Starting off today’s “Grindz of the Day”, we have some onolicious dim sum from Chun Wah Kam, including steamed Charsiu Manapua, Pork Hash and Pepiao.

Let’s have a closer look…

Time for a filling check…

Well, that manapua looks a bit skimpy on the Charsiu, but not this one…

Let’s check another one…

and another one…

One more….

I must say, Chun Wah Kam’s Charsiu filling is excellent, and I like theirs better than Libby’s, but I still say Libby’s has the best steamed bun. It has the perfect texture. Chun Wah Kam’s baked manapua is excellent though. Especially if you get it fresh out of the oven.

Moving on, we have some tuna and california sushi rolls, along with a set of gyoza from BLVD SNACK on Dillingham Blvd., across the street from HCC…

These wonderful sushi rolls are just a $1 each! The sushi rice is prepared perfectly here, and they taste so fresh!

BLVD SNACK’s Gyoza set…

Next up, a Kalbi plate from Korean B-B-Q Corner in Iwilei, next door to the Suzuki motorcycle dealership…

A closer look at the banchan…

Also from there, a Korean BBQ Chicken plate…

How is it? I give the Kalbi plate 2 SPAM Musubi, noting that the Kalbi needed more sauce. It was reasonably tender though and had good char-grilled markings on it. The banchan was very good; especially the Korean style potato salad. “Yum” to that!

Diner A gave his Korean BBQ Chicken plate 2 SPAM Musubi as well, noting it also needed more sauce, while the chicken was close to the point of being overcooked, yet juicy and tender in some parts. Really good here, while not so good there, if you know what I mean.

Next up a mini no-bean Chili & Chicken plate from Zippy’s…

I don’t know why, but of all the “Grindz of the Day” dishes shown so far in this post, this Chili & Chicken mini plate photo is the one that’s making me REALLY HUNGRY right about now! Imagine this plate greeting you at the table after a long day out at the beach. Talk about CHOW TIME!

Moving on, this tray of Inari Sushi was made by our friend Toru, and I must say, while I’m not an Inari Sushi fan, this was probably the best example of it I’ve every had in my life…

The rice had an interesting mixture of “stuff” in it, which I don’t know what it was, but it tasted AMAZING. Especially with the Sushi Shoga (sweet pickled ginger; that pink stuff in the container). I hope he’s willing to give me the recipe for it.

Finally, we have this Strawberry & Whipped Cream Birthday Cake Diner AC made for a coworker several weeks ago…

Our coworker just turned 5 years old. I’ll be 10 tomorrow. lol!

The cake was delicious.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Continuing my ramen binge, in search of the “ultimate bowl”, today we shall see if Taiyo Ramen is up to the task. Where here I stuck by my guns and ordered the Shoyu Ramen, where as always, I kick it up by choosing the Charsiu version, which is essentially Shoyu Ramen with more slices of Charsiu in it.

To note, the last time I’ve been to Taiyo Ramen was AGES ago when they were located near the corner of Kapiolani boulevard and Koreamoku street in a typical strip mall (no pun intended), where Nordstrom now calls home. Taiyo Ramen is now located tucked away in the corner of Piikoi and Kona street, nextdoor to Blockbuster and Payless Shoes. In total, according to the owner, Taiyo Ramen has been in business for 17 years, which is very impressive.

As always, first let’s case the joint…

And of course, the menu…

So, as said earlier, unlike my “think outside the box” mentality in ordering the highly touted Kakuni Paitan Ramen at Yotteko-Ya, here at Taiyo I chose the Charsiu Shoyu Ramen, my defining  authentic Japanese Ramen “gauge plate”. Here it is, where I also got the usual ramen accompaniment, Gyoza as side dish…

Taiyo Ramen – Charsiu Ramen & Gyoza

This is now the time to reflect Chef Maezumi’s philosopy, “A bowl of Ramen is a self-contained universe. With life from the sea, the mountains and the earth. All existing in perfect harmony. Harmony is essential. What holds it all together is the broth. The broth gives life to the ramen. Understand? So with that in mind, observe the ramen. Observe the ramen.”

Hai. Let’s first observe the ramen and embrace its elements. Its spirit. Its “tamashii”…

Boat-loads of Charsiu (Chashu), that’s for sure. My only complaint is the Kamaboko (the fish cake pink and white thing), which belongs in Saimin, not Japanese Ramen. At least, that’s my opinion.

OK, let’s taste the broth…

Eh. It’s OK. It actually reminds me of the Paitan broth from Yotteko-Ya, albeit not as “milky” tasting.

Now let’s try the Charsiu (Chashu)…

Very good. This does the ramen justice. It has a good balance of fat and meat, while being tender, with just the right amount of “bite” to it. It’s also seasoned well, screaming with “I’m Chashu!” flavor, and not bland at all like the Chashu I’ve had at another ramen shop I’ll review in a post coming soon.

Now the bean sprouts I had a slight problem with, as it seemed there were as much of that as there were ramen noodles…

Finally with a considerable effort fishing through the broth, I was able to unearth the noodles…

Sure enough, like many other ramen shops in town, Taiyo’s owner told me she sources their noodles from Sun. And with that, it was cooked perfectly al dentem with good firm to the bite.

Summing it up, the broth was just OK, while the Charsiu was excellent. For that, I give Taiyo Ramen’s Charsiu Ramen 2 SPAM Musubi.

Now let’s try the Gyoza…

These Gyoza are a bit larger than the norm, with pronounced folds on the side…

The taste and texture is excellent…

It’s filled with the usual ground pork, cabbage and green onion. The real standout is the thick wonton wrapper, which had a nice golden-brown seared bottom and perfectly al dente entireness, while also having a hint of seasoning to it.

Taiyo Ramen has a ready-to-pour Gyoza dipping sauce at every table in that bottle with the red lid, between the chopsticks and the shoyu…

With that, I find a great way to kick up Chashu even further is by dipping it in the Ponzu style Gyoza sauce…

While most Japanese ramen shops here in Honolulu are owned by Nihongin transplants, Taiyo Ramen is Korean-owned, as is very evident by the complimentary Kim Chee included with every order…

And I must say, this Kim Chee was mighty fine!

Have I found my “heavenly bowl” here with Taiyo Ramen’s Charsiu Ramen? Nope. But it’s not bad. The Gyoza’s a winner,.

Taiyo Ramen
451 Piikoi st.
Suite #105
Honolulu, Hawaii  96814

Tel. (808) 589-2123

Business hours:
Monday – Thursday 10am to 1am
Friday & Saturday 10am to 3am
Sunday 10am to ppm

The Tasty Island rating:

(2) Good. I’m glad I tried it.

Related links:
• Taiyo Noodles – Yelp user reviews

For Aloha Friday lunch yesterday, our gang decided to head on over to Salt Lake Shopping Center for some Korean BBQ grindz at Soon’s Kal-Bi Drive-In. This place gets many rave reviews on Yelp, with a high percentage of the total reviews awarding them 5 stars.  I remember coming here back every now and then in the 90′s when I had a friend who lived in the Salt Lake area, and it’s good to see they’re still going strong as ever.

Soon’s is located on the left backside corner of Salt Lake Shopping Center, next to Pizza Hut, where parking in the vicinity gets tight during the lunch hour rush. Luckily we immediately scored a stall as someone had just left when we pulled in. Love it when that happens.

As you see in the photo above, a line had already been formed, and it got even busier than that as time progressed during our “dine-in” visit. It became immediately obvious this place is very, very popular.

Let’s check out the menu…

Now before we talk about what’s on the menu, let’s talk about the SPELLING here. What is with all these Korean restaurants and how they spell the dishes? Which way is correct!!!??? Notice here at Joon’s they spell it “Meat Jhun”. While at other Korean restaurants I’ve seen it spelled either as “Meat Jun”, “Meat Juhn” or “Meat Joon”. You’d think Soon’s would spell it “Meat Joon”, right? With that, they could be entirely unique and call it “Soon’s Joon”. lol

Then now, Joon’s is throwing another curve ball, spelling Bul Go Gi as “Pul Go Gi”. What in the heck is going on here!!!???

Finally, you have Kalbi, which Joon’s hyphenates it as “Kal-Bi”, which I know for a fact is grammatically incorrect. Some places also separate it as “Kal Bi”. According to Wikipedia, in the Korean language, it’s actually “Galbi” which literally means “rib”, with the full name of the dish being called “Galbi Gui”, where “gui” means to grill, although “gui” is commonly omitted.

Very interesting. I always thought “Kalbi” meant “grilled beef”.

But ah, whatevahz. As long as the food’s good, who cares?! lol

O.K., end of rant. Let’s now talk about Soon’s menu selections, which everything here is typical of what you’d find at most Korean BBQ takeouts around town. Yet no matter what, I think most carnivores out there would agree with me that you can’t try a newly-discovered Korean BBQ takeout joint without first trying their most signature dish, the Kal Bi, and that’s exactly what most of us were here for.

Let’s start with Diner C’s husband’s choice, which he chose the Kal-Bi Combo…

Soon’s Kal-Bi Combo: Kal-Bi, BBQ Chicken, BBQ Beef, Meat Jhun and Mandoo, with Kim Chee, Bean Sprouts, Pickled Cabbage and Rice. $9.15

Then we have Diner E’s choice, the Kal-Bi Mix

Soon’s Kal-Bi Mix: Kal-Bi and Meat Jhun, with Kim Chee, Bean Sprouts, Pickled Cabbage and Rice. $7.75

Diner AC chose the Meat Jhun Mix, going the low carb’ route, requesting to substitute the rice for more veggies…

Soon’s Meat Jhun Mix: BBQ Chicken and Meat Jhun, with Kim Chee, Bean Sprouts, Pickled Cabbage (substituting rice for more veggies). $7.75

Here’s a peek at the BBQ chicken buried under the Meat John (oops)…

Yours truly decided to go for the Korean BBQ “megamix”, getting Soon’s ultimate combo plate…

Soon’s Special Combination Plate: 2 Kal-Bi, BBQ Chicken, Meat Jhun and Mandoo, with Kim Chee, Bean Sprouts, Pickled Cabbage and Rice. $9.50.

Wow, that’s a quite the BBQ FEAST for less than $10 bucks!

I also got a Kal-Bi Mix for my girlfriend to enjoy later for dinner…

Soon’s Kal-Bi Mix: Kal-Bi and Meat Jhun, with Kim Chee, Bean Sprouts, Pickled Cabbage and Rice. $7.75

Diner C got herself a BBQ Chicken Sandwich…

Soon’s BBQ Chicken Sandwich. $3.95

Finally, Diner E also picked up a Bar-B-Q Hamburger for later…

Soon’s Bar-B-Q Burger. $2.75

Oh brother, Now they’re spelling “barbecue” as “Bar-B-Q”. Couldn’t they just say “BBQ”? When will the madness end?!!!! lol

Well, it sure looks like we’re in for some serious Korean “Q”! Ha ha, another way of saying “barbecue”. How fun.

First let’s check out the Meat Jhun (a.k.a. Meat Juhn/Jun/Juun/Jon/Joon/Joohn/Jhoon)…

Here you see how thin the marinated beef under the egg batter is…

Dip ‘em in the sauce and sample ‘em cuz…

What makes Soon’s Meat Jhun stand out is their egg batter, which has a nice crispiness to it and good body, while the thinly sliced marinated beef under it is tasty and tender. The dipping sauce is a little sweet and a little spicy, and that really brings the Meat Jun (oops) home. Solid 3 SPAM Musubi on their Meat Junn. (oops)

Now let’s try the Mandoo…

Like the Meat Junn (oops), the Mandoo’s “shell” has a nice crispiness to it, while also having good “chew” to it as you bite through. The filling tastes like a simple mixture of ground pork and cabbage, and perhaps a little sesame oil. Overall a very good example of Korean Mandoo. Good enough where I’d consider ordering a plate of just that. 4 SPAM Musubi for Joon’s Mandoo.

Now let’s sample the BBQ Chicken…

This is actually Diner AC’s piece, where making healthier choices, she removes the skin…

Here’s my BBQ Chicken, where you see I’ve pulled the thigh bone apart from the butterflied meat…

Notice the skin has that always tasty “koge” or “papa’a” burnt edges. That’s flavortown 101 right there folks.

OK, enough looking already, let’s sample a piece…

Oh man. We have a winner right here. Now THIS is how you do Korean BBQ Chicken! This is by far the best dish here. It’s flavorful, moist and tender, with the Korean style marinade nicely permeated throughout the chicken’s meat fibers.

That skin (O.K., I confess, I eat the skin) being wonderfully glazed with the Korean style marinade, while the sugars in it caramelize on the surface all over, while holding on to some of that smokey essence from the flaming grill when it was cooked. Om-nom-nom-nom onolicious! I give Soon’s BBQ Chicken a “who needs Kalbi when we’ve got this!” 5 SPAM Musubi!

Diner C also thought very highly of her BBQ Chicken Sandwich, giving it a “I’ll be back for more!” 4 SPAM Musubi…

Now let’s try the Kal-Bi…

The cut is rather thin; like about 1/4″. With that, it can’t touch the “Big Bone” cut like that at Jin Joo in Waimalu Shopping Center. Yet, these ribs do share that fantastic Korean marinade like their excellent BBQ Chicken. Only problem I had with it was the meat was a little tough. Not horribly tough like a rubber slipper, but enough where it took some effort to cut through it with my plastic knife, and also to chew on. Thankfully it was very tasty and quite juicy. Summing up their Kal-Bi, thanks to the great marinade, “Koge” edges and juicy meat, I’ll give Soon’s Kal-Bi 3 SPAM Musubi.

The banchan (vegetable sides) were all ono as well, where I especially likde their Kim Chee, which was deeply marinated, and not one of them “Jiffy Kim Chee” recipes, if you know what I’m talkin’ about.

We all give Joon’s Kal-Bi Drive-In a unanimous 3 SPAM Musubi, with a few “polished” plates to prove it…

Soon’s Kal-Bi Drive-In
Salt Lake Shopping Center
898 Ala Lilikoi St
Honolulu, HI 96818

Tel. (808) 836-7665

PDF Menu download (2 pages; current as of 5/10)

The Tasty Island rating:

(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)

Related links:
• Soon’s Kal-Bi Drive-In – ‘Ono Kine Grindz
• Soon’s Kal-Bi Drive-In – Yelp user reviews

Well, the big game day is finally upon us as we all get ready to watch the New Orleans Saints take on the Indianapolis Colts in Florida. With that, right about now many of you probably already have your grill fired up, and the steaks, ribs, chicken, fish, burgers and dogs all seasoned, marinaded and ready for action.

In Hawaii, next to Teriyaki, Korean Kal Bi is one of the most popular styles of meat folks at home or at the beach like to barbecue (technically to grill). That wonderful marriage of flavors in the marinade between the shoyu, sugar, sesame oil, ginger, garlic and chili pepper is guaranteed to bring out the best of the beef short ribs. When done right, it’s “Umami” at its finest.

Shown above is an EXCELLENT example of the dish I picked up this past Wednesday at Jin Joo Korean Restaurant in the Waimalu Shopping Center. What separates Jin Joo from many other Korean take-out restaurants is that they use the “Big Bone” short rib, with just one big bone on the end, and the meat butterflied off it into a long strip.

Here at this angle you can kinda’ see better what I’m talking about…

I was actually much more pleased with how Jin Joo’s Kal Bi tasted this time, compared to my last order from here, where I gave it only 2 SPAM Musubi. This time around I give it a very solid 4!

For home-made Kal Bi, if you’re not making it from scratch, I think the best Kal Bi marinade to use is the Man Nani Food Co. brand by Halm’s…

Interestingly it has miso paste in it, which I think is the secret “ingrediment” that gives this sauce extra body and super-savory depth, especially after it caramelizes and sears onto the meat on the hot flame. I swear, even road kill marinaded in this stuff would probably still taste great. Seriously, really good stuff!  Costco sells the big bottle for like $8. Definitely a must-have item in your pantry.

In contrast to the “Big Bone” Kal Bi BBQ beef short ribs from Jin Joo, like I said earlier, most (of the cheaper) take-out Korean Restaurants around the island use standard thin-cut short ribs across the bones. Like they offer here from Dole Cannery BBQ…

Dole Cannery BBQ – Kal Bi plate. $ n/a

In this case, you see they cut each bone section into bite-size pieces. That should make it easier to eat if you’re only using chopsticks.

When it comes to food, Super Bowl parties are usually all about “manly-man” meat, meat and more meat, and there’s no question the “Bento King” of Oahu, the Zip Pac addresses that need from just about every angle…

Zippy’s Zip Pac. $8.10

You got your chicken (fried), your fish (mahimahi, deep-fried in Panko), your beef (teriyaki), your pork (luncheon meat) and of course da’ rice (with Furikake on top). Throw in a takuwan slice for good luck and you’re in it to win it, baby!

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the game today, and remember, don’t drink and drive. Go Saints!

Today we’ll check out Costco Food Court’s new Beef Bake, borrowing its design from their Chicken Bake.

In this case, and really, quite a surprise, the Beef Bake is filled with beef skirt steak marinaded and prepared in the style of Korean Bulgogi, along with diced white onions, Mozzarella Cheese and Caesar Dressing, wrapped and baked in a pizza pie crust topped with more Caesar Dressing and Parmesan Cheese.

Wow, Korean Bulgogi beef incorporated into an otherwise very American themed menu, huh? Where in the world did that idea come from? While this isn’t confirmed yet, the Costco team member I spoke with suggested the concept may have originated at the Costco in South Korea, which makes perfect sense.  After all, doesn’t every McDonald’s around the world now serve Portuguese Sausage, Eggs and Rice Breakfasts and Saimin? lol

Diner E bought one for lunch today from the Iwilei Costco, to which he shared some with me to try. Here’s how it looks on the inside…

Costo Food Court: Beef Bake – Marinated beef skirt steak in a Korean style sauce with white onions and Mozzarella cheese, wrapped and baked in Pizza pie crust topped with Caesar dressing and Parmesan cheese

Notice the grated Parmesan Cheese baked onto the outside of the crust. Then looking inside, there’s a generous amount of melted Mozzarella Cheese oozing throughout the strips of beef.

The adequate amount of beef skirt steak within was very moist and tender and not over-marinaded, but striking a nice balance. If it didn’t say Korean marinade, you just as well assume it was teriyaki, as I couldn’t detect any sesame oil, just shoyu and sugar, which was nice. That “teri beef” flavor married very well with the melted Mozzarella kissing and hugging it.

Here in this second close-up, you can kinda’ see the chunks of diced white onions scattered throughout it inside, which also contributed well to the flavor party…

Personally I would like more veggies in it, like say bell peppers and cabbage, yet, then again, the simplicity of it as is works too.

I’m assuming the pizza crust dough wrapping is the same one from their traditional pie pizzas, and it offers a nice crunchy-chewy texture as you bite through the meaty, cheesy filling.

Diner E thought it reminded him of a Teriyaki Beef Sandwich “on steroids”, with the only thing missing being mayonnaise and lettuce.  Perhaps they should try substituting the Caesar dressing that’s layered on the inside of the pizza crust with Mayo’ instead. Either case, if you’re a Teriyaki Beef Sandwich fan, check out Costco Food Court’s new Beef Bake. You’ll probably dig it.

Diner E enjoyed it,  giving it a solid 2 SPAM Musubi.

What? Costco Food Court’s Beef Bake
What is a Beef Bake? Beef skirt steak marinaded in a Korean style sauce (Bulgogi), along with diced white onions, melted Mozzarella cheese and Caesar dressing, wrapped and baked in Pizza pie crust topped with (more) Caesar dressing and Parmesan cheese
Where did you buy it and how much? Iwilei Costco Food Court, $3.49
Big shaka to: Bulgogi beef is very moist and tender. Melted mozzarella cheese marries well with the marinaded beef’s shoyu-sugar flavor. Crunchy-chewy pizza crust adds a nice texture and flavor constrast to the hearty, ooey-gooey, meaty, cheesy filling inside. Diced onions help bring out the flavor of the beef. Large size should make most adults full on just one.
No shaka to: although not bothersome, yet worth noting, the Caesar dressing inside the wrap adds a slightly weird acidic twang (we think Mayonnaise would be better). Would be nice if the Bulgogi was char-grilled (you know how much we adore our grilled meats).
The Tasty Island rating: 2 SPAM Musubi – Good. I’m glad I tried it. (Ono)

It was hot and muggy yesterday, so our gang decided to cool off for lunch with some cold Black Noodle soup from Yuchun Korean Restaurant.

Yuchun Korean Restaurant is located in a small business plaza, next door on the diamond head side of McKinley Car Wash on Kapiolani Boulevard…

The only other business sharing the parking lot with them is Pro Am Golf Shop…

Black Noodle is Yuchun’s specialty, which is what’s depicted on that road sign above and in big bold letters on the sign in front. In case you’re still not reminded of that, they also have enlarged, framed photos of the dish hanging on the wall inside…

Black Noodle (Naengmyeon)

Spicy Black Noodle

When we arrived around 1:30pm on Saturday, the place was almost filled to capacity, which is a good sign…

Service was quick and friendly, except for the comment one server reminding Diner JO that “We aren’t responsible if your kids get injured”. Wassup wit’ that? All her kids were doing was walking a little and talking to each other next to the table. They weren’t even horsing around. Sheesh. Anyways.

The restaurant dining room and seating are very comfortable, clean, inviting and casual…

Remember that exhausting post I did earlier this year on Chopsticks? Well, being a Korean Restaurant with a focus on soup, sure enough Yuchun provides that unique elongated Stainless Steel Korean Spoon along with disposable bamboo (not stainless steel, shucks) chopsticks…

Imagine trying to pick-up them slippery a Black Noodles (they’re just as slippery as long rice noodles) with the also-slippery slick Korean Stainless Steel Chopsticks. That’d be a nightmare! lol

O.K., let’s check out what’s on the menu…

Notice on the bottom part of the menu in pink where it says SPECIALS there’s “sets”. Set A is for two people and Set B is for one. Those sets include your choice of Black Noodle (regular or spicy) and either Bulgogi or Kalbi. So our table of five (plus two young children) ordered two sets of Set A with the Kalbi (of course), while I ventured out a little and ordered the Black Noodle with Spicy Sauce and Raw Fish as a solo dish (bowl).

The complimentary Banchan (Korean side dishes) served at Yuchun are quite simple and minimal, yet always a nice touch…

Pickled Julliened Daikon and Won Bok Cabbage Banchan

Thinly-slivered Pickled Daikon Banchan

Pickled Won Bok Cabbage Banchan

As a selling point, they really should mention on the menu that the Kalbi is “sizzling”, as that’s how it’s presented on the table: on a sizzling-hot cast iron platter…

Yuchun – Kalbi

Notice the steam wafting off the piping hot, grilled Kalbi Shortribs. Looks, smells and SOUNDS so ono!

Here’s the second platter of sizzlin’ hot Kalbi…

Yuchun – Kalbi (sizzling platter #2)

OMG! And I told myself I wasn’t going to eat red meat on this day, but these platters of sizzlin’ hot Kalbi quickly threw that thought out the door. lol

Yuchun – Kalbi

O.K. I wasn’t going to “eat” red meat on this day, but I did try a piece just for “research purposes” and I must declare, this is one of the best Kalbi I’ve had yet. What I personally liked about it is that it wasn’t over-marinaded and wasn’t too “teriyaki” sweet, while the beef itself – even if the shortrib cut was on the thin side – was very, very tender and of good quality, while those char-grilled edges and the psychological effect of it arriving at the table on a sizzling-hot cast iron platter really hit it out of the park. Yuchun’s take on it is as good as Kalbi gets. A solid 4 SPAM Musubi – if the shortrib cut were thicker (like 1″), easy 5. Looking for not just good, but GREAT Kalbi? Yuchun is your answer!

Moving on to the star of the show (as if the Kalbi didn’t already take that title away from it), we have the cold Black Noodle soup, or Naengmyeon in Korean.

Wait a second, “Black Noodle” you say? Well O.K., not really BLACK, but a very dark brown and similar to Japanese Soba, but unlike Soba which is made from Buckwheat Flour, Naengmyeon is made from the Kudzu root.

Here we have the regular (not spicy) Black Noodle in Iced Soup…

Yuchun – Black Noodle in Iced Soup

Notice how “gritty” the broth appears? That’s finely-crushed ice. When they say cold Black Noodle, they mean COLD!

So the regular (not spicy) cold Black Noodle arrives at the table with the iced beef and vegetable broth already added in it (at least it did on this visit), while the cold Spicy Black Noodle arrives with the broth on the side…

Yuchun – Black Noodle with Spicy Sauce

Here’s the ice cold Beef and Vegetable broth for the  Spicy Black Noodle…

Iced Beef & Vegetable Soup Broth for the Black Noodle with Spicy Sauce & Raw Fish

Here’s my Spicy Black Noodle with Raw Fish…

Yuchun – Black Noodle with Spicy Sauce & Raw Fish

Before pouring the broth into the bowl, the server quickly cuts the Black Noodles into fourths (using a Kitchen Scissors) to reduce each noodle’s length for easier eating….

Yuchun – Black Noodle with Spicy Sauce & Raw Fish (noodles cut)

You can see here where it gets its “spicy” name from the addition of Gojujang sauce. But it wasn’t as spicy as I expected it to be. I thought it’d be scorching in Scoville units, but it turned out quite mild and more sweet and quite pleasant.

Here it is now with the crushed ice, beef & vegetable broth added…

Yuchun – Black Noodle with Spicy Sauce & Raw Fish, iced beef & vegetable soup broth added

The server also cuts the noodles in the non-spicy Black Noodle…

Black Noodle in Iced Soup (noodles cut)

So how is it? Winnah, winnah, Black Noodle dinnah! Err, lunch that is. I haven’t had cold soba for a long time now, so this was a refreshing re-introduction to the genre of cold noodles. The noodles itself are like a combination of Japanese Soba and Chinese Long Rice Noodles. At least that’s the best way I can describe it. Here’s a closer look at the noodles itself…

Notice in the broth surrounding it that there’s bead of oil floating at the surface, which as you might expect at a Korean Restaurant is Sesame Oil. It’s not overpowering, but enough there in a very pleasant way, really enhancing the flavor of the vegetable and beef broth. Also blending into the broth is the Gojujang sauce, providing a slightly sweet, acidic and spicy twang to it. While the vegetable and beef broth is very subtle, yet you know it’s there, giving the overall dish (bowl) a pleasant and satisfyingly savory appeal.The texture of the crushed ice is very interesting in a savory dish like this and unlike anything I’ve ever had before.

So what about the raw fish, you ask? I asked myself the same question when the dish arrived in front of me. Do you see any raw fish? I don’t. I was expecting this beautiful arrangement of sliced sashimi-grade Ahi arranged on top, but nope. You know what the raw fish was? It’s this….

Guess what that is? If I didn’t tell you, I bet you wouldn’t have a clue. Well, it’s raw Skate, a.k.a. Stingray. Holy Batman! When I asked the server what it was and she told me Skate Fish, I nearly fell out of my chair. lol

Well, Skate is something new for me anyway, as that’s not something commonly found in our supermarkets. They must have gotten it from Chinatown. It had this weird, cartilage-like texture, with cells of raw fish flesh between it, and was chewy and tough, although flavor-wise, it was pretty good. It tasted mildly like Bonito.  I’m not sure if  Skate is what they normally use, but that’s what I got. So if you’re not sure about that and also might have been expecting something more like raw Ahi, ask them what the “Raw Fish” is before ordering this one.

The other garnishes in my Spicy Black Noodle with Raw (Skate) Fish was Julliened Cucumbers and thinly-sliced Daikon, which added a zesty, refreshing crunch to the slippery-soft black noodles.

The boiled egg on top was a nice touch as well, which of course makes for a great presentation topping the bowl….

I also got to try some of the sliced beef that comes with the other Black Noodle dishes (bowls)….

The thinly-sliced cold beef was just OK, but flavorless in comparison to that STELLAR Kalbi sitting on the same table.

Other than that weird part of eating Skate, I really, really enjoyed my Spicy Black noodle. Enough to give it a solid 3 SPAM Musubi rating.

The stainless steel bowls the cold Black Noodle is served in are huge too, with the portion being so much that I couldn’t even finish the entire thing, leaving behind a little of the broth and noodles.

I tried the non-spicy black noodle and thought it was bland in comparison to the spicy version. That mildly spicy, sweet and acidic Gojujang sauce and touch of sesame oil in the spicy version really enhanced the flavor of the crushed ice, beef and vegetable soup broth, and with that I  highly recommend you order the Spicy version if you try this dish. Don’t worry, it’s not as spicy-hot as it sounds. Just really, really good!

Ah, what a fantastic lunch at Yuchun!…

So if you’re looking for a refreshing dish to cool you off on a hot Hawaiian day, dig into some cold Black Noodles at Yuchun. Don’t forget to order their most excellent Kalbi too!

Yuchun Korean Restaurant
1139 Kapiolani Blvd. (next to McKinley Car Wash)
Honolulu, Hawaii
Tel. 589-0022

Business Hours:
11am to 10pm daily

The Tasty Island SPAM Musubi Rating:

(3) Very Good. Considerable of another visit or purchase. (Supah’ Ono!)

Related links:
• Yuchun, a closer look – Aku Eats
• Yuchun Korean Restaurant – Yelp user reviews

After going over the new Index page here, Diner E, A and myself noticed in black and white that the list of Lunch Wagons The Tasty Island has visited is way too short.

So in an effort to fill that void, yesterday for our usual Pauhana Friday greasy spoon lunch hunt, we set off on a lunch wagon safari. Which the closest area to our office that is known to be populated with lunch wagons is the industrial district of Mapunapuna, near the airport. Campbell Industrial Park out on the Ewa side also get “choke” lunch wagons (I mean CHOKE) during lunch hour too, but that’s obviously too far for us.

Fortunately Diner AC’s brother works in the Mapunapuna area, so she called him up to get a few suggestions. Two of which were Lance’s and Joe’s Lunch Wagon, which we ended up choosing the latter.

Choosing a good lunch wagon is actually quite easy:  just look for the one with the longest line. If there’s a long line of customers, like any other eatery, you KNOW the grindz gotta’ be good.

Remember Kanda “Kewalo” Lunchwagon? They always had a mean line. Often more than 20-30 deep.  Seriously. Gosh do we miss “Kewalo’s”. RIP.

So anyhow, we ended up going with Joe’s, attracted by at least a small crowd of folks lined-up in front, and also the accessibility. It was easy finding parking there along an adjacent side street to Mapunapuna road where they’re located.

As you see in the photo above, Joe’s Lunch Wagon is specifically located in front of Industrial Hardware Hawaii Fasteners and Construction Supplies. A fitting place for lunch wagon, I’d say. Hardware Hawaii is located nextdoor Mauka to them.

Let’s see what’s on the menu…

Joe’s Lunch Wagon Menu

Those prices are incredible. A mix plate of any two entrees for just $5.50? Sweet!

Diner E chose the Kalbi Short Ribs plate…

Joe’s Lunch Wagon – Kalbi Short Ribs plate – $5.50

Diner A went with a BBQ Boneless Chicken and Roast Pork mix (not mixed) plate…

BBQ Boneless Chicken and Roast Pork mix (not mixed) plate, $5.50

Are you kidding me? $5.50 for ALL THAT? Step aside Palama Market, here come’s Joe’s!!! Man, now Diner A can afford to fill his car up with gas again. lol

Finally, yours truly decided on paying tribute to my roots once again, going with the Hawaiian Plate…

Joe’s Lunch Wagon – Hawaiian Plate: Chicken Long Rice, Pork and Butterfish Laulau, Kalua Pig, Lomi Salmon, Mac’ Salad and Rice, $6.50

My word. All I have to say is WOW ———- LAU ———- LAU. That is an incredible spread of Hawaiian grindz for just $6 and change.

Really though, most lunch wagons around the island offer large amounts of food at very affordable prices. That’s just the norm. But what matters more (for me anyway) is how it tastes;  not how cheap or how much food they pile on the plate.

So let’s find out how good these lunch wagon grindz tastes, starting with Diner A’s mix plate…

First and foremost, we all unanimously agreed Joe’s Mac’ Salad was spot-on. Cool, creamy, tasty and simple, with the macaroni noodles perfectly al dente. Solid 4 SPAM Musubi for the Mac.

Joe’s Lunch Wagon Boneless BBQ Chicken

On to the BBQ Chicken, which Diner A noted was moist and tender, but lacked the desired char-grilled or seared edges. Almost as if it were baked – which it probably was – and not grilled. It was well marinaded with some kind of Korean BBQ sauce that gave it a rather reddish tone, although it wasn’t spicy, nor did it ring of Gojujang.  Still tasty though (good word!).

The gravy was the saving grace for the roast pork, which he really liked, but noted the pork itself – especially the larger pieces – were a little dry.

Of course the good gravy can even save dry pork, and with that gave his mix plate of BBQ Boneless Chicken and Roast Pork from Joe’s Lunch Wagon a solid 2 SPAM Musubi.

Moving on to Diner E’s Kalbi Short Ribs plate, his looked like it used the same red-tinged Korean BBQ sauce, which he said tasted good, but also noted it wasn’t as spicy as it looks. He said it was tender, but like Diner A’s BBQ Chicken (BBQ?), thinks his Kalbi was baked, not grilled. Which really is a crime. Yet still, he enjoyed his plate, with its saving  grace being – of all things  – the stellar Mac’ Salad. Yes, with Diner E, if you can ace Mac’ Salad, you’re “in like flynn” with him. lol

That said and with all things considered, “Simon Kaukau” (Diner E) gave his Kalbi Short Ribs plate from Joe’s Lunch Wagon 2 SPAM Musubi.

Finally let’s sample my Hawaiian Plate from Joe’s Lunch Wagon, starting with the Chicken Long Rice…

Joe’s Lunch Wagon – Chicken Long Rice

Oh yes, we’re off to a good start! The Chicken Long Rice had a distinguishable Ginger-infused chicken flavor, just like the dish should be, with enough pieces of chicken itself to keep it satisfying. The long rice noodles were a little soggy, but not that bad. Still acceptable, especially considering its out of a lunch wagon. A real ono 3 SPAM Musubi for that.

Now on to the “Big Kahuna” of the plate, da’ Pork and Butterfish Laulau…

Joe’s Lunch Wagon – Pork and Butterfish Laulau

Wait a minute, did you say Pork AND Butterfish Laulau? Yes my friends, for $6.50 with all that other stuff, it’s a Pork AND Butterfish Laulau. And you know what? This laulau was FANTASTIC!

The luau leaves were cooked down and seasoned with Hawaiian Salt perfectly. While the pork had huge globs of gelatinous, ready-to-melt fat around it. So ono, broke da’ mout’! What took me by surpirse while digging through it was the discovery of Butterfish in it. I couldn’t believe it!

Butterfish is a considerably pricey  ingredient that adds invaluably great flavor when combined with the pork in a Laulau. It’s usually a premium you pay if you were to order the same thing at Young’s Fishmarket. But nope, not here.

This laulau was a winnah. And from a Lunchwagon? Who woulda’ thought? Amazing! Easy 4 SPAM Musubi for da’ Laulau alone.

Now let’s sample da’  Kalua Pig…

Joe’s Lunch Wagon – Kalua Pig

This is actually called ‘Kalua Pig and Cabbage’, but I see way more Kalua Pig than Cabbage… which I suppose is better than the other way around! But eh, meh, was dry. Real dry. And it didn’t taste like they roasted it with Ti Leaves; just tin foil. It lacked that “Hawaiian flavah” you get from the Ti Leaves, tasting like simple Liquid-smoke flavored pulled pork, and a dry one at that. Luckily had all that fat from the moist pork in the Laulau – so I took that and mixed it up with the dry Kalua Pig and you know what? Buggah turned out winnahz! Ow-right! (I still can’t figure out how to spell that popular, highly-inflected slang properly).

Finally let’s try the Lomi Salmon…

Joe’s Lunch Wagon – Lomi Salmon

Definitely no “Lomi Tomato” here. There were small chunks of nicely-salted salmon in every bite, which you can visually spot amongst the diced tomatoes in the photo above. 3 SPAM Musubi for Joe’s Lomi Salmon (not tomato!).

Shoots, if only I had one bowl Poi, life at that moment would have been complete! For me, eating Hawaiian Food without Poi is like eating having a Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner without Gravy. It’s still delicious, but very much not complete without that gravy to smother all over everything. Ya’ know?

Not to fret though, as my plate did also included a scoop of their awesome Mac’ Salad…

Summing it up, I’ll give my Hawaiian Plate from Joe’s Lunch Wagon a solid 3 SPAM Musubi. Moisten up the Kalua Pig and offer poi instead of rice, and I’ll give it a four. Maybe five!

I mentioned earlier that Mapunapuna is nearby Honolulu International Airport. So we chose to eat our grindz at the parking lot located at the end of Lagoon Drive, where you can watch the airplanes take off from the Reef Runway…

Japan Airlines (JAL) takes off from the Reef Runway at Honolulu International Airport

It’s like a daily airshow here!

Here’s a trivia for you: Did you know?: The Reef Runway at Honolulu International Airport (HNL) is a designated alternative landing strip for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program.

Interesting! I did not know that until I read about it on Wikipedia:

“The (Honolulu  International) airport has four major runways. The principal runway designated 8R/26L, also known as the Reef Runway, is the world’s first major runway constructed entirely offshore. Completed in 1977, the Reef Runway is a designated alternate landing site for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration space shuttle program in association with Hickam Air Force Base, which shares Honolulu International Airport’s airfield operations.”

That’d be pretty neat to watch a Space Shuttle land there. I would so be there to see it.

The Reef Runway is now used for daily operations of commercial and military jets, including Hawaiian and Mokulele Airlines’ smaller inter-island 717 and Embraer 170 aircraft, as well as the Hawaii Air National Guard’s F-15 Fighters.

Being we were on a lunch wagon safari, of course we drove around the area scoping out all the options we could find. Another one located across the street, adjacent to Joe’s Lunch Wagon was this one that featured homemade Lasagna…

There wasn’t a name on the wagon, but we heard of one in the area called Lance’s. Could this be them? This wagon also had your usual local plates, from Hamburger steak to Grilled Ahi, IIRC.

Further up on the same Mapunapuna road was this lunch wagon called Chung’s…

Good gosh, that font is horrible! the ‘C’ in LUNCH looks more like an O or Q,  and the ‘W’ in WAGON looks like a lower-case L and V! lol

Then, as we headed down Lagoon Drive, we spotted this banner…

So of course we turned and checked it out! lol…

It doesn’t say it on this side (which it should), but on the other side it’s emblazoned with the name BYRON’S LUNCH WAGON.  This was their menu of the day….

Byron’s Lunch Wagon Menu

Ooh, I’m a sucker for a good home-style meatloaf, so that ‘Mom’s Meatloaf’ looks good to me. Chicken Hekka sounds good too! Love that stuff. In fact, I’ll share a great recipe for Chicken Hekka in the future.

Then as were headed back to the office on Lagoon Drive, we detoured off on Kalewa street to see what was back there, where we came upon this lunch wagon…

Papa Ole’s had already sold out of food (a very good sign!) by the time we arrived, but I did get a shot of the menu anyways…

Papa Ole’s (sold out) Menu

The very nice Hawaiian lady running the place explained to me that their menu changes daily (as most lunch wagons do), and that they also have a brick & mortar flagship Papa Ole’s Restaurant in Hau’ula.

She also must have thought I was the most handsome, charming man she ever met (ha-ha!… just kidding!), because out of the blue she offered me free Peach Cake and Shortbread to take along with me.  How cool is that! I offered to pay for it, but she said “No no, nevah’ mind braddah, just take ‘em!”  Now that is what you call Aloha Spirit my friends! So we made it a point that we’d return here soon for lunch to show appreciation for her generosity.

So just out of curiosity checking out a hidden lunch wagon, and thanks to my handsome good looks and charm  (j/k!), we came back to the office with Aloha Friday dessert, compliments of Papa Ole’s!…

Complimentary Peach Cake and Shortbread Cookies from Papa Ole’s Lunch Wagon

Here’s Papa Ole’s Peach Cake…

Peach Cake from Papa Ole’s Lunch Wagon

Peach Cake from Papa Ole’s Lunch Wagon

This buggah was so ono! Especially after all that savory Hawaiian food from Joe’s Lunch Wagon. And I’m not saying that because it was comp’d . Honestly, it was! Super moist, buttery-rich ono. If you hit up Papa Ole’s and feel you have a craving for rich, moist, buttery desserts, do order this Peach Cake. Highly recommended!

The Shortbread Cookies were also EXCELLENT!…

Shortbread Cookies from Papa Ole’s Lunch Wagon

Big, BIG MAHALO once again to the nice lady from Papa Ole’s for hooking us up with the complimentary, supah ono desserts! We’ll be back for lunch!

Joe’s Lunch Wagon
In the front of Industrial Hardware Hawaii Fasteners and Construction Supplies
on Mapunapuna road in Mapunapuna

SPAM Musubi Rating:

(2) Good. I’m glad I tried it. (Ono)

While I spent this past Friday fasting, Diner A, AC and E enjoyed taunting me while digging into these GINORMOUS Korean plate lunches from Palama Market on Dillingham boulevard.

Just look at all that food for only $7.50!!! Unbelievable.  Like most asians, Koreans are fit and trim folks, so they must have a really good metabolism if places like Palama Market – a Korean grocery imports store – are feeding their regular customers this well. We’re talking layers upon layers of meat jun piled on that plate above. And not just one big piece of BBQ Chicken, but two!…

Palama Market (Dillingham location) – Meat Jun, BBQ Chicken and Mandoo plate, $7.50

Brah! That’s choke grinds right there. So much that Diner A, who’s plate this is, couldn’t even come close to polishing all of it in one sitting like he often does.

Also coming in at a thrifty $7.50 for enough food to satisfy anyone with a truck driver’s appetite, or shared between two adults,  is Diner AC’s Meat Jun, Kalbi and Mandoo combo plate…

Palama Market (Dillingham location) – Meat Jun, Kalbi and Mandoo plate, $7.50

Good Lord! That’s a TON of food. I almost got a “Kanak-Attack” just looking at it. lol

Here’s the beautifully char-grilled Kalbi that was buried under the seemingly endless layers of Meat Jun…

Here’s a close look at the Mandoo…

Palama Market – Fried Mandoo

Then we have Diner E’s Stir-fried Shrimp Plate, cranking the cost meter down even further to just $7.00…

Palama Market – Stir-fried Shrimp, $7.00

Notice this one doesn’t include Mandoo, yet still an incredible bang for the buck.

Finally, Diner E also bought a tray to share of these absolutely delicious Korean Seafood Pancakes…

Palama Market  – Korean Seafood Pancakes (Pajeon), $4.00

Here’s a slice..

Palama Market – Korean Seafood Pancake (Pajeon)

With that, Diner A and AC gave their plates a solid 3-SPAM Musubi rating, while super-critical Diner E, who we now have a new nickname as “Simon Kaukau” (a spin-off from American Idol’s Simon Cowell) gives his plate 2-SPAM Musubi.

Zzzzzzzz. Snore. Zzzzzzzz. Snore. Zzzzzzzz. Snore.

The other day for work lunch break, we sampled a new Korean BBQ take-out restaurant yesterday in the Dole Cannery office building in Iwilei…

Unlike Mia’s, McDonald’s and Subway which make up the tenants in the food court on the second floor up the escalator, Dole Cannery BBQ is the only restaurant occupying the street level interior lobby, located on the left side as you enter the front doorway under the awnings shown above. Here they are…

Being new, they’re obviously still (almost literally) ironing out their menu, including the board you order from…

Getting right to it, I ordered the Bi Bim Bap, which here’s the owner’s Korean writing to ID it, to which I would have no idea what this says, except to know I ordered Bi Bim Bap…

Without further ado, Dole Cannery BBQ’s Bi Bim Bap…

Bi Bim Bap, $6.69

I was hoping they’d arrange it in a take-out BOWL (not clamshell plate), with the egg centered, but this is how it was presented. But this is a take-out restaurant afterall,  so how much can you expect?

Now fo’ hit da’ Kochujang sauce on top and go for it!…

The beef had a great, well-marinaded Korean style Kalbi sauce flavor, with strong hints of Sesame, ginger and sugar. Very nice. The banchan (essentially what it was) also each and of of their own contributed well to the overall dish. The Kochujang tasted like bottled stuff, yet surely enhanced and married all the flavors together. Overall I’ll give this Bi Bim Bap a solid 2 SPAM Musubi (good). Would have been 3 if they presented it better and made my egg sunnyside-up.

Next up on a foll0w-up visit we have their Tofu Soup, which the owner says in Korean is called Jjigae…

Dole Cannery BBQ – Tofu Soup, including 3 choice banchan and rice, $6.69

Note to self: Whenever going to a Korean restaurant in the future, if the owner asks if you want it “hot”  or “regular”, choose “REGULAR”. On this order I chose “HOT”, and WHOAH! This buggah must have had more Scoville Units than there are hotel units in all of Waikiki! Or Mexico for that matter. Holy Pyongyang, Batman! But it was delicious never-the-less. It tasted like Miso Soup with Kochujang sauce added to it, along with perhaps a few secret Korean ingrediments I couldn’t quite pinpoint, but I know is in there.

It includes a generous amount of cubed tofu…

Dole Cannery BBQ – Tofu Soup, $6.69

As well as also-generous helpings of sliced and chopped cucumber, carrots, green onions, white onions and won bok cabbage…

Dole Cannery BBQ – Tofu Soup

As an incredible deal at just $6.69 (which comes out to $7.00 with tax), it also includes your choice of three banchan sides and rice, which I chose these on this order…

Dole Cannery BBQ – Banchan and rice (included with Tofu Soup)

The spicy/savory Kochujang-meets-miso broth, combined with the cruciferous vegetables makes you feel real good after eating it. Light and energetic, not weighed-down. As noted earlier, order the regular, not spicy lest  you be deemed suicidal. lol

Finally we have Diner A’s Bulgogi…

Dole Cannery BBQ – Bulgogi, $6.69

This uses the same Korean marinaded beef that’s included in the Bi Bim Bap. With that, Diner A gives this a solid overall 2 SPAM Musubi rating (good).

Here’s Dole Cannery BBQ’s temporary menu they have posted up…

Now we move on to a box of pastry goodies courtesy of Diner E (mahalo!!!) from Kamehameha Bakery, a.k.a. “Kam Bakery” on the ever classic School street in Kalihi, a.k.a. “God’s Country”…

Box of pastries from Kamehameha Bakery (courtesy of Diner E), $8.27 (total price for all that!), 7/30/09

Yes, dilapidated building aside, for those in the know, Kamehameha Bakery is still the best deal in town for some onolicious pastries. The super-moist, super scrumptious glazed doughnuts currently run 50 cents each, or $6 per dozen bulk rate…

Kamehameha Bakery – Glazed Doughnut, 50 cents each or $6/dozen (current price as of 7/30/09)

The massive cinnamon doughnuts are a winnah as well…

Kamehameha Bakery – Cinnamon Doughnut, 90 cents each (current price as of 7/30/09)

Then there’s this Filipino favorite, an Ensemada…

Kamehameha Bakery – Ensemada

Cornbread…

Long John and Haupia Doughnut…

Another look inside that absolutely delicious “Kam Bakery” Haupia Doughnut…

Kam Bakery’s famous Haupia (filled) Doughnut

And again with the strawberry, which turned out to be a thing of beauty…

Kamehameha Bakery’s famous Haupia Doughnut with a token strawberry

…not just in appearance, but also in taste! This is my new discovery: whenever buying pastries, buy some fresh fruit to go along with it. I tell ya’, the combination of the slightly tart strawberries, along with the heavily sweetened and rich pastries are a match made in heaven. Especially with the sweet coconut-flavored haupia filling in the doughnut. O-M-G!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So ono.

If you’re a night owl, be it for work or play, the city of Honolulu has got you covered, with most nightclubs open until either 2am or 4am nightly, along with a few restaurants within the vicinity open 24 hours a day to cap off a night on the town.

For late night grindz, right in Waikiki alone you have Wailana Coffee Shop, Mac 24/7 and Jack in the Box (he he). Heading towards Kalihi there’s Liliha Bakery’s 24 hour diner. Then of course there’s your favorite Zippy’s out in your neck of the Oahu woods. Or if you (or your designated driver) drives  just a block out of Waikiki up to Keaaumoku street (a.k.a. “Koreamoku”), there’s the old school Like Like Drive Inn. Just a stone’s throw away from there is Sorabol, a popular 24 hour Korean Yakiniku Restaurant. Or, you can get even more hole-in-the-wall here at Million Restaurant, also featuring Korean Yakiniku, located in a rather obscure building on Sheridan street behind Walmart.

Well OK, not exactly 24 hours a day here, but late enough for most folks swingin’ the graveyard shift. Million restaurant is open on Monday from 12pm to 5am, Tuesday thru Thursday from 11am to 3am, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 5am and Sunday from 11am to 12am. This information from someone I just confirmed with over the phone.

Let’s get right to it and savor a few dishes we enjoyed here the other night, or should I say more like very early in the morning.

When it comes to Korean cuisine, I’m all about the Banchan, those wonderful prepared, pickled, and /or spiced side dishes brought out to accompany your meal. And the complimentary banchan that’s brought out for every table at Million is just delicious, tasting very fresh and generous in both portion and variety…

Crab legs marinated in Kochujang sauce…

Gotta’ get Kim Chee…

Korean style potato salad

Spicy octopus…

People not familiar with Korean cuisine may sometimes mistaken banchan as being appetizers, but they’re not. They’re intended to be eaten along with your entree. So to go along with this spread, Diner CH got a mixed plate entree of BBQ Chicken and Beef…

Diner ER went with Korean style BBQ Chicken…

Diner JO went with the spicy seafood hot pot  soup (this had shrimps, scallops and tofu in it)…

Diner J went with the Kal Bi Chige..

Finally, yours truly ordered the Dolsot (stone pot) Bi Bim Bap…

There’s a raw egg underneath the nori in the center. What you do is mix everything on top into the rice underneath, along with some of that Kochujang sauce. The scorching hot stone pot creates an absolutely delicious fried rice right before your eyes. A very unique dining experience for sure. Awesome.

Here’s a close look at the Kochujang sauce that goes in there, noticing the chili pepper seeds…

Every entree also includes a small bowl of this soup…

Million offers Yakiniku as well, with this interesting ventilation vacuum system at each table…

There you have it. Another restaurant in the heart of Honolulu popular with the night owls, serving up delicious Korean food at great prices.

Million Restaurant
626 Sheridan St
Honolulu, Hawaii 96814

Tel. 596-0799

Business hours:
Monday: 12pm to 5am
Tuesday thru Thursday: 11am to 3am
Friday and Saturday: 11am to 5am
Sunday: 11am to 12am

The Tasty Island rating:

(4) Excellent. Worth another visit or purchase. (Winnahz!)

Related links:
• Million Restaurant – Yelp user reviews

In light of the recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula making news headlines in the past month, when I went in to grab lunch for us the other week, I asked the husband/owner of Jin Joo if he knew of the similarities and differences between north and south Korean cuisine. To which he simply said north Korean food is spicier (hotter).

Well, until we get a restaurant in Honolulu named “Kim Jong II North Korean Restaurant” (notice how that looks like Kim Jon Il), we’ll just continue to enjoy the wonderful Korean food of the south from popular Korean restaurants here such as Kim Chee, Sorabol, Million, Yummy’s and what we have here at Jin Joo in the Waimalu (Aiea) area.

KHNL news “Cheap Eats” reporters Lyle Galdeira and Russell Yamanoha stopped by here back in March of this year for a review, to which they made claim that Jin Joo’s Big Bone Kal Bi was THE dish to get. So that’s what I got…

Jin Joo – Kal Bi BBQ Beef, $9.75

What Lyle and Russell pointed out with this Kal Bi is they filet the beef from one large-cut bone, versus how most other fast food Korean restaurants make their Kal Bi using short ribs that are cut thinly across a series of rib bones. The former being how Kal Bi is traditionally made in Korea.

Here’s the underside of the 3 pieces of Kal Bi on the plate…

Nice char-grilled markings.

The plate was kinda’ lacking in the banchan department though. The Korean style pickled bean sprouts were pretty good. The pickled cabbage just ok. The Kim Chee was rather limp and non-noteworthy. I wish all Korean restaurants had a plethora of Banchan for customers to pick and choose (usually 4 choices) to their own discretion, but Jin Joo is one of those that only offers house set of Kim Chee, bean sprouts and cabbage. Not connotating I don’t appreciate that, but just saying.

As for the Kal Bi, it was tender and moist, and huge points plus for the flame-grilled char-grilled burnt edges. Yet it lacked that “per Kal Bi boost” due to what tasted like they were only marinaded for a short period of time. Compounded by them not being basted with with more Kal Bi sauce as it cooked.  So it lacked that sweet and spicy glazed-on finish. I just love asian style teriyaki and Kal Bi beef coated thick with ooey-gooey, glazed-on sauce, though these somewhat lacked that attribute. If only they were basted while they were grilled, the Kal Bi from Jin Joo would go from good to Kim Jong Illin’ un-B-leivable! lol Seriously.

With that, I give Jin Joo’s Kal Bi 2 SPAM Musubi.

Diner A went with the Mundoo/Meat Chun/Chicken plate…

Jin Joo – Mundoo/Meat Chun/Chicken, $7.25

His favorite item on the plate was the Mundoo…

He wasn’t as favorable towards the Meat Chun (a.k.a. Meat Jun), noting that the thinly sliced beef didn’t taste seasoned or marinaded at all, while the fried egg and flour batter didn’t add much more support the beef’s blandness. He said the chicken was moist and tender, but like my Kal Bi, it too lacked any punch from the Korean sytle sauce.

With that, he gave his mixed plate 1 SPAM Musubi.

Here’s another Kal Bi plate (I watched about 5 of them go out the service counter while waiting for my order)…

Jin Joo has dine-in tables in the small establishment with the owners as your server, or you can order take-out like we did…

Jin Joo Korean Restaurant
Waimalu Shopping Ctr
98-020 Kamehameha Hwy
Aiea, Hawaii 96701

Tel. 488-3355

The Tasty Island rating:

P.S. The other day I picked up another Kal Bi plate from Palama Market on the corner of Kalakaua and Makaloa street, next to the Kaheka Don Quijote (a.k.a. Daiei, a.k.a. Holiday Mart)…

Palama Market (Makaloa/Kalakaua location) – Kal Bi plate, $6.75

OMG, now THIS IS KAL BI my friends. This is the second time getting this plate from here, and both times prove this is one of the best Kal Bi plates I’ve had yet on the island. And for just $6.75? Are you kidding me?!

Notice they use the typical plate lunch stand style (cheaper) short ribs cuts, but that doesn’t matter. They got the marinade and cooking method down! All the banchan items (preselected) are excellent as well.

Trust me, if you want excellent Kal Bi, regardless of ambiance (it’s located in a market food court) or price, consider  Palama Market near Don Quijote. Both your tummy and your wallet will thank you.  Considering everything that makes Kal Bi GREAT Kal Bi,  easy 5 SPAM Musubi here.

Back in January of last year, I did a post on Tonkatsu sauces, where reader Michelle made a note about me sticking chopsticks in my rice bowl in one of the photos, pointing that out as being forbidden in Japanese culture. It actually turns out being forbidden by ALL chopstick-using asian cultures, as that symbolizes death in the form of an offering for the deceased, as it portrays incense placed into ashes.

Not only did I stick the chopsticks in the rice for that photo, I also crisscrossed them, which is another no-no. To top that off, I also poured shoyu on the rice, which, especially to Japanese elite, is considered “low class”.

Ack! Goes to show how long it’s been since I’ve been to Japan. I’ve been there so many times while growing up, but have now forgotten all the those important table manners our family used to respect and obey when visiting there.

I don’t have any asian ancestry myself, so whatever of those cultural influences I’ve been exposed to were through travel and friends, classmates and coworkers I grew up with here in Hawaii; not passed on from elders. Yet the asian people and traditions are those I’m so fond of and hold with high regard and respect.

Of course there’s a lot more rules than that when it comes to chopstick etiquette, not just in Japan, but all the asian countries that use them, including the motherland of chopsticks, China, as well as Taiwan, Korea and Vietnam.

The question is, how have these traditions of strict chopstick etiquette from your particular homeland carried itself as either you, your parents, great-grandparents or ancestors beyond that immigrated to the United States or other western country? Do you observe them all yourself, all the time? Or only when sitting down with immediate family, or in a formal restaurant?

Issei and nisei (first and second generation) Japanese-Americans surely must be much more strict in practice than, say sansei and yonsei (third and fourth generation Japanese-Americans). I asked a few of my local sansei and yonsei Japanese friends and coworkers if they practice strict chopsticks etiquette and most of them said they do for the most basic ones (like standing chopsticks in rice), but the more obscure or meticulous ones hardly if at all.

There’s quite a few websites out there now that cover this subject, with most of them pretty much in accord with each other on the same set of rules and guidelines.

There’s a whopping 40 forbidden acts listed regarding the use of chopsticks (and a few on general table manners) from a Japanese perspective on this web page.

This Wikipedia article on Chopsticks gives a good general overview on the history and etiquette practices from each country, and is an ideal place to start your own personal research. I’m not about to attempt to retype the whole list here. You can read them at those links yourself.

If you read the rules, many of them are common sense, while others — like the chopsticks stuck vertically in the rice — have more symbolism, superstition, and/or pure tradition behind them.

Such as for the Japanese, when chopsticks are placed on their rest on the table, they should always point to the LEFT; if they point to the right it is a symbol of bad luck. ZOINKS!

What’s just as interesting as the history and various cultural etiquette practices behind chopsticks, are the variations in materials, finishes, size and design profiles that they’re made from one region or country to another.

The most intriguing one I discovered rather recently are the Korean STAINLESS STEEL chopsticks, which come as a set including a matching SPOON…

Korean 18/10 stainless steel chopsticks and spoon set

This Korean Chopsticks measures 8″ length x 1/8″width x 1/16″ thick at the tip x 1/4″ width x 1/16″ thick at the handle end. The spoon measures 8-5/16″ length x 1-5/8″ width at the spoon end x 3/8″ width x 1/16″ thick at the handle end.

Notice the ornately-decorated, matching handles and satin-matte finish in that area for better hand grip. On the back of the spoon it says 18-10, which must be indicating it’s made of 18/10 (18% chromium/10% nickel) stainless steel.

Also notice I placed the chopsticks to the RIGHT of the spoon in accordance to Korean tradition; putting them to the left of the spoon is forbidden.

There’s a few reasons I found on why Korean chopsticks are made of stainless steel. The most practical one being that the South Korean government prohibits the sale and consumption of disposable products, including chopsticks. So stainless steel was chosen as the most durable reusable (easy to wash and care) material to make this utensil out of, just as western forks, spoons and knives are made of.

Another reason mentioned is that after World War II, Korea had a shortage of wood resources and a surplus of scrap metal.

The most radical reason I’ve read is that they were distributed to the masses during World War II to serve dual purpose as throw dart weapons in case enemy forces invaded their country. Which is credible, as if you feel it in your hand, the front point end is heavier than the back handle end, making it ideal for throwing with the point spearheading into its target. Filing the blunt tip into a sharp point would be easy to do as well.

Here’s another Korean Stainless Steel Chopsticks & Spoon set…

As for using them to eat, the spoon is intended to be used for soups and RICE only. Yes, rice. You don’t use the chopsticks, you use the spoon. And, according to Korean etiquette, NEVER pick the rice bowl off the table. Unlike the Japanese and Chinese who lift their rice bowl to eat, the Koreans leave the bowl planted on the table, strictly using the spoon to transport the rice to the mouth. Also, both spoon and chopsticks are not to be used simultaneously. Nope. You only use one or the other at a time. So you would leave the steel chopsticks on their rest whenever using the spoon to eat soup or rice. Then when it’s time to grab something like say a piece of Kal Bi or Kim Chee, you would first rest the spoon, then grab the chopsticks. Man, that sounds kinda a hassle.

Whatever the case, the Koreans truly have a unique chopstick design and etiquette.

I bought this set at Kapalama Market’s Makaloa street location (next to Don Quijote) for $4.99. Interestingly, they had them hidden underneath the counter at the cash register. What’s up with that? Maybe they don’t want outsiders “in” on their “good stuff”. lol Well, when I asked one of the stock clerks if they had them, he gladly pointed me to the cashier for them. Cool.

Notice the ends of the Korean chopsticks are blunt, and the profile is FLAT…

Here’s the handle side of these…

We’ll get to using these rather unusual chopsticks (and spoon!) later, but next let’s look at the all-time classic Chinese chopsticks…

Chinese restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks (with spoon)

This Chinese melamine resin chopsticks measure 10-3/4″ length x 3/16″ diameter at the round profile tip x 1/4″ square at the handle end.

The Chinese bamboo chopsticks (shown in top photo with red Chinese characters on it) have are unfinished, yet sanded very smooth. They measure 10-3/8″ length x 1/8″ diameter at the round profile tip x 1/4″ square at the handle end.

I included a soup spoon with it, as that’s what usually accompanies them at most Chinese restaurants. I’m just wondering whether my placement of the spoon on the RIGHT of the chopsticks here symbolizes anything good or BAD in Chinese? I couldn’t find the answer online (didn’t search THAT deep). Maybe you know or can find the answer.

What many of you might fondly (or not so fondly) make note of is these Chinese restaurant style melamine chopsticks’ non-tapered blunt tips and slippery-smooth finish at the business end…

Chinese style restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks and unfinished smooth-sanded bamboo chopsticks tips

Dang, to try and pick up loose Chinese style long-grain rice with this? Forget it! That’s why the Chinese method to eating rice is to bring the bowl right to the mouth and use the chopsticks to “shovel” the rice in your mouth. Not pick the rice up like Japanese do from the bowl held at chest level.

Here you see the profile at the handle end of the Chinese chopsticks are square…

I purchased these from a Chinese grocery store on Maunakea street in Chinatown. This is how the packages look…

These were incredibly cheap at just $1.75 for the package of 10 pairs (20 total) of restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks on the left, and a recession-busting 75 cents for the package of 10 pairs (20 total) of unfinished, smooth-sanded bamboo chopsticks on the right… and I didn’t even need to bargain! lol

Next under the microscope we have several varieties of Japanese chopsticks…

Japanese chopsticks in various materials, finishes and sizes

The brown-stained oil-rubbed yew wood chopsticks on top measures 8-7/8″ length x less than 1/16″ diameter round profile at the tip x 5/16″ square at the handle end.

The longer red lacquered wood chopsticks beneath that measures 8-7/8″ length x 1/16″ diameter at the round profile tip x 5/16″ at the rounded-square handle end.

The shorter red lacquered wood chopsticks measures 7/5/8″ length x 1/16″ diameter at the round profile tip x 5/16″ at the rounded-square handle end.

The children’s lacquered bamboo chopsticks with the cute widdle bunny wabbit cartoon character on it measures 6-7/16″ length x 1/8″ diameter at the round profile tip x 1/4″ at the rounded-square handle end.

Notice how they’re all distinctively tapered gradually from the handle all the way to the tip, sort of like a really stretched out cone.

Japanese Chopsticks’ handle ends

I especially like when the tips have these ribbed grooves that really improve grip…

The only drawback to the ribbed tips is they take a bit more effort to wash thoroughly, unlike the smooth finish tips that just take a quick swipe of the soaped sponge and they’re clean. I’m sure most restaurants are aware of that and only offer the smooth type. Or not this type at all, and just give Waribashi (disposable chopsticks).

Which brings us to exactly that, the waribashi (disposable) variety…

Waribashi disposable chopsticks

The fancy unfinished smooth-sanded pine waribashi chopsticks on top measures 9-1/4″ length x 3/16″ width x 1/8″ thick at the oval-profile tip x 3/16″ width x 1/4″ thick at the beveled angle handle end.

The unfinished bamboo (Zippy’s logo) waribashi chopsticks measures 8-1/4″ length x 1/8″ diameter round profile at the tip x 1/4″ width x 3/16″ thickness at the rectangle profile handle end.

The bare-bones basic unfinished smooth-sanded pine waribashi (Yummy’s logo) chopsticks measures 8″ length x 1/8″ diameter at the rounded hexagon profile tip x 1/4″ width x 1/8″ thickness at the ractangular hexagon profile handle end.

Various waribashi tip profiles…

Various waribashi handle end profiles…

My favorite of the three is the bamboo in the middle. In fact, in some ways, I prefer the bamboo waribashi more than even the fancier lacquered Japanese styles. It’s tapered angle at the tip affords good grip on even the most slippery foods (as you’ll soon see), and the unfinished surface helps that out. While it’s also denser by nature and less prone to splinters. It also has good rigidity. They’re typically twice the price of the bare-bones basic chopsticks, but for home-use, I always spring the extra cost for the bamboo waribashi. And I appreciate the restaurants (such as Zippy’s) who go the extra mile to offer bamboo waribashi to their customers.

Finally we have those cooking chopsticks, that in the next photo will require a little exercise using your mouse’ scroll wheel lol…

Cooking chopsticks

And that’s a reduced size. These buggahz are LOOOOONNNNNGGGG! Most likely longer than the computer monitor you’re looking at is, tall.

The unfinished smooth bamboo with the red handle cooking chopsticks on the left measures a 12″ ruler-beating 14-1/8″ length x 1/8″ diameter at the round profile tip x 1/4″ diameter at the rounded-square profile handle end.

The brown-stained, unfinished, smooth-sanded bamboo DOUBLE-TIPPED! cooking chopsticks on the right also measures a 12″ ruler-beating 13″ length x 1/8″ diameter round profile at BOTH TIPS. How cool is that. A double-tipped chopstick!

Obviously the reason cooking chopsticks are long are to keep your hands as far away as possible from the searing wok, boiling water and/or hot oil. Notice they’re both made of unfinished bamboo which is durable and sturdy enough for the task, and also doesn’t conduct heat. Besides, under high heat, the plastic type resin would melt, a lacquered finish could discharge unwanted chemicals into the food and metal would conduct the heat right to your hand, which wouldn’t be good.

Then if you looked closely at the first photo showing all the different chopsticks, notice there’s a couple styles of chopstick rests in there. Here’s better look…

Ceramic chopstick rests

Porcelain chopsticks rest

Did you know you can fabricate your own chopstick rest, origami style, using the sleeve that wraps the waribashi disposable chopsticks? Check it out…

Waribashi disposable chopsticks rests folded origami style out of the paper wrapper they come in

Here’s a closer look…

• Learn how to fold the origami crane/bird chopstick rest here.
• Learn how to fold the standard origami chopstick rest (center) here.
• Learn how to fold the “inverted hat” origami chopstick rest here.

Or if that’s too cute ‘n fancy or hassles for you, just fold the wrapper into a simple knot.

You know what was interesting as far as buying the chopsticks for this presentation was, unless I didn’t look good enough (which I did I think), the Japanese stores (Marukai and Don Quijote) only carried Japanese chopsticks, Palama (Korean) Market only carried Korean chopsticks and the Chinese grocery store on Maunakea street in Chinatown only carried Chinese chopsticks.

I didn’t have the time to go treasure hunting in Chinatown for Taiwanese chopsticks (which are a little longer than Chinese chopsticks according to Wikipedia) or Vietnamese style Palmwood chopsticks. So my apologies for not including you folks in here.

I think the varieties I have here cover the most distinctive differences for most styles of chopsticks, unless you wanna’ talk maybe “training chopsticks” and other modern stick-like eating contraptions on the market.

Now let’s talk how you HOLD your chopsticks. Left-handed or right-handed?

Whether it’s a fork, spoon or chopsticks, I’m a lefty…

Using chopsticks: Stationary lower chopstick rested between base of thumb and index finger at the top and ring finger at the bottom, with the “actuator” chopstick above operated by the pointer and middle finger, using the tip of the thumb as a fulcrum point.

Notice I grip the stationary chopstick between the base of my thumb and the bottom part against my ring finger (which is where most instructions say to).

What I found interesting was that several people I asked said they don’t rest the stationary chopstick on their ring finger, but rest it on their middle finger, like this….

Lower stationary chopstick rested at the bottom by the middle finger. The upper “actuator” chopstick is operated by the pointer finger and thumb

While I’m still able to work them like this, I find there’s less grip, travel and leverage on the “actuator” chopstick holding it like this. I’m sure if I did this for years it wouldn’t be awkward, but as it is now, I’ll stick to my more traditional method.

Now let’s put the various chopstick styles here to the task they were designed for, which is to EAT!

When I thought of challenging foods to pick up using chopsticks, the very first dish that came to mind was none other than that good old Luau favorite, Chicken Long Rice!

A bowl of Chicken Long Rice (made by yours truly) and store-bought Won Bok Kim Chee, surrounded by a variety of Korean, Chinese and Japanese chopsticks.

You know you’ve been there before. Sitting on the table at da’ baby luau or wedding with da’ aunties and uncles next to you, as you struggle to get da’ slippery clear chicken long rice noodles to stay put on your flimsy, cheap disposable fork or chopsticks as you raise it to your mouth, only to have them evade your attempt and slip right back onto the partitioned luau plate. To make matters worse, sometimes back into the wrong section, like right into the pile of fresh Ahi Poke you were about to dig into next. Darned it! I hate when that happens! lol Da’ good kine luaus provide those rectangle brown tapa-printed “bowls” for serving liquid stuffs like ‘dis. Da’ cheap ‘kine luaus no moah… you jus’ gotta’ rough it wit’ da’ sectional luau plate fo’ every’ting. lol

The Kim Chee is thrown in for good measure to contrast the difficult with the easy as far as picking things up with chopsticks are concerned.

And how can you not have RICE in any chopsticks demonstration, and not just any rice, but chinese style (loose) long-grain white rice…

I also put a local style fried rice bento to the test…

Finally to add some real solid food to the table, I also threw in a vegetable tempura bento…

Broccoli, String Bean and Sweet Potato Vegetable Tempura Bento

Before seeing how each one handles the food, we’ll look at their tips profiles and how they meet each other and how that might affect its ability to grip and pick things up…

Chinese restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks

Now let’s try and pick up some of that loose long-grain white rice with it…

Chinese restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks picks up long-grain white rice

As you can kinda’ tell, I struggled to keep the loose grains from falling through the open “V” of the slippery-smooth resin, non-tapered, blunt-end tips of the Chinese chopsticks. But alas! The Chinese don’t eat their rice with the bowl planted on the table. No, they PICK UP the bowl and bring it to their mouth and use the chopsticks to help shovel the rice into the mouth. Right? If you’re Chinese, do you or your parents or grandparents still eat rice like that? The question is, how can you do that if the rice doesn’t have it’s own bowl? Then you’ll stuck struggling with these relatively cumbersome chopsticks trying to pick the loose long-grain rice. Been there, done that.

Now let’s try an even MORE difficult task and use the Chinese resin chopsticks to eat some Chicken Long Rice noodles….

Chinese restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks grabbing some Chicken Long Rice noodles

Good Lord, the long rice keeps slipping through and falling back into the bowl! Thankfully my chopstick skills are pretty good (at least I think so) and I was eventually able to clasp the two together tight enough to hold the slippery-slimy-wet clear bean thread rice noodles long enough to get it from the bowl on the table to my mouth. Darned, I gotta’ say, that’s a great batch of Chicken Long Rice I made for this demo’!

Now let’s try picking up some Kim Chee…

Chinese restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks picking up Won Bok Kim Chee

and also a piece of broccoli tempura…

No sweat. Actually here’s where the blunt ended (flat) tips have an advantage, offering a nice “pinch” if you will.

To sum this pair up, the Chinese restaurant quality melamine resin chopsticks are actually quite comfortable to hold as an adult. But when I was a kid and my hands were smaller and chopsticks skills not as refined, I hated them. In fact, often back then I’d actually ask for a fork vs. struggle with them. Now I kinda’ like them though. The smooth plastic resin finish feels good in the hands and the extra length offers more leverage for heavier food items like that big piece of brocolli tempura to pick up.

Now let’s check out the bamboo Chinese style chopsticks….

Chinese unfinished bamboo chopsticks

Notice its trademark square profile at the handle then tapers into a much more tapered round profile that goes into a point at the tip, versus the blunt thick ends on the melamine resin type. As you can immediately see, there a much longer gripping surface area where the two chopstick meet each other.

Now let’s try pick up some food with it, this time going for the local style fried rice…

Chinese unfinished, smooth-sanded bamboo chopsticks picking up local style fried rice

Works great. See how much rice it can scoop up thanks to that long tapered tip.

Let’s go back and try some of that loose Chinese style long-grain rice now…

Chinese unfinished smooth-sanded bamboo chopsticks picking up long-grain white rice

Still difficult due to the nature of the rice being loose, but much better than those non-tapered resin ones, that’s for sure. Now I’m just waiting for Popo to whack me on the head and scold me for not picking up the rice bowl and puting it to my mouth like that. Ouch! Ouch! OK, OK Popo, I going pick da’ bowl up. Ouch! Gunfunnit. Keedz. Ouch!

I really like the Chinese unfinished smooth-sanded bamboo chopsticks. They’re lightweight, yet rigid, and the extra length is an advantage, which also affords them a dual-purpose roll as a cooking chopstick AND eating chipstick. Adding to that advantage, the tips are perfectly tapered and afford great grip on food. The sanded-smooth finish feels great in the hands, which also allows you to use it for cooking. The red Chinese characters inscripted on it (whatever that says) gives it a cool look too. I’d say of all the ones showcased here, this one is by far the best all-purpose chopstick. Again, you can buy a package of 10 pairs for a Beijing-bustin’ 79 cents in supermarkets in Honolulu’s Chinatown district. I’m really glad I now have them in my cooking and eating arsenal.

Now let’s get to the most unique set of the bunch, the Korean stainless steel chopsticks and spoon…

Korean 18/10 stainless steel chopsticks

To further illustrate how difficult these can be, look at the tips from this angle…

Korean stainless steel chopsticks

Not only are they relatively short, but they have a flat, thin profile to them. Top that off, you have that polished-to-a-slippery-smooth, who needs grip? finish of the stainless steel. Thankfully the end is blunt which helps give it some pinch, not to mention being safer than if it were a point, potentially impaling its poor user’s tongue, lip, or worse yet, eye or skull! Ack! lol

Let’s start with the most difficult and try to pick up some of those evasive chicken long rice noodles…

Korean stainless steel chopsticks attempting to pick up Chicken Long Rice noodles

While attempting to do this, I began singing the song “Slip Sliding Away” by Paul Simon. For all the obvious reasons, it was even more challenging than the Chinese melamine chopsticks. With a bit of manipulating the angle of the tips together, I was eventually able to fetch some from the bowl on the table and raise it to my mouth, but if you gave me a choice, these Korean style stainless steel chopsticks would be my LAST pick to eat chicken long rice, that’s for sure!

Since my Chicken Long Rice had plenty of ginger-infused chicken broth in it, I could also consider this dish a soup, which by Korean tradition, you’re supposed to use the spoon…

Korean stainless steel spoon scooping up some Chicken Long Rice broth

Notice the chopsticks are placed on the rest while I use the spoon, which I read is how you’re supposed to use these. If you pick up the spoon, you put down the chopstick, and vice versa… but don’t ask me why.

I like how much leverage the spoon’s handle affords, yet I prefer the deeper rim design of the chinese style porcelain (or plastic) spoon, which allows you to scoop and retain more broth in it.

THIS is where the Koreans have a big advantage…

Korean stainless steel spoon scooping up some white long-grain rice

Aha! You loosey-goosey long-grain rice granules can’t fall out of the SPOON! I got you now, suckahz!

Let’s see how the Korean chopsticks do gettin’ some..

Korean stainless steel chopsticks picking white long-grain rice

Almost a losing proposition. No way, Jose. I’ll go back to the spoon, thank you very much. Besides, that’s how this set was designed, anyway. You’re not supposed to eat rice with the chopsticks according to Korean tradition. You use the spoon. Now if we can only convince the conservatives to allow us to use both the chopstick AND spoon simultaneously!

Now this is proper…

Korean stainless steel chopstick picking up a piece of Won Bok Kim Chee

Now THIS is where the Korean stainless steel chopstick is truly in its element, doing exactly the task it was designed for. This very act has probably been performed billions, if not trillions or even teragazillions (is that a word? lol) of times throughout history in Korea. I just added a few more to that ever-growing count.

Let’s try the Korean stainless steel spoon on the fried rice…

Korean stainless steel spoon scooping up some local style fried rice

It actually feels kinda’ weird eating rice with a spoon. Like I’m being fed like a baby. lol For realz though! *Crying like a baby—> “whahhhh, whaahhhh! gimmmeeee wice! gimmeee wice! whaaaahhhh!*

Let’s try grabbing the stickier short-grain fried rice with the Korean Chopsticks…

Korean stainless steel chopsticks picking up some local style fried rice

Now that feels much better and much more natural, for me at least. It’s still challenging to pick rice up using these due their thin and flat profile, but it works. The question is, is this OK to use according to Korean tradition? See, the fried rice has solid bits and pieces of meat and veggies in it as well, but it’s still rice, so am I supposed to use the spoon and cry like a baby afterward? Dunno.

After a little practice with the flat-profiled stainless steel chopsticks, I got better at it. Here I was easily able to fish out a piece of chicken from the long rice bowl…

Korean stainless steel chopsticks picking up a piece of chicken from a bowl of chicken long rice

Picking up a more substantial piece of food like this Broccoli Tempura was even easier…

Korean stainless steel chopsticks picking up a piece of Broccoli Tempura

This is where the rigidity of the stainless steel it’s made of shined (no pun intended).

Rounding my use of the Korean stainless steel chopsticks, I’ll just say they’re very “interesting”. The durability of the stainless steel will certainly make these outlast any other chopsticks here, provided I don’t end up losing them in my kitchen drawers somewhere. What I’d like to do is tote these along with me to a local Korean restaurant and ask the mama sans who work/own the place to show me all the ropes on using these and what’s the REAL proper way of using these according to their own Korean traditions. When I do that, I’ll get back to you on it.

Now let’s jump on a plane and head over to Japan and check out their style…

Japanese Yew Wood Chopsticks (one of my personal favorites)

This one has a really nice angle at the tip, almost resembling a caliper.

Then there’s this type…

Japanese lacquered wood chopsticks

The tapered tip area doesn’t meet each other as much as the angle given on the Chinese bamboo chopstick, but it’s still enough to provide enough platform to keep food in place.

Let’s try pick up some long rice…

Japanese lacquered wood chopsticks picking up Chicken Long Rice noodles

The polished lacquer finish lets the noodles slip through easily, but the angle of the taper on the tips allows you to squeeze the noodles in place. It just takes a little more effort on your part to put a forceful grip on it, especially for this dish.

Now the loose long-grain white rice…

Japanese lacquered wood chopsticks picking up white long-grain rice

The angle of the tips is good, but its skinny profile offers rather inadequate platform area underneath, causing the loose rice to fall over the side quite easily.

Let’s try the Kim Chee…

Japanese lacquered wood chopsticks picking up Won Bok Kim Chee

Works like a champ. Good pinching action.

Some fried rice with the yew wood type…

Japanese Yew wood chopsticks picking up local style fried rice

Again, works like champ. I really like the thicker rounded-square profile of the Yew wood chopsticks. In fact, this is the exact pair of chopsticks I use most often at home. This, and another set of lacquered ones that have the ribbing on the tip, like the kid’s one shown in the group photos, but longer.

Let’s try pick up some rice with the super-duper long cooking chopsticks…

Cooking chopsticks picking up long-grain white rice

Obviously not made for this task, yet I was at least able to grab a bite’s worth and actually could make due eating with it if I had to. I’d just choke-up and place my hand closer towards the tip than where it’s placed in the photo above.

Using that kid’s size chopsticks, I just want to showcase here the ribbed tips and how it augments it’s grip when picking up this piece of chicken…

Ribbed tips on chopsticks augment gripping ability

Even better, look how well it does with the Chicken Long Rice noodes…

Ribbed tips on chopsticks help pick up more Chicken Long Rice noodles

So lesson learned: if you want to eat Chicken Long Rice using chopsticks, get the ones with the angled ribbed tips. They work the best for this task.

Now let’s move on to the Waribashi (disposable) chopsticks and see how they perform, starting with my favorite of the genre, the bamboo…

Waribashi bamboo disposable chopsticks

Like the Chinese bamboo chopsticks and the Japanese Yew wood chopsticks, the disposable bamboo chopsticks have decent amount of contact area between the two at the tapered tips. They’re definitely worth the extra cost over the bargain-basement pine type.

Let’s pick up some long-grain white rice with it…

Waribashi bamboo disposable chopsticks picking up white long-grain rice

Excellent job. Maikai.

Now let’s try that with the upgraded pine waribashi….

Waribashi high quality disposable pine wood chopsticks

I don’t know if you can see it, but change profile from square at the handle end and taper to a rounded square profile at the business end. This one does a pretty good job too, but I find the sharp square edge on the handle end uncomfortable, while also making me nervous that it’s fibrous pine wood is going to jab a splinter in the skin of my hands if I slide them on it.

Now let’s try that with the bargain basement pine wood waribashi….

Waribashi pine wood disposable chopsticks (the cheapest you can get)

What can I say, they work. They’ll get the job done, and have been getting the job done for ages now.

Did you know you’re not supposed to rub waribashi chopsticks together in a restaurant (to attempt to remove splinters) or at a dinner party at someone’s home? Doing that tells the owner or host that you think he or she’s CHEAP. But they are cheap! lol J/K.

Perhaps how the joined waribashi breaks apart is a good indicator how cheaply-made they are. Let’s try separating a few pairs…

The first four pairs starting from the left are the bargain-basement waribashi pine disposable chopsticks, all from the same manufacturer (the green 4-leaf clover and white paper wrapper brand). Notice the one farthest to the left did the worst, making that dreaded crack towards the outside, instead of the intended split smack down the center like you’d hope it would behave and do having that groove to help guide it. So much for that groove. The next three of the same breed broke apart consistently the same, with a slightly-veering crack line to the left, but acceptibly-even.

The waribashi bamboo chopstick after (second pair from the far right) cracked as perfectly in half as I could ask. Jozu desu. Bamboo waribashi is ichiban in my book.

Then there’s the upscale pine waribashi on the far right which broke into a 1/3 – 2/3 split, but at least it did it straight – no so angled like the first pine one – making it less noticeable… and making the restaurant owner or host of the dinner look less cheap. lol

So that’s that. A look at chopsticks. A domestic tool we use on a daily basis (or at least I do), yet like many other good things in life, one we often take for granted.

Look up a few of the rules and regulations regarding chopsticks etiquette by the various cultures that use them, and tell us how many you observe or don’t, yet should or may consider observing in the future. Or not.

Kuàizi. Hashi. Jeokkarak… Whatever you call them, chopsticks certainly offer some food for thought.

Related links:
• Chopsticks – Wikipedia article
• Chopsticks Etiquette in Oneself and Others – What Japan Thinks
• Korean Eating Utensils a Paradox (link downloads PDF document )

That sure looks pretty, but in this case, you can’t judge the sushi by its cover. While the Ahi, Sanma (or Saba?), Ebi (shrimp), shellfish (which I can’t identify, but it tasted similar to clam) and tamago (egg omelet) look mouthwatering (well to me, anyway), the sushi rice underneath it was just as expected: somewhat stiff.

Those trays upon platters, upon platters and trays of colorful, beautifully-presented sushi that fill the open reefer’ cases in the supermarket are almost irresistable to NOT put one (or more) in your cart, yet I’ve found time and time again that pre-made, refrigerated sushi just doesn’t work.

For me, refrigerated rice in general doesn’t work. The rice has to be fresh-made, and cooled to room temperature. Once it hits the fridge, the only way to bring it back is by nuking it, which for sushi, is something you obviously can’t do, lest you “kill” the raw seafood topping it. Nothing against Don Quijote (I love this store!), as this is an issue no matter who the retailer is, whether its from Costco, Foodland, Star Market or anywhere else.

All that said, Sushi MUST be made-to-order. Period. No way around it, and preferably consumed within minutes after leaving the hands of the chef.

I took a small bite from each one these refrigerated “seafood and starch blocks” for a taste and ended up tossing the bulk of it. While I hate to waste food, the rice was just not good. The seafood items and tomago very fresh and nice, but the rice was a deal-breaker.

Hopefully I’ve finally learned my lesson and will not give in again to the visually-tempting appeal of pre-made refrigerated sushi.

Being in impulse shopping mode for lunch, I also picked up this beautiful looking tray of Nameko…

Nameko (mushrooms), $2.86

These tiny brown mushrooms have a gelatinous, slippery-slimy texture to them that carry onto the greens; I couldn’t tell what those were, but it was similar to Warabi (fiddle ferns), though I’m not sure. The mushrooms are fairly mild in “earthyness”. Again, that slimy coating is its most distinctive attribute. The seasoning was in the typical Fukujinsuke style of shoyu and sugar. Eating it over hot rice (which I’ll get to in a bit) made this a fairly satisfying and healthy “lunch”, even though you might regard this as being more of a side dish. I’d like to try adding Nameko (by itself) into Miso Soup. Never had it that way before, but it sounds like a winnah, being the mushroom fan that I am.

As you know, Don Quijote (a.k.a. Daiei, a.k.a. Holiday Mart) offers a variety of sub-leased eateries fronting their stores. The Kaheka location includes a take-out for Greek, Chinese, Japanese, KFC and what we have here with this Chicken Katsu plate from Yummy Korean B-B-Q…

Chicken Katsu from Yummy Korean B-B-Q, $8.50

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, my favorite part of Korean food are the variety of prepared vegetables you get to pick and choose for your meal. At Yummy’s, like most other Korean take-out eateries, you get up to 4 choices with the regular plates.

The choices for this plate include kernel corn, Sigumchi Namul (seasoned spinach) and bean thread sesame noodles. If it were my plate, I’d certainly have the Korean style seasoned potatoes on there… that’s my favorite.

The chicken katsu was done quite well, with a nice golden crispy panko crust, and the chicken moist and tender, although the cut of chicken could have been a little thicker. As it was, the panko crust was a bit more dominant than the chicken (the main part) in flavor.

Speaking of dominant flavor, I was impressed with the katsu sauce Yummy’s provided here. While it certainly ain’t no Bulldog Brand, it’s a pretty good mock-up of the traditional Japanese style “fruit & vegetable” Tonkatsu Sauce. Certainly a far cry better than Ketchup and Worcestershire sauce (bleck!.. cough cough.. spit spit). Good enough where I didn’t actually grab my handy-dandy bottle of Bulldog out of the fridge. What they gave works. I’m speaking about this plate as if it were mine, but actually I just finished the other half of what my girlfriend couldn’t finish. This made up for my lacklustre Nigiri Sushi quite nicely. Especially with the Nameko over the still-hot rice served with this Katsu plate.

Hanahou addition (11/18/08) from Yummy’s, a Kalbi plate…

Kalbi plate from Yummy B-B-Q at Kaheka Don Quijjote, $9.00

This time, the Korean vegetables chosen were (left to right) Seasoned Potatoes (made with Mayonnaise), Sigumchi Namul (seasoned Spinach) and Seasoned Seaweed.

Making our shopping rounds in the Ala Moana area, we also stopped by Walmart for some household and automotive cleaning products. Greeting customers at the front right door entrance, next to the Hawaiian Telcom public telephones, I spotted this “something you’ll only see in Hawaii” Plumeria-draped TheCab dispatch phone…

All this photo needs is a hairy middle-aged man dressed as an Aunty in a mu’umu’u, wearing a lauhala hat and 1960′s era sunglasses, standing next to it holding up a sign saying “Just call TheCab at 4-tu-tu, tu-tu, tu-tu”.

Finally, walking down Kalakaua late yesterday afternoon, I spotted these radical choppers parked near the Cheesecake Factory…

What? Mean Green not loud enough for you? Then how about this?…

All this photo needs is a beautiful bikini gal standing next to it (or sitting on it) with a rainbow shave ice in her hand.

I’ll conclude by mentioning that the main reason I went shopping at Don Quijote (Daiei/Holiday Mart) was to buy Poi and some other prepared Hawaiian foods for a soon-to-come “Hanalei vs. Taro Brand Poi Shootout”. That’s gonna’ be a fun one!

Yes, he’s is back!

Noodles in almost any form are one of my favorite comfort foods, and certainly what I was in the mood for on this visit by Bento Man, so I chose the Chop Chae bento and an Imitation crab salad to fend off the evil hunger demons.

Check it out…

Chop Chae bento, $3 (click image to enlarge at top view)

In this Korean-style dish are generous slices of Shiitake Mushrooms, strips of beef, carrots, onions, Kamaboko (fish cake) and green onions, all mixed in with perfectly-done Vermicelli noodles. So ono, and only $3 bucks!

The salads looked so fresh & crisp in his cooler, so I threw one of those in the bag for good measure…

Imitation Crab Salad, $1.75 (click image to enlarge at top view)

This bento box was literally STUFFED with veggies, including crispy-green Iceberg Lettuce, sliced carrots, cucumbers, boiled egg and 2 sizable cuts of imitation crab, along with Thousand Islands dressing. Easily enough for two as a side dish. You’d be lucky to even get half that portion as a side dish in a restaurant for that price. Probably higher. While it isn’t going to win any awards for greatest salad, it gets the job done, and makes you feel good both in mind, body and wallet.

If you’re looking for something with a bit more “oomph”, then check out Diner E’s Bacon and Eggs with Fried Rice and Mandoo breakfast bento…

Bacon & Eggs with Mandoo & Fried Rice bento, $5 (click image to enlarge at top view)

Wow! That’ll do either of two things: put you immediately to sleep soon after finishing it, or, give you enough fuel to run to Hawaii Kai and back to downtown… twice. lol

Actually, those three bento lunches were what we had last week some time. Here’s two choices that Bento Man saved our day today with…

Grilled Teriyaki Salmon and Stir-Fried Pork And Green Beans, $5 (click image to enlarge at top view)

Diner “M” enjoyed this today and gave it a thumbs-up.

Finally…

Mapo Tofu & Gyoza Bento, $5 (click image to enlarge at top view)

This was just OK. I enjoyed the Gyoza more than the Mapo Tofu, most likely because the Tofu used was the soft type, not firm. My pillow should be soft and my lady should be soft, but my tofu gotta’ be firm! lol The seasoned ground pork with it also lacked spices and flavor. I ended up pouring a little of the Gyoza Dipping Sauce over it, which helped it out a bit, but also took the “Mapo” out of it. Was OK though.

Their Gyoza tastes like house-made stuff, and not the frozen packaged variety. Here’s a cutaway shot…

Looks (and tasted) like a mixture of ground chicken or pork and chopped cabbage. Very basic, yet it works.

Thanks Bento Man! You saved the day again!

Here’s Bento Man’s “Secret Cave”…

Photo courtesy of Diner A

Nippon Restaurant
420 Waiakamilo Rd.
Honolulu, HI 96817
808-842-3456

Related links:
• The Friendly Neighborhood “Bento Man”
• Return of Bento Man: Misoyaki Butterfish

Actually grindz had from several different days.

The BBQ mixed plate above is from Yummy’s Korean BBQ, located at the entrance of Don Quijote on Kaheka street, near Ala Moana. Yummy’s has locations all over Oahu.

This plate was indeed quite yummy. There was so much on the plate, I actually split and shared it with my girlfriend. The chicken especially had great char-grilled flavor, moist and tender, and the Korean BBQ sauce they use is excellent. One thing I always love about Korean restaurants – and Yummy’s is no exception – is the assortment of pickled vegetables to choose. The kombu and cucumber selection here tasted kinda’ like Namasu.

As you see, they share space with Bale Sandwich.

Next on the table…

Mini Bento from St. Louis Drive In, $4.50

Not to be confused with St. Louis Delicatessen (the Okazuya) located next door (different owners). I actually drove here yesterday to grab a Chow Fun and Tempura Okazuya plate next door at the Deli, but they were closed, and I was bummed. A sign on the front said they’ll be returning April 8th. Probably went to Vegas.

St. Louis Drive In has so many menu items, it’s mind boggling. I should have ordered the “Japanese Plate”, which includes Sashimi. That would have hit the spot.

St. Louis Drive In. The wood door to the left is the entrance to St. Louis Delicatessen, who were closed on this day. Shucks.

Located at the Makai-Diamond Head side of 3rd and Waialae avenue

Next up…

Corned Beef Sandwich combo from Zippy’s, $4.70

I can’t call them “Jippy’s” with this deal. They’ve amazingly underpriced themselves here with this massive Corned Beef Sandwich combo, which includes fries and a drink. This isn’t any canned or packaged stuff, but the real deal, piled with thick slices of freshly boiled corned beef and cabbage, laid upon an onion roll bun buttered with mayonnaise.

This is actually diner “E”‘s dish, as he proudly holds it up here after taking a few bites…

“Hurry up and take the damned picture… I wanna’ eat!”

This is a special that occurs only one day out of the month, so you need to check their website when exactly it will be available again. As you see, he gave this a solid 3 SPAM Musubi (very good) rating.

Finally…

Supreme Pizza from Costco, $1.99

Another one of Diner “E”‘s grinds of the day. What can I say? It’s a buck-ninety-nine. It’s pizza. It’s “Costco huge”.

Personally I don’t care for the crust on Costco’s pizza, finding it to be “spongee”. Neither do I like their sauce. On the cheap, I’ll take Little Caesar’s over them any day. Of course if it’s free I’ll eat it. lol

Looking at the prices here, I think I need to rename this site “Honolulu Cheap Eats”. DDL would love that!