Food thread! Foods around the world!

[patfromlogan]

Kalapawai, I remember when it was a little market run by the Wongs. That was when families lived in Lanikai.... Now it and Lanikai are yuppyfied to the max. Here in Puna we suffer, had to peel our shrimp ourselves! Grilled Hamakua purple potatoes and washed it all down with Steinlagers. Life is hard, eh?

[ChenPengFi]

That's the expanded Cafe, at the entrance to Kailua, not the original market by the beach.
It's a pretty different town these days, especially since Whole Foods moved in.

Tonight it's sushi!



(big pic)
http://mitchssushi.com/wp-content/up...mi-Platter.jpg

[IMightBeWrong]

This is an awesome thread. I've seen a lot of things I'd like to try now. I've always enjoyed trying exotic foods.

To add my own small contribution, I was in Colorado maybe a year ago. I went to this place:

http://www.bonesdenver.com/

One of the best things there was their Roasted Bone Marrow appetizer. You take it out of the bone and put it on some toast and put a bit of fig jelly on it as well. Absolutely delicious.

I've also had Chicken Feet, but as opposed to Filipino dining it was from a Dim Sum restaurant. They're a regular item I eat when I go.

Looking forward to more foods!

Quick edit: Also just remembered that here in Phoenix there are plenty of authentic Mexican food restaurants. I have to say, Lengua (tongue) is one of the most amazing foods I know of. It's been a staple of my diet since I was 10 or so.

[ChenPengFi]

Yes, i love chicken feet at the dim sum places.
It's a pretty good way to let the dim sum ladies know you mean business, "No stale chow fun or old potstickers you!"

The bone thing is pretty cool.
At Noma in Copenhagen they serve a bone marrow caramel, in the bone, for a desert course.
The marrow replaces the fat in the caramel recipe.
The whole menu is quite rustic and delicious.

[ChenPengFi]

Someone caught this monster tako in what amounts to my backyard the other day.
Lucky bastard...



Catching and prepping tako is an art.
Being really smart, being able to change color and texture, and having no bones are amazing traits if you'd wish to avoid detection.
Even when you find one, they can disappear down the smallest crack, almost like a liquid.
They will build "castles" out of shells and stones, pulling debris over themselves and into a hole.
If you do get one cornered in a hole, you can't just spear it. It will die in there and you may never get it out.
What you do is piss them off. You "tickle them" with the spear point. (lol)
If you get it mad enough, it will grab the spear.
Once you have a majority of the legs occupied on your spear, you can yank out the beast and quickly spear it to the sea floor before it escapes in a cloud of ink.
They are smart enough to know to pull off your mask, or yank out your snorkel/regulator if you let it get too close to your face.

Prepping them involves Lomi, or massage.
You cut off the eyes and beak, rip out the guts and put it in a bucket with some fresh water and a bunch of Kosher salt.
Kneading the flesh and changing the salt and water often breaks down all of the mucus and tenderizes the tako.

Eventually, you can make poke (poe-kay), my favorite way to eat tako.

[jubei33]

Yeah, I miss having octopus. Hiroshima was pretty well known for theirs, too. We used to get takoyaki in Osaka all the time, too. Love that stuff.

Have you ever tried it raw, like just cut kind of raw? That stuff just fights you the whole way down. crazy.

[ChenPengFi]

Yeah, I miss having octopus. Hiroshima was pretty well known for theirs, too. We used to get takoyaki in Osaka all the time, too. Love that stuff.

Have you ever tried it raw, like just cut kind of raw? That stuff just fights you the whole way down. crazy.

Yep, it keeps changing color too.
It's kind of weird though, it goes into some sort of default once the animal dies, or on a piece that's been cut off; as opposed to the purposeful, even expressive way it uses color while alive.
It reminds me of some sort of color test pattern.

We have takoyaki at a couple of places.
At Shirokiya you can even eat some made fresh and then buy a cheap (Chinese?)maker to sit in your cupboard collecting dust, next to that waffle iron.
I love watching master takoyaki makers at work, machines.

[Bok Choy]

nice thread!

[ChenPengFi]

I ate one of these last night:




24 oz+(It must have been 2 lbs...) "prime rib" from http://haleiwajoes.com/index.php/about/

I also had the poisson cru and spinach salad to start, and the lilikoi creme brulee for desert.

[Tranquil Suit]

@ChengPengFi: Sir, you're quite the gourmand.