The Taste Traveller

More Tasty Oahu

So, with a bit of a gap in between I'm now back with a few more tasty tidbits from our recent trip to Oahu, Hawaii! I've added in links to more information about various ingredients or dishes if you are interested. 

I don't think the above picture really does it justice but this was the second of three meals I ate at the same place in the international market food court in Waikiki. Not a glamourous location by any means, but just good food. I meant to try one of the other spots - but three times ended up back here. The first time I had a shrimp platter, which was excellent, but with slightly less of a novelty factor as there was no shrimp truck here. Above is grilled ahi tuna and it was not only huge but delicious. I got a Cajun seasoning on it, and I'm sure the Japanese seasoning would have been equally good. Nice corn on the cob (corn removed from the cob in this picture), sticky rice and salad. My third meal here was an ahi tuna sandwich - again, full of flavour, cooked well and huge! 

Walking through the international market one of many times (en route to somewhere) I came across a weekly farmer's market. Later that week I went to a weekly farmer's market at King's Village - both locations right in Waikiki. This was a small market but there were some great food items to be had. I didn't buy much, but we enjoyed a pineapple and I got some coconut peanut butter (organic and made in Hawaii). 

Below was a lovely table of gluten- and sugar-free baking. I chatted with the man running this table - and he told me his wife does all of the baking, with a little help here and there. It doesn't matter where you go, there is demand for this sort of thing. 

On yet another gorgeous sunny day we went to Hanauma Bay on the southeast coast to go snorkelling......................

....and then headed over to Keneke's for a plate lunch. It was a fun spot - take-away window and a huge selection. I think I enjoyed my selection more than my husband. His shredded pork was a little too salty for his taste and he is not into the Hawaiian-style macaroni salad (I guess he should have ordered the toss salad). He also had barbequed chicken and grilled mahi mahi. Obviously great value for money. 

 

But, I was pretty enthusiastic about my choice for my 'plate lunch' overall. The plate lunch is a very Hawaiian thing, and this was the only time I really had a proper one. I have a huge appetite so it suits me well, but if you don't it would be a bit of a challenge. You can read more about plate lunches here, here and here. I enjoyed learning more about them! I had lau lau (pork wrapped in taro), saba (grilled mackerel) and mahi mahi. I was not that keen on the lau lau. Another time I'd choose the pork adobo, pork gisantes or a chicken dish instead. 

Then there was Leonard's. Oh how we loved Leonard's. Neither of us are donut eaters but if it's Leonard's donuts - or malasadas as they are at Leonard's (Portugese donuts), both crunchy and chewy and best fresh and hot - then we'll take them please. We went there at the start of each day we had the rental car and the day we returned the car my husband picked up a box for us! We tried them with plain sugar, cinnamon, le ming sugar (sweet and sour tasting) and with haupia (coconut) and chocolate filling! Our favourite was the plain sugar one. 
 
 The pink boxes are fun too! 

  

 This is with the le ming sugar (the one that was sort of sweet and sour at the same time). 

This was one of the best scones I've ever had. They did not call it a scone though and I can't remember what they did call it - but it is in that category certainly so that is what I'm referring to it as. Yum! 

So, we had lots of fun eating while on Oahu and we didn't even get to the many restaurants there are to choose from. In fact, other than the above and previously mentioned spots, a few times we just grabbed the delicious garlic philly cheesesteak sandwiches from Ono Cheesesteak - oh were they ever good! 

Other than some inspiration for recipes here, that's it for Oahu for now. Next we're heading to Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island (more information here), where there is a lot to check out on the foodie end of things and some great relaxation, maybe a little hiking, and wonderful scenery to enjoy! I'm sure I'll have something to share upon our return! 

pineapple coconut baked chicken

Here's the second of a few recipes with a bit of inspiration from our recent trip to Oahu. I've got another version of this I'll share with you soon, but this one was both simple to prepare with simple, sweet and savoury flavours. I used unsweetened pineapple juice, shredded coconut and brown sugar along with a few other ingredients including soy sauce. 

Pineapple slices or chunks would be nice with this, and you could also add more fresh ingredients to replace or in addition to the dried ginger and garlic powder. 

I served it with brown rice and steamed corn and peas - but you could try it with a quick vegetable mix stir fry or some grilled vegetables. The juice was delicious drizzled over the rice and vegetables. 

Kid's Stuff: Our 19 month old Scarlet really liked this. She usually will eat chicken however I serve it but this was juicy and I drizzled the juice over her rice and vegetables too! 

Ingredients:

• chicken breasts (I used three but there was plenty of juice so you could easily use double this and still have enough juice mixture). You could easily substitute chicken thighs here,
• 1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1 tsp (5 ml) soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) dry mustard or prepared mustard (I used prepared)
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 ml) pepper
• 1/3 cup or more (80 ml) flaked coconut

Method:

Preheat oven to 375⁰ F (190⁰ C).

Place chicken breasts in baking dish.

In a small bowl or measuring cup combine other ingredients. Stir. 

Pour or spoon mixture over chicken breasts. 

Cover with foil or lid and bake until cooked through - about 30 minutes. You may like to spoon the liquid over the chicken breasts part way though cooking. 

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pineapple salsa

 

This was entirely inspired by a meal I had in the International Market food court in Waikiki. Really! I ate at this place three times, I just couldn't resist. It may not sound like a very interesting choice, with so many restaurants to choose from. But it worked. If Scarlet decided it was time to run around and climb up and down the nearest stairs - we could do take away, if not we could sit amongst others eating from any number of places serving anything from fish, to Korean BBQ, to coconut smoothies, burgers, Mexican, Thai or Filipino. 

The first time I ordered the platter with six shrimp, rice, salad, pineapple wedge and a wonderful pineapple salsa! The second time I ordered the ahi tuna platter - which was similar but there was no pineapple salsa. The third time I ordered the ahi tuna sandwich. I highly recommend eating any of these if you are in the area. So, here is my recreation of or inspiration from the salsa I enjoyed here. 

You can use less or more of the other ingredients according to what you prefer. Perhaps you want the red pepper to be more dominant. Or, perhaps you want less or more onion. 

I served it made just with the trio of pineapple, red onion and red bell pepper the first time. A spoonful over pan-cooked chicken breasts, alongside steamed broccoli and brown rice was just right. The second time I added a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice and a few tablespoons of chopped cilantro. I served it on steamed sockeye salmon, with broccoli and small potatoes. 

The next day I had it like a salad with my lunch:

 Ingredients:

• 1/2 pineapple, cored, peeled, then finely chopped into cubes
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and chopped into small pieces (about 1/4 inch)
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) red onion, peeled and finely diced
• 1/2 hot chili pepper, finely chopped (optional)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) cilantro or mint, finely chopped (optional)
• the juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
• 1 tsp (5 ml) sugar or honey (optional)

Method:

Cutting up the pineapple:

Slice the top off of the pineapple, then cut right through the pineapple, so you are left with the top half.

Slice the sides (peel) off of the pineapple. I find it easiest to hold the pineapple upright, and slice downward. After you have worked your way around check for any remaining bits of skin or peel - cut those out. 

You can now continue cutting the pineapple into small pieces, as small as you like. You may want to cut out the very centre if it's too fibrous or tough, but I like to try and use as much of it as I can and I like the slightly harder, more fibrous texture. It's up to you! 

Slicing the bell pepper:

Slice off the stem of the bell pepper, below the 'shoulder' so you get the root of the stem and expose the ribs inside the pepper. Slice around the stem of the top you have just removed and chop this part into small chunks. Discard the stem. 

Set the pepper upright. You may be able to pull out the top part of the core at this point. Either way, slice down the side vertically to open the pepper up. Lay it on it's side with the outside of the skin down, and work your knife around to remove most of the ribs and seeds, while flattening out the pepper. This won't necessarily work for all peppers, some will just break at this point, but it doesn't matter as you are chopping it up anyway! 

Slice along the ribs lengthwise as it makes it easier to slice off the remaining bits of ribs. Slice off any remaining part of the ribs. 

Slice the now 'clean' pepper into strips lengthwise, then rotate and slice into small pieces. 

Other ingredients:

Peel and chop about 1/4 of a red onion, depending on the size - you want to end up with about two tablespoons of the onion when chopped. 

If using a hot chili pepper, slice in half crossways. 

Slice off the very top or bottom, depending on which you decide to use. 

Slice along the middle of this piece lengthwise. 

Scrape out the seeds and ribs with your knife and discard. 

Finely chop the chili pepper. 

Add to the pineapple, red bell pepper and red onion. 

Finely chop the cilantro or mint and add to the mixture.

Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime over top. 

Add the sugar, if using. 

Stir to thoroughly combine. Serve or cover and place in the refrigerator. Will keep several days.

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