once wrapped, I cut the long piece in half to make 2 Spam-length musubis.  From there, you can either cut at a 45-degree angle (pictured) or just a flat cut (cut each half into halves or thirds).  The 45-degree angle cut is my choice for a platter.  The angles look very elegant.

In addition to the stay-at-home lunches which can be satisfied with Spam musubi, Spam musubi is a great potluck dish.  I'm saying this since we are in the midst of the holiday party season.  Its not hard to make a bunch of Spam musubi for a party.  If I'm taking Spam musubi to a potluck in a container, I would go with the flat cut in thirds, especially if I know there will be lots of other goodies to eat.  Leftovers can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, placed in a ziploc bag, and reheated for about 15 seconds in the microwave.  The key is to wrap them as tightly as possible and store them in an air-tight an environment as you can manage...double ziploc or ziploc in a sealed container.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Spam Musubi

     1 rice cooker cup brown rice

     3 rice cooker cups white rice

     water

     1 can spam

     2 tbsp brown sugar, packed

     2 tbsp shoyu

     1 tbsp mirin

     furikake (optional)

     neri ume (optional)

     5 sheets nori (roasted seaweed sheet)

Wash rice and cook as usual in electric rice cooker.  While rice is cooking, slice Spam into 10 slices.  Fry on both sides in a skillet.  Add brown sugar, shoyu, and mirin.  Cook until liquid is gone. Dampen spam musubi mold with water and proceed according to the type of spam musubi mold you are using: 

If using Spam musubi mold with flat packing plates, insert lower plate into mold, smooth side up.  Pack half-full with rice and press down with other packing plate.  Sprinkle furikake, if using.  Squeeze neri ume, if using.  Place Spam on rice.  Add more rice to fill mold.  Pack with packing plate.  Remove lower packing plate and center mold on sheet of nori. 

If using Spam musubi mold with single packing plate, center empty Spam musubi mold on sheet of nori.  Pack half-full with rice and press down with packing plate.  Sprinkle furikake, if using.  Squeeze neri ume, if using.  Place Spam on rice.  Add more rice to fill mold.  Pack with packing plate.  Pressing down on packing plate, slice mold up, leaving rice on nori.  

Roll tightly with nori.  Wrap in waxed paper.  Let set at least 10 minutes before cutting with a dampened knife.  Keep knife damp in order to minimize sticking.

On January 2, 2015, I will be busy watching my beloved Huskies kick some Pistol Pete butt in the Cactus Bowl.  Hope Coach Peterson will be able to win his first bowl game as a Husky coach.  Ironically, the game will be played in Tempe, AZ (guessing Sun Devil stadium).  ASU is one of D1s choices for college...and probably my wish for her...sorry, Wildcats.  Tempe is just much more convenient to the airport.    

The Ds, while grateful for gifts they received at Christmas, seemed much happier helping Kikukat Mom and Dad with their gifts. 

Missy and D1

Tuffy and D2

Since this will be my last post of 2014, I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy closing out of 2014.  I'll be here in 2015, looking forward to bigger and brighter things.  Things should definitely be brighter soon for me...going to the big city to get my eyes checked out by a glaucoma specialist.  I have Kikukat Mom and Dad to thank for this.

Thank you all for reading my blog!  See you in 2015!