Hawaiian

The Hawaiian Chef – Poi Battered Fish with Local Tomatoes, Sea Asparagus, Mandarin Oranges and Hawaiian Chef Dressing. $7.50

This past weekend I paid yet another visit to KCC Farmers’ Market, on the hunt for more unusual and exotic eats that abound at this weekly grand event. This time going for bad and good at the same time. As in good, healthy ingredients, deep-fried for what I’m hoping will be “bad ass” onolicious texture and flavor. How’s that for an expletive adjective oximoron? lol

In my last write-up on KCC Farmers’ Market, I noted that at the next opportunity, I’d try The Hawaiian Chef’s Poi Battered Fish ‘n Chips…

The Hawaiian Chef – Hawaiian Scottish Poi Battered Fish & Chips. $6.50

Just fried stuff was a bit too heavy on an early Saturday morning, so I instead opted for the Poi Battered Fish with the Mandarin Orange Salad, as shown in the first photo.

With that, on my NEXT opportunity, I”ll be sure to try this delicous sounding Kabocha and Granny Apple Soup!…

The Hawaiian Chef – Hawaiian Vegetarian Kabocha and Apple Soup: with Kabocha, Granny Apples, Onion, Curry Powder, Mustard Seed, Fresh Ginger, Vegetarian Broth, Lime and Yogurt. $5

Damned, that sounds good.

Here we have Juanita “The Hawaiian Chef” on the side cookin’ it up…

Juanita Kawamoto “The Hawaiian Chef” of Fresh from the Farm

Juanita took time explaining to me her company’s mission, which I’ll simply copy and paste directly from their website:

“Our mission is to play a key role in the sustainability of regional farms and agriculture in the state of hawaii by providing island farmers an alternative source to direct market their produce to earn a fair return and gain the recognition and reward for their efforts and hard work.”

~ Fresh from the Farm

My impression by our very interesting conversation is that Juanita is highly educated and very akamai about native Hawaiian foods and culture. I asked her what exactly Poi Batter is and she gladly explained it as being simply thinned-down Poi (she makes her own, but you can use store-bought), with the addition of Mochiko Flour, Paprika and Garlic Powder. Here’s how the batter looks…

Essentially to the consistency of, well, what those new to poi say it tastes like… wallpaper paste! lol

So here’s my Poi Battered Fish and Salad…

The Hawaiian Chef – Poi Battered Fish with Local Tomatoes, Sea Asparagus, Mandarin Oranges and Hawaiian Chef Dressing. $7.50

Juanita said the fish she uses is both Ono and Shutome (swordfish), which sounds A-OK to me. Let’s sample it…

Still piping hot, the fish on this bite tastes like the Shutome, which was very moist, tender and flakey, while having that usual low-fat and mild flavor that Swordfish usually has when cooked this way.

The Poi Batter is the big question here. What’s the deal there? Well, it has a texture almost like it was made with cornmeal. It seems the poi (taro) turns into little particles as it gets cooked in the hot oil. That’s really it. It’s pretty good, and no doubt interesting, although I’d prefer if it had a little more glutenous and air body to it like a beer batter. Perhaps the addition of baking soda and/or more Mochiko flour would help. I dunno, as I’m not a baker, but you get my drift.

The paprika and garlic didn’t shout out loud, but it did certainly taste “seasoned”.

As for the Salad with Hawaiian Chef’s dressing, that was fantastic and a welcoming fresh contrast to the light-yet-heavy deep-fried Shutome and Ono. The dressing tasted ike a simple sweet ‘n sour vinaigrette, which I’d actually probably prefer something more zesty with more “bite”, like say Cocktail sauce as the dressing, but as it is, this works fine.

Overall I’ll give The Hawaiian Chef’s Poi Battered Fish & Salad a poi-pounding 3 SPAM Musubi.

I also tried their Hibiscus Lemonade…

The Hawaiian Chef – Hibiscus Lemonade. $3

She said this is made from the “juices” of actual Hibiscus flowers that are wrung out. And you know what? It tastes just like drinking a flower pedal-laced Lemonade. You know how a rose pedal smells, right? Well, imagine drinking that, and that’s exactly what this tastes like, along with a sweet and mildly lemon-ee kick. Really, really ono. A refreshingly Saturday morning delicious 4 SPAM Musubi.

I’ll be back for that Kabocha & Apple Soup for sure! Mahalo Juanita!

Moving on to our next good-meets-bad delight, we have Two Hot Tomatoes Fried Green Tomatoes…

Here’s their menu…

Here we have their Combination Basket of Fried Zucchini and Fried Tomatoes…

Three orders of Fried Green Tomatoes ready to feed the masses at KCC Farmers’ Market…

And when I say masses, I mean it, as Two Hot Tomatoes booth ALWAYS has a long line of mostly Japanese Tourists. Fried Green Tomatoes are a novelty for me, and it surely must be for them.

In fact, having little to ZERO exposure to southern cuisine, this is indeed my first time trying Fried Green Tomatoes. This just isn’t something you don’t see much of, if at all here in the islands. Well except for here at KCC Farmers’ Market!

Wanna’ make ‘em yourself? Get some of Two Hot Tomatoes’ Batter Mix..

Notice they individually hand-paint each bag. I suppose that validates the $10 price tag.

Here’s my order…

Two Hot Tomatoes – Fried Green Tomatoes with wasabi lemon and basil lime sauce. $7

Notice it includes 2 dipping sauces: wasabi lemon and basil lime sauce. Both of which their flavors are very subtle, making taste predominantly like, well, mayo’. If anything, I could taste the wasabi the most, yet even that was subtle. I say “gas” da’ wasabi, baby!

Here you can see how the’re made from while slices of green (unripened) tomatoes that are cut about 3/8″ thick…

I didn’t ask the owner what’s in their “secret” batter, but I did read a recipe in a magazine I have which uses Polenta Cornmeal, with Buttermilk as the “binder”. It’s then finished with a light sprinkle of Paprika and kosher salt. That’s the magazine’s recipe.

I do know this batter is very light, with a fine and gritty texture (cornmeal?) that goes nicely with the acidic and “meaty” green tomatoes inside. The green tomato itself being cooked slightly under al dente, so it had a semi-raw taste, which I actually prefer, as I wouldn’t want it cooked through. The way it was here was perfect.

Summing it up, I’ll give Two Hot Tomatoes’ Fried Green Tomatoes a thumbs-up 3 SPAM Musubi, with my only complaint being its price at $7 a tray, which is kinda steep for what it is.

The weekend earlier at KCC Farmers’ Market, Two Hot Tomatoes had actually SOLD OUT of Fried Green Tomatoes, which I’m not surprised by, given the long lines they get. So on that visit I tried their Fried Zucchini and Fried Sweet Island Onion Rings as a combo’ set…

Two Hot Tomatoes – Fried Zucchini and Sweet Island Onion Rings. $7

These come with the same Wasabi Lemon and Basil Lime sauce.

Let’s sample some cuz’…

Yeah, that’s the way to do it. Nice ‘n sloppy. lol No, but seriously, again, like the green tomatoes, the zucchini is only partially al dente or semi-cooked through, so it comes across as snappy and fresh-tasting. In fact, I like this equally as much as the green tomatoes. The green tomatoes’ main advantage is its higher acidity level, so you get that mild tartness to cut through the richer flavor of the golden-fried batter. Yet they’re both equally a satisfying snack.

3 SPAM Musubi for their Fried Zucchini.

Now let’s sample the Fried Sweet Island Onions…

Yeah, diggin’ this one too. Me and onion rings are best friends, and this is certainly a fantastic spin on the classic with its more gritty batter, which I’m assuming is cornmeal. The onions are indeed sweet and also not overcooked and limp, but still retaining some shape of its natural conical shape. Very, very nice. Not surprisingly, the two mayo’ based sauces complimented the onion rings the best.

Summing them up, I’ll give Two Hot Tomatoes’ Sweet Island Onion Rings a “Maui-licious” 3 SPAM Musubi.

I’ll sign off with more sights around the market on this most recent visit…

“Lemonade Man”…