Luana ~ My recipe for kalua pork says to cook meat in 250 degree oven for 12 hours will this be a safe way to cook it I don't want to make quest sick. Its rubbed with salt and liquid smoke and wrapped in banana and ti leaves in roaster with water in bottom and pig on rack.

Aunty ~ I would be way too impatient to wait 12 hours for my kalua pork to be cooked! The way I prepare kalua pork is to put it into a 400 degree (hot) oven and cook it for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on the size of the roast. I don't even use ti leaves (hard to find sometimes): just the liquid smoke, kosher or Hawaiian salt and water (I don't even put the roast on a rack...I just lay it in the pan and pour the water all around, and tightly seal the pan with aluminum foil. Using the method in the recipe you have or the one I just gave you, the finished roast should be at least 155-160 degrees before you shred it in order to be safe to eat. P.S. Sometimes I make kalua turkey the same way by using turkey thighs instead of pork. The result is less greasy and more healthy (and it's hard to tell the difference between the turkey and pork).

Iwalani ~ Lost my mothers recipe for prune mui, she has passed more then 3 years ago. Would like to know if you have one.

Aunty ~ Here are a couple of recipes for prune mui. This one is from the Star Bulletin: Pucker up for prune mui And this one was contributed by one of my readers on the AlohaWorld.com Ono Recipes: Apricot or Prune Mui. This one, from Ono Recipes, doesn't have as many ingredients in it and if you don't live somewhere where you can get your hands on li hing mui, might be easier for you to make.

Kim ~ Need recipes I can take to the beach cold and still have them seem fresh. What can you suggest?

Aunty ~ One favorite pasttime of locals is going to the beach and having picnics! Here are a couple of suggestions for dishes that can be prepared in advance and served cold.

Mochiko Chicken - Mochiko flour is sweet rice flour which can be found in Asian markets. You can't substitute white flour for this or it will come out tasting different. This tastes good hot or cold.

Potato-macaroni salad (a local favorite):

Cold Ginger Chicken

Chinese Chicken Salad

Jennie ~ I miss kau yuk. Need to make and eat this so I quit trying to order this dish at Chinese restraurants here in California, as they don't have it.

Aunty ~ I know how you feel about kau yuk. I love the stuff too! Here's a recipe for it. The secret is getting the pork belly. You gotta have that pork fat in order to make this the real thing! You would probably have to go to a butcher and have it ordered specially because unless you have access to a supermarket that sells Asian food products, you won't normally find pork belly in the meat case.  

Kau Yuk with Potatoes

In Hawai'i, they usually include cooked taro with the kau yuk, but taro is pretty hard to find outside of Hawai'i, so the recipe above substitutes potatoes for the taro. Hope you enjoy the recipe and that it reminds you of home!

Mahilani ~ I'm looking for an ono recipe for Egg Drop/Flower soup and I didn't see any listed. Do you have one? My husband loves that soup and wanted to try make but didn't want to buy grocery store kine. He wants to try make home made. Any recipes for it??

Aunty ~ The reason you don't find recipes for Egg Flower or Egg Drop Soup is because it's one of the simplest soup recipes ever. The basic ingredients are chicken stock and eggs. If you want to embellish it a little, try looking atthis recipe. For additional flavor, try adding slivers of fresh ginger (also will make the soup healthier) and sliced dried shiitake mushrooms that have been reconstituted in warm water and wrung out. This is probably the Chinese equivalent of Jewish chicken soup. Simple and tasty.

Nita ~ My husband was telling me about a dish he use to make but cannot remember the name of the recipe but it used thinly sliced beef, pineapple chunks, brown sugar, onions, green peppers, cornstarch, and he think it used vinegar but he is not sure. He lost the recipe and has been looking for it forever. I would love to find it for him, so please, please help me.

Aunty ~ What your husband has been looking for is a staple in Hawai'i. The sweet and sour sauce is not only used for beef and hamburger, but is also used in chicken, fish and pork dishes, too.

Here is the recipe for sweet sour meatballs. For the beef recipe your husband wants to duplicate, take thin slices of sirloin and sear quickly. Prepare the sauce separately and when you're ready to serve, pour the sauce on the beef and serve it all over rice.

Hope that helps your husband remember some good times from long ago.

Susan ~ Can you save the mochi rice if you made enuf manju with black beans?

Aunty ~ Rice left over from making mochi isn't good for anything unless you want to make patties of it to stick in the freezer and use in ozoni (Japanese broth that is usually served for New Year's Day celebrations). When it dries out, it will become like concrete and be inedible, so that's when you could make it soft again by pouring hot broth over it.

Patricia ~ I live in Yreka, California and was raised in Pearl City, Hawaii. Back at home we always had fresh poi when ever we wanted it. Here in Yreka you can not find fresh poi so, we drive up north about 50 miles to Medford Oregon where we found a little Asian market; where I found frozen poi.

I threw a graduation party for my daughter and had a few Hawaiian dishes. I tried in every way to mix the poi but it would only come up lumpy. I tried heating it up. Mixing with my hands, using an electric mixer even. No such luck. It came out watery, lumpy. I eventually tossed it out; no one liked it. $23.00 down the drain for a large bag too!

Tell me what can I do the next time I pick up a frozen bag of onolicious bag of poi. Craving for poi!

Aunty ~What a shame that all that poi got thrown out!

Here is one way to thaw out frozen poi: add 1/4 cup of water and microwave for 2 1/2 minutes or longer for desired temperature, mix to desired consistency. More water may be added if texture/thickness is not at the desired amount. Frozen poi has to be refrigerated once it is thawed out; it won't turn sour like fresh poi will due to the manufacturing process.

Hope that helps next time. You could also make fresh poi if you have access to the taro corms. Just boil the corms until tender, peel and mash, mixing it with water to get the proper consistency. Takes some time, but the results are ono! Homemade Poi

Leftover poi can be used to make muffins and bread, too. There are recipes in the Alohaworld Ono Recipes website for those.

Kathleen ~ You know for the li hing mui lollipops, in school they selling it for fundraising? I like help too but I don't know how to make it. I like try one different flavor like sour green apple.

Aunty ~ Making the lollipops is quite easy, but you do need to work fast. It's also helpful if you have a candy thermometer so that you can get the sugar to the right temperature. If you don't have a candy thermometer (which is different from a meat thermometer), you can figure out what the "hard crack" stage of the melted sugar mixture is by boiling the sugar/water mixture and then taking a drop of so and let it sink into a glass of tap water.

If the "ball" that develops is kinda soft at the bottom of the glass of water, you need to continue to cook the mixture. When the drop in the water hardens into a hard little ball, that is the "hard crack" stage. Take the pan off the heat at that point, add the flavoring and food color and start forming your lollipops. You can make them free form if you like, but make sure you stick the sticks in the hot mixture quickly before the candy hardens.

Take this basic recipe from the Ono Recipes. And if you want to try different flavorings like sour apple, you need to get flavor concentrates, ike from this online store. You can try using regular flavor extracts, but those often contain alcohol and are not heat-stable. You might be able to find the fruit flavor concentrates in your local health food store.

Aunty Mary ~ Looking for a recipe for L&L's mac salad. Can you help? .

Aunty ~ L&L's mac salad isn't complicated at all. Just really simple ingredients: small elbow macaroni, Hellman's (or Best Food mayonnaise, depending on which side of the Mississippi River you live), shredded carrots for color and salt and pepper. L&L may also add some MSG to enhance the flavor (I don't because I don't use MSG in any of my cooking), but for a mac salad, it is bland, which is why it goes so well with the food at L&L (the salty stuff especially).

Here's the simplest recipe I could find (I make it without a recipe, so I thought I'd better find you a recipe with measurements...after awhile, you can adjust the amount of mayo to suit your taste):

You can leave out the peas and the yogurt. If you want a creamier mac salad, you can stir the mayo into about ½ C milk and then dump it on the macaroni. I'd let the macaroni cool completely before you add the mayo, though, because if you add it while the macaroni is still warm, it will absorb all the mayo and after you refrigerate it. The pasta will become dried out and you will have to add more mayo.

Ericka ~ Do you have a recipe for Haupia Malasadas? Or perhaps a link to one?

Aunty ~ When you wrote to ask for a recipe for haupia malasadas, I assumed you meant malasadas with haupia filling? Those, along with malasadas filled with guava or passion fruit (lilikoi) jelly are my current favorites.

Here are a couple of malasadas recipes. The first one is made with premade chilled biscuit dough in a cardboard roll, which is the easiest.

This other recipe makes a malasadas dough from scratch and uses yeast.

Once the malasadas have been fried up, toss them into a paper bag with some granulated sugar (add some cinnamon for variety).

Then using a cake decorating tip or the end of a small paring knife, make a small hole in one end of the malasadas, and pipe in some haupia filling.

One other way to make the malasadas is to find a box of Café du Monde Beignet Mix (from New Orleans), which many of the larger supermarkets all over the place carry. All you have to do is add water and fry the dough up. Beignets are very similar to malasadas.

If you want to make malasadas that taste like haupia but without the filling, replace the evaporated milk in the "from scratch" malasadas recipe with canned coconut milk. Add some toasted, shredded coconut to the paper bag with the sugar in it, shake and serve hot. Another delightful variation of something most keiki in Hawai'i have as an afterschool snack or at the fair or carnival.

Momi ~ Please advise on preparing beef luau using spinach rather than luau leaves. Also we need to feed 50-100 people so what is the amount to prepare?

Aunty ~ I don't think I've ever had beef luau (it's always been chicken or squid luau), but I suppose chunks of beef would also work too.

Take a look at the following recipe for chicken/squid luau. It serves about 6-8 people.

If you're using beef, I think the most economical cut would be stew meat (top round cut in smallish chunks. To serve 50-100 people I would guess you'd probably need about 6-8 oz. of beef/person. Then to make the beef tender, I would probably simmer the beef in some water for at least 1/2 hour before using it to prepare the luau (drain thoroughly).

For spinach, if 2 boxes of thawed (but not cooked) frozen spinach = about a lb, you would need probably at least 20 boxes of frozen spinach.

The amount of coconut milk (use canned coconut milk or coconut cream, whichever is the cheapest) is kinda variable; it depends on how "wet" you want your luau to be (you might need at least 20 cans of coconut milk or coconut cream).

You don't need the water stated in the recipe because that's for cooking fresh taro leaves (but do squeeze out all the moisture from the thawed spinach so it doesn't dilute the coconut milk before you add it to the beef). Then add salt to taste.

That's about as close to giving you a recipe as I can come, but I hope it helps. Obviously the more dishes you have on the table for people to pick from, the less of this beef luau you will need.

Miyeko ~ Please send recipe for Mochiko chicken that you like best.

Aunty ~ Here is an easy recipe for mochiko chicken that I've used in the past. The chicken is good eaten hot or cold.

Mo ~ Hi, I have a question. When making the guava cake, do I use regular guava juice, or do I use the frozen concentrate? Do I dilute it or use it without diluting it? Please let me know. Mahalo

Aunty ~ If you use guava concentrate (frozen kine), better to dilute according to the instructions on the package, otherwise, the guava taste might be a little too strong. However, if you have a recipe that also calls for guava pulp as well as the juice, use the frozen stuff without diluting it.

Cheryl ~ Is there a recipe for the guava glaze like the one that is used on the Delite bakery guava chiffon cake?

Aunty ~ Here is a recipe for guava chiffon cake that appeared in the Honolulu Star Bulletin a few years ago. I believe the part of the recipe you're looking for is the "guava topping" which is at the very bottom of this story.

Amie ~ How do I prepare da kine canned corned beef and cabbage?

Aunty ~ Canned corned beef and cabbage is very simple to make. Take one head of round cabbage, core it, and cut into 2" thick pieces. Put into a pot and add a little water and cover with a lid. When the cabbage is tender, drain off a little of the water and then add to the pot 1 can of Australian corned beef (the kind in the round can).

Australian corned beef is preferable to the kind from South America is in the kinda squarish can because the Australian stuff has more gelatin than the South American stuff. Sometimes the Australian corned beef is called "Samoan" corned beef.

Anyway, break up the corned beef into pieces and mix with the cabbage. You can reheat it a little to warm up the corned beef, but if you dump the meat into the cabbage right after you cook the cabbage, the meat should get warmed up just like that without any additional heat. Salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice.

Onolicious. One of the local "comfort" foods.

Al ~ My dad used to make a abalone soup with abalone, watercress and I believe some slices of pork. Of course, you only wish you asked for the recipe while they were living. I was wondering if you may have one. It was a long time ago, when canned abalone and salmon was expensive. But I just was given a can of abalone so I want to make the soup. If you can help thanks.

Aunty ~ Gee, it's been ages since I've had that abalone watercress soup too! And as hard as I tried to find a recipe, I couldn't find one, so here is a kind of thrown together recipe from my memories of what that soup was made of:

• Chicken broth or fish stock (make your own from the bones of chickens or fish, or buy the canned chicken stock... use the low sodium kind)
• Ginger (maybe about 1" fresh ginger cut in thin slices)
• Strips of fresh pork sirloin (this will cook in the soup) or Chinese roast pork strips
• Chinese cabbage, cut up (or you can use watercress, or use both cabbage and watercress)
• 1 or 2 shiitake mushrooms (just throw in the soup and they will soften and add flavor...then when you're ready to serve the soup, retrieve the mushrooms and slice them into small strips)
• Abalone (if you can afford it... sometimes they have canned fake abalone which you can also use)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Cellophane noodles (one bunch, soaked in warm water until pliable, then drained), optional

Heat up the stock, ginger and shiitake mushrooms first, until the mushrooms are tender. Take them out and slice into thin strips. Toss in the cabbage, watercress and pork sirloin and cook for a few minutes until the pork is cooked through and the cabbage and watercress are limp. Salt and pepper to taste. Add the cellophane noodles into the soup bowl, pour the soup over it, And then put the abalone or Chinese roast pork on top for garnish.

This is a real simple soup that tastes good and is good for you, too!

Doc ~ How did Loco Moco get it name? So you know how this originate? Thank You Doc

Aunty ~ Well, Aunty only knew that Loco Moco was originated on the Big Island in Hilo, but there were several different claims of which restaurant actually served the first loco moco. Here's one source, which says it was created at a long-gone diner called the Lincoln Grill.

Others claim that the name was invented by Cafe 100. The dish has been around for a long time (the rice, hamburger steak and gravy part), it just never had a name until the 1970s.

Now loco moco is a ubiquitous part of the local Hawaiian menu.

Penny ~ I just returned from Kauai - had the BEST chocolate eclairs with haupia coconut filling at the Kilahua Bakery. Can you the filling for the Haupia Cake on your website for the custard in eclairs?

Aunty ~ Yes, you can use the filling recipe from the haupia coconut cake recipe. I'd start out with maybe 2 Tbps of the cornstarch, though, and if the filling is a little too runny for your taste, then mix another 1 Tbs of cornstarch in a little water and add it to the mix. But I think the following recipe for chocolate haupia pie filling would be even better. I mean, who doesn't love chocolate, right?

Melodie ~ I can't find a recipe for rice cake, the kind that the manapua man used to serve. It was really sticky, white & had holes on the inside of it. They usually cut it into triangles. I live in Las Vegas & have no way of getting some unless I make it myself. Help!! Thanks! :)

Aunty ~ It's amazing that so many people ask about this particular recipe. The rice cake is called "Bok Tong Go".

Here is a story (and recipes) from the Honolulu Star Bulletin. The recipe is kind of complicated (not because of the ingredients, but because of the technique involved in fermenting the rice mix just right). It's so complicated, in fact, that it would be easier for you to go to a Chinese restaurant in LV that serves dim sum (find a restaurant that serves Hong Kongese food---I'm not sure a Cantonese restaurant would make these) and just ask them if they have "Bok Tong Go".

Here is the story about Bok Tong Go.

Edwin ~ Baked manapua -- Any recipes for this wonderful dish? I remember the old Kwock's Chop Suey in Kaimuki had the best, perhaps one of the first places to offer. Many folks are asking, I can only offer same recipe as the two Manapu's now on this site. Mahalo, Aloha.

Aunty ~ Hui Edwin, I would use MY recipe (Miulang's Manapua). It is the one that tastes the most like the Chinese style manapua from small kid time. I took it to a picnic last year on the mainland with other locals and everyone said it tasted like the real thing. Instead of steaming it, bake the manapua at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. You can brush the top with oil if you want it to be shiny and soft. Here's the recipe. Enjoy.

Venus ~ Can you find the recipe for Larry's chantilly cake please?

Aunty ~ I have never heard of Larry's chantilly cake, but there is a recipe in the Ono Recipes forum for a chantilly cake. The most famous chantilly cake in Hawai'i is from Liliha Bakery, but that recipe is a secret. Apparently the secret is in the frosting itself and not so much in the cake, which is a kind of chocolate sponge cake. Hope this recipe is close to what you're looking for.

Dorothy ~ I was in Hawaii this past week for a graduation and the cake ordered was a dobash cake. I also went a bakery (I think it was Leonards??). I would like to get the recipe for that cake and hopefully be able to make it as good as the one that I had in Hawaii. Please send me the recipe if you can. Thank-you Dorothy

Aunty ~ Here's a recipe for Dobash Cake. I'm not sure if it's a clone of the one made by Leonard's Bakery in Honolulu, which is the most famous, but it's a good recipe anyway.

I read a newspaper story once that was an interview with one of the bakers at Leonard's, and he said he couldn't give the recipe, but here is what they did to make their version of Dobash cake: Take a German Chocolate Cake recipe and in the frosting, just add more butter and leave out the coconut and nuts.

Sue ~ My coworker is telling me about a Guava Cake with Guava puree on top instead of frosting. They describe it as a sponge type cake pink in color with pureed guava on top. Is this the type of cake this recipe makes? Do you know about the puree frosting? Where do I get pureed guava? I appreciate any help you can offer. This is for 2 coworkers birthdays celebration.

Aunty ~ Here is a recipe for a guava cake that has that guava gel as part of the frosting. This one uses a package cake mix and adds some other things into the mix, so it's fairly fail proof. The guava gel part is comprised of the guava juice, sugar, and cornstarch on the right hand side of the recipe. This should be fairly close to what you're looking for.

Or, there's another recipe for a guava chiffon cake that you can use to get the chiffon texture (try baking it in 8" square baking pans instead of the tube pan). Just frost it with the cream cheese/guava gel frosting from the first recipe and it'll be exactly what you're looking for. Or replace the cream cheese mixture with whipped cream that's been sweetened with powdered sugar and then put the gel on top of the cake.

Both recipes call for guava juice. Since you didn't say where you live (not in Hawai'i, probably), it's hard to tell you where you might be able to find the guava juice. You might be able to find it canned or frozen in a store

that sells Hispanic food in any large city. Or if you live in So. Cali, there are a lot of supermarkets that carry "local" kinds of foods.

Hope this helps. I'm sure your friends will be extremely pleased at your thoughtful gesture!

Lana ~ What is shoyu and where can I find it?

Aunty ~ Shoyu is just the Japanese name for soy sauce. There are different kinds of soy sauce, There are Chinese brands (like La Choy) and Japanese brands. Chinese brands are generally more sweet and Japanese brands (like Kikkoman, which is the most common) are saltier. You can find either or both in most large supermarkets just about anywhere in this country. Another substitute is tamari, which is made from wheat and which can befound in health food stores.

When I cook, I tend to use low sodium soy sauce (there's a local brand called "Aloha Shoyu") which is less salty than Kikkoman and which most people in Hawai'i use. Hope that helps.

Ron ~ How do you keep won ton from sticking together when filling them with pork or whatever? Each time we make them, they stick together and become one big mess. Mahalo!!

Aunty ~ First, when you're filling the won ton pi, you need to moisten your finger with water and run it along one edge of the won ton and then fold the won ton over. That will ensure that it will stick together so the filling doesn't spill out when you're frying or steaming it.

Then, to keep the individual won tons from sticking to each other, you need to put them on a sheet of wax paper or parchment paper (not food wrap). Then don't crowd them together as you place them on the wax paper. If you want to make double sure they don't stick together, you might want to sprinkle a little cornstarch on the wax paper before you start placing the won tons on top (it also makes the won tons easier to move around on the paper). Then, I would wait about 15-20 minutes and let the won tons rest before you deep fry them or steam them. If you aren't planning to use them right away, put the waxed paper in a cake pan and when you're through making the won tons, put another sheet of waxed paper on top and then refrigerate. I wouldn't use Saran wrap because that just traps in any moisture and that's what makes the won tons stick together.

Ellie ~ Looking for pork hash recipe.

Aunty ~ Ho, the mention of pork hash makes my mouth water! Here's one of two recipes that can be found in the Alohaworld Ono Recipes.

Pork Hash #1
Pork Hash #2

Besides using it o stuff won tons, I would also use it to stuff blocks of tofu (cut one block of tofu in half so that there's a top and a bottom, put the pork hash mixture in between the halves, compress slightly (or use toothpicks to secure both the top and the bottom) and then steam for about 15 or 20 minutes until the pork mixture is cooked. Serve with a side of shoyu. Ono!

Kathi ~ I'm looking for a ono meatloaf recipe my husband is local and I'm haole. He doesn't like haole meatloaf. Help me. Thanks.

Aunty ~ You pose an interesting question: I never thought of a local version of meatloaf until now. Here's a couple of recipes from our Ono Recipes site for a local style meatloaf.

Loco Style Meat Loaf
Teriyaki Spam Meatloaf

What makes it local? I guess the SPAM! LOL.

My usual meatloaf recipe includes 1 part ground beef, 1 part ground pork, chopped onions, 1 egg, a handful (about 1 c) of panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) about 1/2 c. milk, salt and pepper. Sometimes I put a thin topping of tomato catsup mixed with Worcester sauce to taste on top and then bake in a 350 degree oven until done (about 45 min-1 hour).

Would he eat loco moco? That's hamburger patties over white rice topped with a fried egg and smothered with a brown gravy. That usually goes over well with locals, too.

Patti ~ I can't remember the name of the rectangle shaped blocks that have rice, spam, and seaweed wrap. Please help!!! Mahalo!!!

Aunty ~ Those are called Spam musubi. Here's a few recipe from Ono Recipes for making them. Spam musubi is a great finger food enjoyed by everyone in Hawai'i.

Spam Musubi
Spam Musubi
Spam Musubi Deluxe
Teri Spam Musubi

There are many other variations, endless possibilities.

Amy ~ Do you know of a good recipe for sweet and sour sauce? Thank you and Aloha.

Aunty ~ What were you planning to use the sweet and sour sauce for? Pork (ribs)? Chicken? Fish?

One standard recipe I use is very simple and you can modify it to your taste. For every cup of tomato sauce, use about 2 Tbsp of white or apple cider vinegar, and 2Tbsp of brown sugar in a small pot. If you use catsup in place of the tomato sauce, cut back on the vinegar and sugar (the catsup has vinegar and brown sugar in it, too).

Heat through until the sugar has dissolved completely. If you're doing something like pork ribs in a sweet sour sauce, you can also add one small can of pineapple chunks (use some of the juice the pineapple was packed in and cut back on some of the brown sugar).

Again, the sourness you control by adding more vinegar if it's not sour enough. If you're doing pork ribs, another good ingredient to add in is chopped green peppers (dice them into 1" chunks) and add them to your sauce about midway through heating it up so they'll still be crunchy when you serve it.

Nellie ~ Do you have the recipe for chicken hekka?

Aunty ~ Here's a recipe for chicken hekka from the Ono Recipes.

When I was a small kid, my mom would use cut up chicken wings and use those instead of the chicken breast. It was cheaper and somehow dark meat tastes better. She would sometimes also omit the watercress. Basically, you can throw whatever veggies you have around.

To me, the basic components of hekka are the chicken, the shoyu-based sauce, and the cellophane noodles. Hope that helps. Now you're making me hungry for hekka too!

Mabelle ~ I really want to try the coconut mochi #2 recipe but I'm confused on the shredded coconut.

It says 1 can of shredded coconut (angel flakes). Is this the dry bakers coconut or the wet one that's in a jar?? Can I use frozen shredded coconut? I just want to make sure I do it correctly.

Aunty ~ You can use pretty much any kind of flaked coconut you can find (shredded coconut in a bag, can, fresh or frozen shredded coconut). Since the coconut is added into the mixture rather than sprinkled on top of it (in which case you want to toast the shredded coconut), use it out of the package or can without toasting it. If you're using frozen shredded coconut, though, make sure you thaw it out first and then pat it down with paper towels to sop up any extra liquid before adding it to the mixture.

Nakela ~ Does anyone have da recipe for Hawaiian Style Chex Mix? It taste like shoyu, sugar and it has furikake in it.

Aunty ~ I found 2 recipes for "Furikake Chex Mix Snacks".

Furikake Party Mix
Tote's Furikake Chex Mix

Wat? You going make 'em for kaukau in front of the TV or wat?

Michelle ~ I used to live in Kapolei. I worked in downtown Honolulu and visited Queens BBQ all the time. I would love to have the recipe for their tonkatsu sauce. Do you have any ideas?

Aunty ~ Here is a recipe for a simple tonkatsu sauce. When I make it, I omit the dry mustard and just use the Worcestershire sauce and catsup. I use it both on tonkatsu and chicken katsu.

Gina ~ Aloha from Omaha, Nebraska! I am feeding my husbands friends tomorrow (football game is on TV) and I wanted to use them as guinea pigs for my practice Thanksgiving Kalua Turkey. :) I hope it turns out okay cause my turkey is still frozen solid. I definitely will not be able to get Ti Leaves, but I may be able to find rock salt. What is the English name for Hawaiian Salt? Just any rock salt will do?

Aunty ~ Hawaiian salt is similar to coarse grained kosher salt (try to get the coarse stuff and not the fine grained kosher salt). You should be able to find that in any supermarket. An easier way to cook oven kalua turkey is just to use cut up turkey parts. I usually just use thighs because they're cheaper than breasts and end up juicier than the turkey breasts do.

For Thanksgiving, just roast up a bunch of turkey thighs and I can guarantee that it will taste almost exactly like kalua pork (but without all the fat).

If you have a Hispanic grocery store anywhere in town, you could get some frozen banana leaves, which would be a good substitute for the ti leaves.

Whenever I make kalua turkey, though, I don't bother with the ti leaves or banana leaves. Just kosher salt, some liquid smoke, some water, heavy foil and a 400 degree oven for about 3-4 hours (depending on how much turkey you're roasting).

Sharie ~ I want to know if you have a recipe for manapua bread. I am searching for an authentic recipe, nothing made from Bisquick or a quick version to make the bread :) As a child, my mom's friend from China used to make this bread with no filling, however, after many years, we have lost the recipe.

Aunty ~ Steamed Chinese bread takes a little while to make but the taste makes it well worth the effort! Here's a recipe for steamed "bao".

To make it taste more like the manapua in Hawai'i, I would suggest replacing the 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in the recipe with 1 Tb sesame oil. In experimenting with manapua recipes, I have discovered that the sesame oil is what makes it taste so much better!

Moana ~ I was wondering if you happened to know the recipe for pastele stew? You have a recipe but it is not the same as the one that I know but I just cant seem to remember all the ingredients?

Aunty ~ The only recipe for Patele (or pastele) stew I have come across is the one in the Alohaworld Ono Recipe collection: Patele Stew

Most of the time pasteles are eaten alone (like tamales) and are steamed. In the Alohaworld Recipe, you take 4 premade pastels and break them into pieces and stick it into the stew so they absorb the liquid. They key is getting those pasteles (and those are time consuming to make). The "stew" part (the chicken, pork, tomatoes and spices) are like any other kind of stew.

Doreen ~ I need to find a recipe for Sweet Sour Pig's Feet using vinegar, sugar, ginger, garlic. (Those are the ingredients I remember). I have been searching the web and have been unsuccessful. I was born in Honolulu and lived in Hawaii 58 years. In moving I lost my recipe and have not made it in 10 years. I am hoping you can find what I am looking for. It is an easy recipe and so delicious. Any help will be appreciated.

Aunty ~ Here are a couple of recipes, both of which use basically the same ingredients for a sweet and sour sauce for pig's feet. Sweet and Sour Pig's Feet

This is one for spare ribs, but you could use the same sauce for pig's feet, too. Sweet Sour Spareribs #1

Lesley ~ I am looking for an island/Hawaiian recipe for a dip or easy appetizer.

Aunty ~ Here are a couple of suggestions for dips that one would probably find at a cocktail party in Hawaii:

Mango salsa
Imitation crab dip

For "pupu" (appetizers), you can try these recipes:

Coconut shrimp
Sweet sour chicken wings
Tropical nut bread
Garlic sesame chicken wings

Hope these recipes are what you had in mind.

William ~ Please send me a simple recipe for pork tofu. I am living in Oregon, so I may not have all the available vegetable ingredients. Please kokua.

Aunty ~ If you can find the tofu (even Safeway sells it now), this recipe will work out well. Make sure you get the firm tofu, though. Otherwise, the tofu will fall apart before you can eat it!

Pork Tofu #3

BTW, if you live in the greater Portland area, are you aware of Uwajimaya in Beaverton? You can get all kinds of local ingredients there (and they even sell laulau plates in their deli!)

Kristie ~ Two items I would like to have a recipe for, or find out where to purchase: Coco puffs from Liliha Bakery in Honolulu, and malasadas.

Aunty ~ Here is a recipe for a Liliha Bakery Cocopuff "clone". The owners have been asked over the years to please share their recipe and they have consistently refused, so someone has come up with this reasonable facsimile. I hope it reminds you of the ono pastry you had in Honolulu!

Here is a malasadas recipe. If you don't want to hassle with working with the yeast for the malasadas, you could either get Café du Monde Beignet Mix (just add water and fry) or Pillsbury biscuit dough in the round cardboard tube. Both work really well. Just fry in hot oil and roll around in some granulated sugar ith cinnamon added.

Blanca ~ How do you make tuna/ahi poke?

Aunty ~ Poke is simply raw fish (blue fin or yellow fin tuna) cut up into chunks, with some chopped round onions, green onions (scallion),a little bit of soy sauce (make sure it's Japanese soy sauce and not Chinese soy sauce...some Japanese soy sauce brands are Kikkoman or Aloha) and a little bit of toasted sesame oil.

In Hawai'i, they also add in some limu (seaweed) and kukui nut paste (called inamona) but if you live on the Mainland, those things will be hard to find. You can also make poke with cooked octopus (called tako poke).

Ahi Poke #1
Ahi Poke #2

Catherine ~ Please advise of the correct way to prepare "Spam musubi rolls". I had this while on vacation in Maui- and I loved it!!

Aunty ~ Spam musubi is very easy to make. First, you need to cook up some medium grained rice (don't use long grain Chinese style rice or converted rice because it won't stick together, which is a prerequisite for making the musubi!). A cup of uncooked white rice will probably yield about 2 C of cooked rice, so make enough for 4 Spam musubi (2 C uncooked medium grain rice).

Next, you need to buy some nori (laver) that you can find in the Asian food aisle of most large supermarkets. Cut each nori sheet in half. Then you need a can of SPAM. I use low sodium SPAM. Cut the SPAM loaf into about 8 slices. Put them in a skillet and brown them. Some people add a little soy sauce (use Kikkoman, Aloha or Yamasa or tamari, but not Chinese soy sauce) maybe 3 Tbsp, along with a tsp or so of sugar. When the SPAM is heated through, remove from the pan and hold aside.

If you don't want to spend any money to buy one of those Plexiglas SPAM musubi molds, take the empty SPAM can and cut out the bottom of it so you have a can with both ends open. Put the can on a cutting board. Take a piece of the cooked SPAM and put it at the bottom of the can to fit right back into the SPAM can. Then take about 3/4 to 1 c. of cooked rice, and tamp it down into the can, on top of the piece of SPAM. Put the can bottom that you removed back on top of the rice. Press down on it somewhat firmly (to compress the rice slightly). While you're pressing down on the can lid, raise the sides of the can with your other hand so that the compressed rice

and SPAM block comes out on the cutting board. Take that half piece of nori you cut and wrap it around the rice/SPAM block. Seal the ends with a little water. Voila! A SPAM musubi.

I know the instructions sound daunting, but it really is easier to do than it is to explain how to do it. Try it. If you get adventuresome, you can also add a layer of scrambled egg cooked in a sheet between the SPAM and the rice and create more of a Japanese "Egg McMuffin".

Troy ~ I am looking for the best pipikaula recipe. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Aunty ~ I would use the following recipe for pipikaula that's in AlohaWorld Ono Recipes. I would also add in some toasted sesame seeds and maybe a tsp. or two of sesame oil, just because I like the taste of sesame.