Shredded Mango

I am completely exhausted.  I cannot even think how I got through the week, but I must have because here I am.  I'm hoping this week will be kind.

My weekend was quite busy.  I worked on Friday night at a game.  Since it was late, I ended up with my favorite fast food dinner. . . monster taco and curly fries from Jack In The Box.  Yummm.

The Help and I sped off to Kona on Saturday afternoon, hoping to beat the closing time of a lighting store near Costco.  We made it, but the store did not have what we needed.  Now I need to decide what I'm going to do about my dining room lights.  Currently, the lights I have are unusable.

I felt a little guilty about dragging The Help to Kona on his birthday, but he was nice about it.  We ended up buying food for his birthday dinner.  Costco is the only place I know of on the Big Island where you can buy prime beef.  Costco parking lot was crazy, and the inside was just as bad.  For the second trip in a row, I was unable to locate beef brisket.  With the warm weather, I'd like to smoke a brisket soon.  I meant to go back to the seafood kiosk for giant prawns, but by the time I remembered, I was out of the store and didn't have the gumption to brave the masses once again.  Next time I will remember.  I need to get my fill of crab, lobster, and shrimp before D1 gets home.  I don't want to be party to tempting fate.

One thing which paid off this week was having leftover ham from the weekend.  It was nice to come home, knowing dinner was gonna be easy.  You can do lots of things with ham.  I made chowder, quiche, and, of course b-f-d.  I didn't bother cooking much this past weekend (remember the craft projects needed to be finished) so I won't be as lucky this week.  I'm hoping Aloha Mondays will have something I can eat (no mustard or wasabi).

During the first part of spring break, I ordered a handful of craft books.  Only 2 have arrived, so I've been diligently reminding The Help to stop off at the mailboxes daily.  On one of the stops (I make him get the mail while D2 and I look for our friend the green anole), I noticed a bunch of small, unripe fruit on the mango tree in the backyard of the corner house.  Later, when I looked at fb, I saw that a friend had posted a pic of pickled mango.  I guess GREEN mango season is here.

I love green mango season even more than ripe mango season.  While pickled mango makes a kick ass snack, my favorite mango snack is shredded mango.  Making shredded mango is a bit more labor-intensive than pickled mango, but the results are definitely worth it.  And with all the publicity about the shit that people find in imported preserves, making your own is the way to go.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Shredded Mango

     10-12 green mangoes, peel and slice in 1/4" thick strips

     4 tbsp rock salt, divided

     1 1/4 c turbinado (raw) sugar

     1 lb brown sugar

     1 tsp grated orange rind

     1/4 tsp red gel food coloring

     1 tsp 5-spice

In a large bowl, sprinkle mango strips with 2 tbsp rock salt.  Toss gently.  Cover and let sit overnight.  Rinse mango strips and drain well.  Place mango strips in large pot and add 2 tbsp rock salt, turbinado sugar, brown sugar, orange rind, food coloring, and 5-spice.  Bring to a boil.  Cook for 30 minutes on medium heat (gentle boil).  Cool completely before packing.

Okazuya Food: Kimpira Gobo

Back in June of 2011, I blogged about spicy shredded potatoes.  In that post, I went on and on about a yummy gobo aroma in the vicinity of Komohana Street.  Its the same smell that the old Hilo Lunch Shop (when it was across the street from Chiefess Kapiolani Elementary School) used to hit you with when you walked through the double screen doors.

This past weekend, The Rents went to Waimea to pick up a big box of daikon for pickles.  The vendor gave them a bunch of gobo, and I was lucky enough to get a big fat stalk.  After peeling the stick (I had to ask The Help for directions on peeling gobo, as I don't remember ever seeing it prepared; The Help remembered his gramma cooking gobo so was able to tell me what to do. . .he was actually supposed to do it for me!).  After a few minutes, I realized there was no way I was going to shred the darn thing by hand, so I got out the food processor and the julienne disc (the same one I used for spicy shredded potatoes) and shredded the gobo in minutes.  And just like the potatoes, a salad spinner makes quick work of drying the gobo shreds.

If you don't own a salad spinner, I have some free advice to give out.  Buy one which doesn't have a cord.  The cord eventually gets frayed and guji-gaji.  Once that cord breaks, the spinner will need replacing anyway.  The model I like is the OXO brand.  There is no cord to break, and its easy to clean.  I had a large one and a smaller one, but I gave the larger one to The Rents (now THEY can store it).

The cooking part went by quickly too, and we were able to eat kimpira gobo with our leftover kun pao fried tofu, salty fish fried rice, and spicy bbq pork. . .lotsa heat on a single plate!

Speaking of heat, early last week, the union members in Zone school voted to ratify the extended learning time memorandum of agreement which will give teachers at Zone schools a 17% increase in salary and a 19% increase in work time.  Who the fuck taught these teachers math is beyond me?!?  A stinking 17% in pay is not worth my 19% less freedom time.  Teachers say they put in the extra time anyway so they might as well get paid for it.  Yes, teachers work hard, but right now, they are choosing what they do when they put in that extra time.  When $ compensation is given for that extra time, they will not get to choose what they do in that extra time; orders will be dictated.  I wonder if they actually thought they could choose what they do during that extra time.  They must be smoking something.  Just saying.  But for the High Commander, I would've put in the time on my own, without any compensation.  Again, just saying.

I have four days left until I begin my spring break.  Please pray for me that I will be able to control the hot lava spewing from my mouth these days. But I need to go see someone at _____ High & Intermediate tomorrow, so there is a good chance I will not be able to contain myself!

 click on recipe title for printable recipe
Kimpira Gobo

     1 lb gobo, shredded or cut into matchsticks

     3 c water

     1 tbsp vinegar

     1 tsp salt

     oil
     1 tbsp (or more) dried shrimp

     3 tbsp shoyu

     3 tbsp sugar

     3 tbsp sake

     1 chili pepper, seeds removed

Combine water, vinegar, and salt.  As soon as gobo is shredded or cut, place in water mixture.  Drain.  Heat oil in a skillet.  Add dried shrimp and saute a few minutes.  Add gobo and remaining ingredients.  Stir-fry until all liquid is absorbed.