Huli-Huli Chicken

Growing up in Hawaii, there were a lot of fundraisers, but none as memorable as the fundraisers involving huli-huli chicken.  “Huli” means to “flip over;” a term we learned well during our canoe paddling club (Mo’Opuna O Ke Kai) days.  There were these large grills that seemingly went from one end of the parking lot to the other end, with about 50-100 marinated 1/2 chickens turning simultaneously and cooking.  Cars would drive up and wait while we collected tickets and delivered the bagged cooked huli-huli chickens to each car.  I could hardly wait to dig into the huli-huli chickens we purchased for dinner.

Here is a recipe that has a great flavor (similar to the huli-huli chicken I grew up eating).  It is a flavor that reminds me of the islands every time we make it.  I placed it in the “Hawaiian Food” category, but it really is not truly a”Hawaiian” dish like poi.  However,  it is a local favorite.

The most important part is in the marinating.  Make sure you marinate it for a while.  I marinate it overnight, and then I freeze it until we are ready to use it.  Then, I thaw it in the refrigerator the day we intend on cooking it (more marinating time!).  Serve it with hot rice and macaroni (“mac”) salad, and you have an authentic Hawaiian plate lunch no matter where you are.  Enjoy!!

• 5 lbs chicken pieces (I use thighs; butterflied)
• 1/3 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 2 piece ginger root, sliced
• 1 TBSP powdered garlic
• 1 tsp alaea salt
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• 2 tsp. Chicken broth powder
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients above except chicken.  Mix well.

Marinate chicken in the sauce for no less than 5 hours; overnight is best (longer is better!).

Cook chicken on a grill.

Ginisang Mungo

One of the very first Filipino dishes I ever cooked for our son, Zachary, when we first brought him home from the Philippines, was ginisang mungo. It was a dish that was often cooked in my home when I was growing up in Hawaii; however, I never appreciated the flavor until I was living in Michigan. The words, “Mmmmm, Mommy! This was like something I ate at the green house! This is my favorite!” always remains with me whenever I am cooking a new batch for Zach. It is the first dish that brought us together as a family, allowing me to share the taste of the Filipino food I grew up eating, with the flavors my son had become accustomed to while he was in the orphanage in the Philippines.

To this day, this dish remains one of his favorites. I always keep small containers handy just for him whenever he wants it.

Ginisang Mungo

Ingredients:
1 bag dried split mungo beans , rinsed clean
5 pieces fresh, sliced ginger
3 TBSP powdered chicken broth mix
4-5 cups water
10 garlic cloves, peeled & smashed (use 5 for the mungo beans, 5 for the pork mixture)
½ lb. pork, cut into small pieces
14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 TBSP. cooking oil
16 oz. frozen chopped spinach
Patis, to taste
Directions:
1.) In a large pot, place the rinsed mungo beans with 4 cups of water, 5 pieces of sliced ginger, 10 smashed garlic cloves and 3 TBSP. powdered chicken broth mix. Simmer until beans are tender, and the consistency of the beans almost resembles that of mush. Add more water if the mixture becomes too thick or too dry. Turn the stove off until you are ready to add the pork/tomato mixture.
2.) In separate medium sized pot (on medium heat), place 1 TBSP cooking oil and the 5 smashed garlic cloves. Fry until the garlic turns brown, then discard the garlic.
3.) Add the small pork pieces to the heated garlic oil. Fry until brown; about 10 minutes.
4.) Add the canned tomatoes to the seasoned cooked pork. Add some patis for flavor. Simmer until the pork becomes tender (about 30-40 minutes).
5.) When the pork is tender, add the pork/tomato mixture to the cooked mungo mixture. Simmer together for about 10-15 minutes. Add more water if necessary. The consistency should constantly remain that of mush.
6.) Add the frozen chopped spinach. Turn off the mixture and stir. When the spinach is thawed in the mixture, the mungo is ready.
7.) Pour the mixture over hot rice & enjoy!

Green Tea Tiramisu

Folks in Hawaii love their sweets and they love green tea.  So I’ve tweaked a recipe for “Tiramisu” incorporating green tea.  The green tea used in this recipe is called “matcha;” a powdered tea from Japan.

Green Tea Tiramisu 

4 egg yolks

4 TBSP sugar

1 lb. marscarpone cheese

1 container cool whip; thawed

2 cups boiling water

3 tsp powdered green matcha tea

2 tsp. almond extract

½ lb. lady fingers

½ cup finely chopped pistachio nuts

Directions:

1. In a separate bowl, add matcha tea to boiling water.  Disslove matcha; Cool.  Add almond extract.  Keep separate from cheese mixture.
2. Place egg yolks in a blender; add sugar.  Blend until bright yellow.  Add marscarpone cheese and continue to blend.
3. Fold in cool whip.  Mix well.
4. Dip lady fingers in the tea mixture (do not over saturate; the lady fingers will start to melt).  Place ladyfingers on the bottom of a container.  Cover the ladyfinger layer with some of the marscarpone mixture.  Sprinkle some of the pistachio nuts on the marscarpone layer.  Continue to layer in the same order.  There should be about 2 or 3 layers depending on how wide the container is.  The last layer should be the pistachio nuts.  Chill for 4 hours and scoop to serve.

Paella

Recently, I attended a conference in St. Petersburg, Florida.  While I was there, I ate at a place called the Columbia Restaurant  where they had great Spanish food.

One of the more popular dishes they served was Paella.  A rice dish that is simmered in a tomato based sauce, with meats and seafood, it is incredibly flavorful.

While there are many different ways to cook Paella, I made this dish with a Hawaiian twist.  Instead of chorizo (a Spanish sausage), I used a Hawaiian favorite the Portuguese sausage.

This dish takes a while to make (even in the restaurant!), but it is well worth the wait.

Paella- Hawaiian Style

Ingredients:

¼ lb pork, cut in small pieces

5 oz. Portuguese sausage

½ large onion, diced

8 cloves garlic, smashed and minced

3 Tbsp. tomato paste

½ cup petite peas

2 large bay leaves

6 fresh clams in shell

6 fresh mussels in shell

6 fresh uncooked shrimp

6 scallops

½ cup diced roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded

1 and ½ cup medium grain rice, uncooked

6-8 cups seafood or chicken broth

Pinch of Spanish saffron

1 bell pepper, seeded cut into small pieces

1 tsp. rosemary

1tsp. thyme

1 tsp. paprika

Olive oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Prepare all ingredients above, and place them in bowls.  Thoroughly oil (with olive oil) paella pan (or large flat sided pan).  Preheat oven to 35o degrees.
2. Cook pork in the pan; when the pork is browned, add the Portuguese sausage and fry, but do not overcook.  With a slotted spoon, remove meat from pan.
3. Meanwhile, place seafood or chicken broth in a pot.  Heat, but do not boil.  Add rosemary and thyme.  Keep broth heated until ready to use.
4. Add onions, bay leaves, garlic and bell pepper to the pan with the leftover oil from the meat.  Cook until onions become somewhat translucent.   Add tomatoes and tomato paste.  Add pork and sausage.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir constantly to mix.  Continue to simmer for 3-5 minutes.  Add a little hot broth.
5. When mixture begins to simmer, add rice.   Continue to simmer until rice become tender, but do not overcook! Keep adding a little of the hot broth to the mixture, making sure the rice is always slightly covered by the broth. The mixture will be cooking for about 20-30 minutes on stove top.  Continue to stir the rice mixture for only the first 15 minutes, after that, do not stir and allow mixture to continue to simmer.  Keep adding broth as the liquid evaporates.
6. Once the rice is al dente (tender but firm), turn the stove off.  Add clams, mussels, shrimp, and scallops.  Place peas on the top of the paella and seafood.  Cover pan with foil.  Place pan on a large cooking sheet and into the oven.  Continue to cook for  10 minutes.  Turn oven off, but leave paella in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

Cascarone

Making cascarone is truly an art.  When you live on the islands, you tend to take many things for granted.  For me, finding these yummy desserts in the open market was one of them.

The first experience I had trying to make cascarone was a disaster.  They were almost like these “exploding” Filipino bombs; with my husband lovingly checking in on me to make sure I wasn’t hurting myself (or the house for that matter).  That recipe, I used way too much mochiko and the dough was too tight; which was the main reason why they exploded.

The next couple of times I made them, the flavors were improved, but the consistency lacked or they were too thick, almost like an alien pancake gone horribly wrong.  Many folks seem to think that mochiko flour is the best for this recipe, but I disagree.  In place of mochiko, I substituted a glutinous rice flour (sold in many asian markets).  This last time I made them, they were crunchy outside; gooey inside.  To me the consistency was finally right.

The glaze was also hard to duplicate.  But I think I’ve finally come close to the cascarone I found while growing up in Hawaii.

Cascarone

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups glutinous rice flour (not mochi flour)

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

1 cup milk

1 tsp. baking powder

For the glaze:

1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/4 cup + 1T milk

Directions:

1.  Heat oil in a pot to 350 degrees.   In a bowl, mix the rice flour, baking powder and coconut flakes.  Mix ingredients well.
2. Add milk and mix. Mixture will resemble pancake batter.
3. With a small ladle or spoon, gently spoon mixture into the heated oil by the dropfuls.  Do not put too many in the pot at the same time (I suggest no more than 3 or 4, depending on the size of your pot).
4. Brown both sides, drain on a paper towel.  Cool.
5. When all the dough has been deep fried, prepare the glaze.
6. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer. Once the sauce begins to bubble, turn the stove off.  Do not remove from the hot burner.  Add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
7. When brown sugar is dissolved, place cascarone on parchment paper.  Gently spoon over sauce over the cascarone.  Let glaze harden.  Enjoy!

Pork Adobo

Pork Adobo

The smell of vinegar cooking in the house with garlic is one I will never forget.  It was so pungent, that I could almost taste the adobo just smelling it.

Being here in Lansing, I am fortunate enough to be connected to the Philippine Club of Greater Lansing.  Whenever there is a mass or event like Sinulog, I am able to taste some of the flavors so familiar to me in Hawaii.  Unfortunately, some of the flavors aren’t the same.

The pork adobo I grew up eating had a lot of vinegar, bay leaves and garlic.  The adobo I’ve tasted at these events have less vinegar and the flavors are very mild.  After talking to one of the members, it became clear that based on regions, both the flavors and preparation techniques differ greatly.

Not to be biased, but I love the stronger flavors associated with adobo that I grew up with.  If you are from the islands and you’ve eaten adobo before, I’m sure this flavor will be one that you remember.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lbs, pork butt or pork shoulder (make sure you have some fat left on the meat), cut into stew pieces

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup shoyu

6 smashed, peeled garlic cloves

10 bay leaves

2 T black peppercorns (if you have a tea infuser that can be placed in the pot, use it during the cooking to discard peppercorns easily)

1 T salt

Directions:

1.  In a large pot, mix all the ingredients except the pork.  Add the Pork; mix to coat the meat evenly.  Simmer on medium heat until pork is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated (about 45 minutes).
2. Enjoy!!

Guinataan

Filipinos love their sweets and this dessert is a favorite.  Served warm (great for winter!),  the base of this “fruit soup” is coconut milk- an ingredient used in a lot of Filipino desserts.  Feel free to experiment with different fruits and flavors, however, the purple yam (called “ube” by Filipinos) is a necessary ingredient.

Guinataan

Ingredients:

16 oz frozen coconut milk; thawed

½ cup sugar

1 large purple yam; peeled, cubed and cooked

1 large sweet potato; peeled, cubed and cooked

1 can jackfruit; drained and sliced

1 cup mochiko flour

2 bananas; ripe and firm, sliced

Water (as needed)

Optional:

1 cup Tapioca pearls; cooked right before you need to add it to the pot

 Directions:

1.  In a separate bowl, mix mochiko flour and ½ cup of the coconut milk; mix well.  Add a little water if the mixture is too dry (but not too much where you can’t roll it into little balls).  Roll mixture into ½ inch balls.
2. Heat remaining coconut milk and sugar in a large pot on medium heat, until sugar is dissolved.  Slowly add the mochiko balls to the coconut milk mixture.  Stir carefully and slowly.  Cook until a little firm- about 5 minutes.  Add a little water if the mixture gets too thick.
3. Slowly add the purple yam to the mochiko mixture.  Simmer for 10 minutes; stir occasionally.  Add a little water if the mixture gets too thick.
4. Slowly add the sweet potato and the jackfruit to the mixture, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add a little water if the mixture gets too thick.
5. Turn off the stove.  Peel and slice the bananas and stir into the mixture.  If you are adding tapioca pearls, prepare them, drain and add it into the mixture as well.  Enjoy!

Korean Fried Chicken

 

Korean Fried Chicken

One of my favorite Korean restaurants on Oahu was Kim’s in Waimalu Plaza (or is it Waimalu Shopping Center?).  They made great Kalbi, Bulgo gi, Bi Bim Bap and side vegtables. 

They’ve been long gone, but one of my favorite dishes was their Korean Fried Chicken.  This recipe is not the same as their fried chicken, but I am proud to say that it comes pretty close to what I remembered eating at Kim’s, but with a “Hawaiianized” spin to it.

Korean Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

2 ½ lbs chicken wings or drummettes

2 T flour

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup rice flour

2 T minced scallions

2 cloves garlic; minced

2 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp sesame oil

1 T sesame seeds

1 tsp shoyu (soy sauce)

4 heaping tsps fine hot pepper powder

oil (for frying)

 Directions:

1. Rinse chicken; drain well.  Pat dry with paper towels.
2. Mix all remaining ingredients well in a large bowl.
3. Add chicken to the bowl; coat chicken well with batter.
4. Place chicken and batter in a large ziplock bag.  Marinate for a day.
5. Heat oil in a large wok.  Fry until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels.

Chicken Long Rice

Chicken Long Rice

Chicken Long Rice is definitely a favorite in Hawaii.  I placed this dish under the “Hawaiian Food” category because a version of this dish almost always shows up at potlucks, although its origin is actually China.

The dish is called “Long Rice” but there is no rice in this dish.  They are actually noodles- mung bean threads to be precise.  The bean threads have a very different texture than other noodles (such as vermicelli, soba or even somen).  They taste great and have the capability to soak up a lot of flavor.  This dish is quick and easy.

Chicken Long Rice

Ingredients:

 ½ lb. chicken breast; cut up into small pieces

1 Tbsp oil

2 small bundles of mung bean threads (noodles)

1 Tbsp patis (fish sauce); more or less depending on taste

3 Tbsp Green onions; sliced thin

2 cups chicken broth

1 slice fresh ginger

 Directions:

1. Soak bean threads in warm tap water for about 20 minutes.
2. Heat oil in a large pot.  Add chicken and ginger; stir fry until the chicken is cooked.
3. Add Patis and Chicken broth.  Simmer.  Add bean threads.  When bean threads are soft, dish is ready.  Remove from heat and add green onions.  Stir.  Serve.

Pork & Squash Soup

Pork & Squash Soup

My mother made this soup so often when we were growing up, it has become my “comfort food.” It took me a long time to get the taste just right, but I believe I come real close- although nothing will ever be as good as mom’s.

The base of this soup is the foundation for a lot of other Filipino dishes like pinakbet and sari-sari.  So get creative; experiment with different vegtables and other ingredients.

Pork & Squash Soup

Ingredients:                                                       

1 TBSP oil

4 garlic cloves; smashed

½ lb. pork cut into small pieces

1- 1 ½ lbs opo squash; peeled and cut into stew pieces

2-3 cups chicken broth or water

1 large ripe tomato; cut into small pieces

Patis (fish sauce)

 Directions:

1. Heat oil.  Add garlic cloves and fry until browned (not burned).  Discard garlic.
2. Add pork and fry until browned.  Add tomato.  Cook together until tomato is mushy.  Add some patis to taste; continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken broth or water; simmer until pork is tender.  Taste broth.  Add more patis if desired.
4. Add squash.  Cook until tender.