The inside of a baked manapua

You might be used to calling it cha siu bau, char siu bun, or bbq pork bun... In Hawaii, it's called manapua. Here's an exerpt from wikipedia:

This food usually consists of a white bun with a dark pink-colored diced pork filling. The red pork filling is called char siu, and the dark pink color comes from marinating the pork with a very small amount of salt peter prior to slow roasting. The bun is occasionally baked, but is more frequently steamed when it is made. Manapua has come to mean any meat-filled or bean-paste-filled bun made with the same dough as described above including locally created versions with hot dogs, curry chicken, kalua pig, and even ube (purple yam), which is a popular vegetarian version of the manapua. In Hawaii, freshly prepared or prepackaged frozen manapua may be found in dedicated bakeries, restaurants, and chain convenience stores.

The manapua I ate above is from Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory in Hawaii. Despite their name, they kind of specialize in manapua... steamed, baked, sweet potato, bbq, you name it. I liked their baked char siu manapua. The bun is sweet like Hawaiian sweet bread. The filling is a good mix of pork fat and meat.

Amber's Wedding

And now for the wedding! Amber had a beautiful beach side wedding at the Moana Surfrider in Waikiki. It was during lunch time, and it was a very intimate affair. I trusted the professionals to take beautiful pictures of the bride and groom... Me, I focused on things that they probably didn't think of photographing... Like the dinner roll.

I was really excited that the Moana had a free range chicken on the menu, so that's what I ordered. It was moist and flavorful, and they gave a lot of it! I couldn't even finish the plate.

The wedding cake was a white cake with mango(?) filling, and the party favors were almonds and a cute heart shaped cookie. Before lunch while the bride and groom were posing for pictures, we snacked on fruit and veggies. It was the perfect food for such a special day.

Fruit appetizers

Veggie appetizers w/ three kinds of dip!

My plate

Favors

Salad

Wedding cake

Free range chicken

Salmon and pasta (the other entree choice)

wedding cake

my slice

My Uncle's (And Tyler Florence's) Ultimate Roast Chicken Recipe

For New Years day, my uncle made Tyler Florence's Ultimate Roast Chicken. He swears that the secret to this recipe is choosing a "local" chicken... I think you'd do just as well choosing a free range chicken, though, like the recipe calls for. The chicken came out beautifully and even though we served it with gravy, it didn't even need it.

• 1 (5 1/2 pound) free-range chicken
• 1/2 bunch each fresh oregano, thyme, and parsley
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter, softened
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 orange, halved
• 1/2 head garlic
• 1 medium white onion, halved, plus 1 onion
• 6 strips smoked bacon
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• Serving suggestion: roast potatoes , watercress and gravy.

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Rinse the chicken with cool water, inside and out. Pat it dry with paper towels. Divide the herbs, keeping 1/2 of them whole. Finely chop the other half. In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the chopped herbs, until combined. Rub the herbed butter under the skin, as well as all over the outside of the chicken. Season the bird all over with salt and pepper. Stuff the cavity with the orange, garlic, 1 onion, and the remaining herbs. Tie the legs together with kitchen twine to help hold its shape. Place the chicken, breast-side up, in a roasting pan. Put the remaining onion into the pan, which will help color and flavor the sauce. Lay the strips of bacon across the breast of the chicken and roast for 25 minutes.

Remove the bacon and baste the chicken with the drippings and cook for another 25 minutes to brown the skin. The chicken is done when an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees F when inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (the legs of the chicken should wiggle easily from the sockets too.) Remove the chicken to a platter and let stand for 10 minutes, so the juices settle back into the meat before carving.

Meanwhile, remove the softened onion from the roasting pan. Tilt the pan so the drippings collect in 1 corner, skimming off as much fat as possible, and leaving the drippings. Place the roasting pan on top of the stove over medium heat and take a wooden spoon to scrape up the flavor from the bottom of the pan. Stir the flour into the drippings to make a roux-like paste. Pour in the chicken broth in stages; continue to stir to dissolve the flour evenly to prevent lumps. Stir in the sherry and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, carve the chicken tableside and squeeze the oranges from the cavity over the meat.

Honolulu Country Club

Brad's always playing jokes on friends at restaurants by telling waiters that it's someone's birthday, and having the Thai Elvis or chorus of waitstaff sing happy birthday to him/her. Well this time, it came back to him. My aunt proclaimed it Brad's birthday, and he got a sweet potato haupia* cheesecake brought out to him. We all sang "happy birthday" and Brad blew out the candle, slightly embarrassed. Hehe.

The food at this country club was really good! I ordered the smoked duck salad which was nice and light. They supposedly smoke it right there. Brad ordered the rack of lamb encrusted with macadamia nuts. The lamb was amazing. It came with mashed sweet potatoes. Delicious!

Rack of lamb with macadamia nut crust

smoked duck salad

fruit and sorbet

*haupia = "is a traditional coconut milk-based Hawaiian dessert often found at luaus and other local gatherings in Hawaiʻi. " according to Wikipedia

Amber's Wedding Shower

My friend Amber lives in Hawaii and had a wedding shower a couple of weeks ago. It was held at her parent's house, and she had delicious Italian food catered. After eating, we played a charades game in which Amber's (now) husband mimed the words on video. The best part was when he mimed Amber's favorite flower, the calla lily (my guess was "accordion" :P). We also played a bingo game while she opened presents. She got lots of kitchen gadgets that were on her registry, but sadly no mango pitter. Here are some pics from the event...

Amber cutting the cake

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 everyone! I hope everyone is sufficiently stuffed and ready to tackle those new years resolutions. I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I have a ton of food pictures that I'm planning to unload in a few days, so stay tuned...

Bouchon, Beverly Hills

If you couldn't already tell from the hoards of food bloggers taking pictures of their meals with expensive cameras and the fact that the restaurant is completely booked weeks from now, Bouchon is the latest hot dining spot in L.A.. I was lucky enough to score a reservation for brunch the second week it opened.

Fans of Thomas Keller are die hard, and I had high expectations. I had seen the salmon rilette on the Food Network show "Best Thing I Ever Ate". Tyler Florence (I think it was either him or Bobby Flay) boldly claimed that this was the best thing he ever ate. It's a mixture of smoked salmon and fresh raw salmon mixed with extra virgin olive oil. A coating of clarified butter is poured on top and hardens. The waiter takes the clarified butter off and you can spread it on the bread with the salmon. It was divine.

We also got the frisee salad with lardons and poached egg, the croque madame and the bouchons for dessert. It was all great, but my favorites were the croque madame and the bouchon dessert.

The service was impeccable. Not snooty or pretentious at all, very relaxed and friendly and polite. This was the best service I have ever had in L.A..

Note: Unlike Vegas, they have the same menu for lunch and dinner. No brunch menu or bakery.

Dinner Party: Raclette

Our friends Ron and Fran came over last weekend bringing wine, cheese, meats and a table top grill. We were preparing a traditional French dish called raclette. For those of you who are unfamiliar with raclette, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Raclette is a dish indigenous to parts of Switzerland, Wallonia and France. The Raclette cheese round is heated, either in front of a fire or by a special machine, then scraped onto diners' plates; the term raclette derives from the French racler, meaning "to scrape". Traditionally, it is accompanied by small firm potatoes(Bintje, Charlotte or Raclette varieties), gherkins, pickled onions, dried meat, such as prosciutto and viande des Grisons, sliced peppers, tomato, onion, mushrooms, pears, and dusted with paprika and fresh-ground black pepper...

A modern way of serving raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. Generally the grill is surmounted by a hot plate or griddle. The cheese is brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables, charcuterie, and perhaps seafood. Diners create their own small packages of food by cooking small amounts of meat, vegetables and seafood on the griddle. These are then mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese in the small, wedge-shaped coupelles that are placed under the grill to melt and brown the cheese. Alternatively, slices of cheese may be melted and simply poured over food on the plate. The accent in raclette dining is on relaxed and sociable eating and drinking, the meal often running to several hours. French and other European supermarkets generally stock both the grill apparatus and ready-sliced cheese and charcuterie selections for use with it. Restaurants also provide raclette evenings for parties of diners.

Cheese, meat and potatoes. How can it not be delicious, right? Here are the ingredients we used:

Boiled small yellow potatoes

Gherkins (miniature pickles)

Assorted cured meats

Raclette cheese (they got theirs from Trader Joes)

White wine

Salad (accompaniment)

Put the cheese in the grill tray and place it in the grill to melt for about 2 minutes. Halve some potatoes and when cheese is melted, pour it over the potatoes. Add cured meat and gherkin and enjoy.

Since the dinner was so heavy, we had fresh fruit for dessert. It was such a delicious meal, and perfect for a cozy wintry evening!

Rudy's BBQ, Austin TX

When in Austin, BBQ is a given. We were treated to some of the best BBQ in Austin at Rudy's BBQ. (We also got our smoked Thanksgiving turkey from there too!). The brisket was just melt in your mouth, perfectly charred, and the ribs were so juicy and flavorful.

There are no plates, so you eat on the paper table mats they give you. Along with their famous BBQ sauce, sweet pickles, white bread and smoky baked beans, there really isn't anything else that could make the meal any better... Oh, except some banana pudding. :)