From Aunty Aloha's eMail Bag
http://alohaworld.com/ono

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 hamburger. 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.
http://alohaworld.com/ono/viewrecipe.php?id=1097718000

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

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

Donna ~ In some of the recipes of this web page, there are ingredients that I have never heard of. What is Shoyu and Nori for example? I am trying to prepare Thai foods and Hawaiian  recipes and some Chinese and Korean. Is there
anywhere on the web that defines these products?  Thank you.

Aunty ~ One of the ingredients that is common in Asian cooking is shoyu, which is a Japanese word for soy sauce. There are all kinds of soy sauce, too. Within the Chinese variety of soy sauce, you have light soy sauce, and dark soy
sauce, for instance (there are others as well). Most Americans are familiar with Chung King soy sauce (which is Chinese) and Kikkoman, which is Japanese. Japanese soy sauce tends to be saltier than the Chinese ones. And then you have tamari, which is also widely available in American supermarkets and health food stores. You can substitute tamari for any other soy sauce in a recipe, but the taste will be slightly different.

Nori is a sheet of dried seaweed that has been pressed flat. Nori is usually used as the outer wrapper on sushi rolls. Since the two ingredients that you mentioned happen to be Japanese, you can go to this link http://japanesefood.about.com/od/japanesefoodglossary/a/glossaryindex.htm and get started from there.

Dwayne ~ Can you post the recipe for patele? It's wrapped in luau leaf.

Aunty ~ Most Caribbean countries have a version of this dish. In some parts of the world, it's called "pastele" and in other places, "patele".

The recipe for "patele" that is eaten in Hawaii originally came from the Puerto Rican immigrants who settled in Hawaii. Here is a link to a Honolulu Star Bulletin article which contains a version of patele in it.
http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/12/15/features/request.html

It's time consuming to make, but the effort is well worth it, because you can freeze what you can't eat immediately.

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. 

Aloha from Hawaii City!

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NPIEN SPRING CONFERENCE April 2009 in San Jose
NPIEN's Northern California Chapter will hold its first conference, “Our Sea of Isles: Strength Through Culture,” on April 25, 2009 at the Evergreen Valley College (EVC) Campus, 3095 Yerba Buena Road San Jose, CA 95135. Visit the Home Page on the NPIEN website for registration information and sponsor information. Workshop strands include Career Development, Financial Aid, Technology, and Culture. The Holiday Inn Silicon Valley is the official hotel of the conference. Sponsors are Evergreen Valley College Action Council (DAC), Asian/Pacific Islander Resources for Excellence (ASPIRE), and the Pacific Islander Student Club. Jet Blue flies from the Long Beach Airport to San Jose.

HOW ABOUT AN AD ON NPIEN’S WEBSITE! Only $25 for a business card ad, $100 for a website link. Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . We offer economic hardship discounts.

MENTORS SOUGHT to speak at NPIEN’s Career Day and Mentoring Programs. If you are in the Los Angeles Area and would like to work with our Pacific Islander students, contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

http://eastcoasttropics.com/

Meet AlohaWorld's newest and updated "Lost Ohana" who have just been found!

• Candi
  From Pahoa now living in San Diego CA Pahoa School 1988

Click here to see these latest additions. http://alohaworld.com/lostohana/

If you are "lost" and want to be "found" ... you're welcome to submit your photo for AlohaWorld's "Lost Ohana Album". It's fun! If you're camera shy, feel free to just come and take a look. Who knows? You just might recognize someone you know! 

Come and visit us and taste our ONO LOCAL FOOD!
Los Angeles Location
12114 Washington Blvd.
CA 90066
Ph# 310 398 6326
Or
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1420 South Azusa Ave.
CA 91791
Ph# 626 917 3200

CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE @
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For information about our Catering Menus
We are able to cater your small intimate parties up to your large
 full buffet service parties (weddings, luaus, reunions, etc…)

Aunty Aloha gives special Mahalos to the ohana who contributed wonderful local style recipes since the last enewsletter.

• Finger Jello
• Stew Luau Haole Style
• No Can Go Wrong Barbecue Chicken

You can still find the latest additions to the Ono Recipes site --  http://alohaworld.com/ono/  under "Latest Additions"..