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).
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.
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