Joan’s Healthy Recipes How you doin’? I have vacationed in Hawaii many times. I love the islands, the people and the food. But I never really thought that much about traditional Hawaiian foods until I met Alan Wong at CanoeHouse Restaurant at the Mauna Lani resort on the Big Island. Back then, Alan was an up-and-coming star chef and Hawaiian philosopher. Alan knows more about Hawaiiana than anyone else I know. That’s where I learned about traditional Poke (pronounced poh-KAY). Poke is diced raw fish served either as an appetizer or a main course and is one of the main dishes of Native Hawaiian cuisine. Traditional forms are aku and heʻe. Heʻe poke is sometimes called by its Japanese name tako poke in places where the Hawaiian language is not spoken. A traditional Hawaiian poke bowl consists of white rice topped with raw fish that's been marinated in a blend of sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions and other spices. Since the ingredients in a modern poke bowl can vary widely, the nutrition content can vary as well. In recent years, poke bowls have become more popular across many cities on the United States mainland due to the emergence of new chains like Pokéworks, Poké Bar and Sweetfin, but Hawaiians have been enjoying this colorful and flavorful delicacy since the 1800s. Today, there are thousands of restaurants around the world specializing in poke bowls or featuring poke on their menus. Over the years poke bowls have become more diversified. Some don't even feature fresh fish! That said, in traditional poke bowls the fish is the star and everything else acts like the chorus line. Poke means "chunk" or "slice" in Hawaiian. Poke bowls started becoming widely consumed during the late 19th century when Japanese workers in Hawaii introduced "donburi," a traditional Japanese dish made with raw fish and rice, to the islands. Traditionally, poke is made with ahi tuna, but it can also be made with marinated salmon, cooked shrimp or even tofu for a vegan option. Until the 1970s, it was very difficult to find a poke bowl outside of Hawaii. With the popularization of sushi and the rise in global fish exports, now they're sold all over the world. However, many traditionalists say mainland poke just isn't the same. The biggest difference between a poke bowl in Hawaii and a poke bowl served elsewhere is the number of ingredients… and fresh ingredients speak for themselves. So, always start with the freshest fish possible. "If you’re sourcing from your local fish market, ask for sashimi or sushi-grade cuts. It’s a bit pricy but it’s the best. Aside from the traditional poke marinade comprised of shoyu soy sauce, sesame oil, sweet Maui (or yellow) onion, spice (like red pepper flakes or "gochugaru," Korean chili pepper), seaweed and ginger. Recipes vary, but most call for marinating the fish for at least two hours to allow the flavors to be absorbed. Steamed white rice is a traditional poke bowl base, but today carb-conscious eaters are opting for shredded lettuce or zoodles (zucchini noodles). You’ll feel like you've been transported directly to Hawaii! Prep time: 10 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 1 pound fresh sashimi-grade ahi steak chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes 1-1/2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, plus more to taste 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 3/4 teaspoon Hawaiian salt (alaea salt), plus more or less to taste 1/4 cup thinly sliced Maui or yellow onion 1/2 cup chopped green onions or chives (green tops only) 1/8 teaspoon gochugaru (Korean red chili powder) 1 tablespoon finely chopped toasted macadamia nuts 2 cups short grain steamed rice for serving Optional: avocado chunks, edamame and sesame seeds Directions
ChefSecret: You can substitute the gochugaru with Aleppo pepper or finely crushed red pepper flakes. If you can’t find Hawaiian alaea salt, you can substitute a coarse sea salt, or Pink Himalayan salt. Please keep in mind that salts have different densities and salinity—start with a smaller measure (if you're substituting) and season to taste. Quip of the Day: “Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono! This is a well-known Hawaiian phrase which was adopted in 1959 as the motto of the state of Hawaii. It is most commonly translated as "the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness." ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #Lunch #Dinner #HealthyRecipes #Poke #Hawaii #HawaiianPoke #AlanWong #CanoeHouse #MaunaLani #Sweetfin #Pokeworks #PokeBar #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022
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…from the California Happy Hour Bar How you doin’? When you travel to Ukraine it isn’t like any place in the United States. A few years ago, Joan and I were working on a project in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It was an independent country then and were involved in their elections process. Sadly, as I write this Russian troops are poised take over the county. One of the memories of that trip was how well Ukrainians can hold their liquor—they love to drink to celebrate. They celebrate the rising of the sun, a full moon, when the clock strikes any hour… you get the idea… any moment of the day is cause for celebration. Our client introduced us to horilka (Ukrainian vodka) at an Azerbaijan restaurant featuring folk music and a 50-year-old belly dancer for entertainment and lots and lots of food. Eldar (our client) loved his horilka served from a block of ice with a beer chaser. Most Ukrainians will tell you, when you start to drink horilka don’t mix it with anything else. I’m here to tell you it was one of the strongest vodka-like liquors I’ve ever had. Ukrainian tradition has produced various derivatives of horilka. Some of these are available as commercial products, but most are typically homemade. This includes various kinds of fruit infused liquor. Fruit-flavored horilkas are dangerous as they are inconsistent in alcohol content and can really creep on up you. Most of these preparations are aged with fruit for several weeks or months, then strained or decanted. Some recipes call for the jars to be placed on the rooftop, for maximum bleaching and steeping by the sun. Many include the addition of homemade syrup for a stronger liqueur, others yield a very dry, clear spirit. Some involve the fermentation of fruit as well as addition of horilka. There are even preparations which are baked in an oven, in a pot sealed with bread dough and are called zapikanka, varenukha or palynka. My recipe for this White Ukrainian Cocktail uses Ukrainian horilka, but if you can’t find it at your local liquor store you can just use inexpensive American vodka. It uses a lot of other ingredients including milk (to sort of pad your stomach). Today, nearly all industrially produced horilka is 40 percent (80 proof). Try this concoction on a night when you are not driving. Prep time: 5 minutes Yield: 2 cocktails Ingredients 1 ounce of Ukrainian horilka (vodka) 1 ounce of Kahlua coffee liqueur 1 ounce of Malibu coconut rum 1 ounce of Bailey's Irish Cream 1 ounce of Frangelico hazelnut liqueur or 1 ounce of amaretto almond liqueur 6-10 ounces of milk Directions
ChefSecret: Straight Horilka plays a role in traditional weddings in Ukraine. Quip of the Day: Overheard from the bride’s father. “Bring us a lot of horilka, but not any of that fancy kind with raisins or with any other such things—bring us horilka of the purest kind. Give us that demon drink that makes us merry, playful and wild!” ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide. ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Cocktail #HappyHour #UkranianWhiteCocktail #Horilka #Vodka #Kahlua #MalibuCoconutRum #BaileysIrishCream #Frangelico #Cheers #2022 #Cheers# QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the California Happy Hour Bar How you doin’? I was reading an article the other day that we, humans, can expect to be eating insects as a protein source by 2031. I’ve seen fried ants and roasted bees as novelties over the years. I tried them and once I got past the yuk-factor I was okay with it, I guess. But now you can enjoy grasshoppers in a boozy frozen cocktail. Even though it’s green, I have it on good authority that no grasshoppers are injured or killed in the making of this drink. Okay, let’s get real here. My boozy Grasshopper Cocktail is a vintage after dinner ice cream drink that never really goes out of style. Crème de Menthe and Crème de Cacao blended with vanilla ice cream and served with whipped cream is a great cocktail or adult dessert in a glass. The original non-ice cream version of a Grasshopper is over 100 years old. Bartender Philibert Guichet invented the drink that would become known as the Grasshopper, for a 1918 cocktail competition in New York City. Guichet's cocktail secured a second-place finish and became so popular back home in New Orleans, that it's held a permanent spot on the Tujague's cocktail menu ever since. You’ll need a blender and vanilla ice cream, crème de menthe and crème de cacao. Also consider some chocolate fudge syrup and whipped cream. The last two items are optional, but they make them so much more festive. Prep time: 5 minutes Yield: 1 large cocktail Ingredients 1 ounce Crème de Menthe (the green stuff) 1 ounce Crème de Cacao 1-1/2 cups vanilla ice cream Garnish with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and chocolate curls (optional) Directions
ChefSecret: Be a little artistic. To get the chocolate drips down the glass… melt some chocolate chips in your microwave. Turn the glass upside down and dunk into the melted chocolate. Quip of the Day: Grasshoppers are widely believed to be representatives of good fortune. Unlike their cousins, locusts, these insects rarely harm the crops and are, therefore, harbingers of prosperity. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Cocktail #HappyHour #Grasshopper #IceCreamCocktail #CremeDeMenthe #CremeDeCacao #Guichets #2022 #Cheers# QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 …from the California KitchenHow you doin’? The Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is the most important celebration of the year for many Asian cultures. It usually lasts 16 days, from New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the New Year or the Lantern Festival. This year, the celebration starts on January 31st and ends on February 15th. Let’s celebrate the Year of the Tiger. GRRRRRRR! Last week I got a head start on the Lunar New Year’s celebration with a noodle lunch at Din Tai Fung. Lunar New Year is a time for long-honored food traditions and delicious celebrations. In many countries, meals include fish, fruit, and dumplings, which are symbols of luck and prosperity. Longevity noodles signify a long life and are one of the most delicious parts of this holiday meal. This recipe includes all the elements that make a well-balanced stir-fry, along with a few culinary tricks to make it shine. For example, the noodles are tossed in the wok separately, in just a modicum of oil, so they stay light and springy (not clumpy!). And the chicken marinates in sherry, soy sauce and fresh ginger with a smidge of cornstarch, which keeps it moist when we throw it on a sizzling hot wok with peanut oil and red pepper flakes. This method of coating the meat in cornstarch is called velveting which I addressed in Lesson #353 (Quick Wok-Fried Slippery Beef). Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/4-inch-thick, bite-size pieces 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger 3 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon dry sherry, divided 1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch 1-1/2 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce, divided 1 teaspoon, plus 1/4-teaspoon kosher salt, divided 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 10 ounces dried lo mein noodles 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil 2 tablespoons peanut oil, divided 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper 3 cups thinly shaved Napa cabbage 2 cups fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps thinly sliced 2 cups fresh bean sprouts 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions, plus 2 tablespoons more for garnish Chile oil, for serving Directions
ChefSecret: Personally, I prefer chicken thighs to breast as they are juicier, won’t dry out and have a lot more flavor. Quip of the Day: 祝您新年快乐,身体健康–Wishing You a Happy New Year and Good Health. ------------------------------------------- Do you have a question or comment? Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com. All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide . ------------------------------------------- To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. Take a breath and count your blessings, and if you have a little extra to share with others, please consider donating to Feeding America. #Entrees #Lunch #Dinner #LunarNewYear #YearoftheTiger #LongevityNoodles #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2022 |
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