PERSONAL COOKING FOR COUPLES

Love, Love, and more Love! Cooking for couples is my thang, serving those in love, in their own homes, where they can relax. Personal chefs aren't just for the rich and famous, or wealthy financiers, I keep my cost in line to be affordable, and well worth the in home dining experience.

My style is Asian American Wok Cooking, though I can do other styles and methods, that's the style I market. From the Chinese foods you are accustomed with to some other influences you may not be, such as Filipino Wok Cooking, the flavors are almost identical, but with different additions, both cuisines stand out alone. In this blog post, is a dish called Kung Pao Chicken which is a stir fry with some heat, not much spicy, but with red hot chili peppers, and Schezuan  peppercorns, it can be hot. With garlic it becomes aromatic, and with rice wine vinegar, sherry wine, soy sauce and sesame oil, it has nice sauce. And instead of roasted peanuts I subbed it for some raw cashews that was cooked with garlic and the red chilis. Served with Cal Rose medium grain white, it is a one dish for two, and very affordable. I'll do appetizers, and more entrees and dessert with wine, and complete with table settings, so you'll feel like you're in a fine dine restaurant in your own abode. If you like, I'll find a guitar player to serenade you both, that's right....in your own home.

Fresh Cooked Kung Pao Chicken

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Medium Grain Cal Rose

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12 oz. Marinated Dark Chicken Meat

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The marinade is the same as the sauce a concoction of dark soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sherry, sesame oil and sugar

Raw Organic Cashews

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Cashews works well instead of peanuts if a client is allergic to peanuts

Local Backyard Red Hot Chili Peppers

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On this cooking date the client did not want to add any Schezuan peppercorns which is alright, these local hotties adds enough punch.

Fresh Farmer's Market Scallions

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My love for working with scallions or green onions, it has a nice flavor, adds color for a garnish that of course is edible.

The finished dish

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Our fearless productions staff member Susan Welck and her boyfriend Ron was the clients, lovers in love with some hot Chinese style grines.

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© 2015

10 Delightful Maui Restaurants to Eat Like a Local

Aloha from the West Side of Maui, and that's the small whaling town of Lahaina to be exact. Recently I was asked by Vacatia Family Travel Blog to write an article about all the best local spots to get good food on Maui. From Da Kitchen to Koa's Seaside Grill Check Out my Top Picks!
Mahalo
Chef Ron

Koa’s Seaside Grill

Photo Courtesy of Koa's Seaside Grill

Vacatia is a brand new vacation rental site, made especially for families and big groups looking for a condo or large place to stay at a resort. They’ve also been putting together a travel guide of all the best restaurants and activities on the island." EXPLORE VACATIA

                       

We Were Foodies in Lahaina

Lahaina, Maui- as a kid growing up, yes WE WERE FOODIES back then. I can remember the drive-inn, Sunset Freeze, they were famous for their Sweet Sour Spare Ribs, their Hamburgers that were juicy, on a soft bun, some lettuce, and their mustard and mayonnaise mixture made it beyond tasty, so simple it rocked! And their wavy fries, doused with mustard and ketchup. Those meals were just epic. Drive through Front Street, a stop at Sunset Freeze was a must.

Sushiya's was a small building that still stands on Prison Street in Lahaina, right across the Kamehameha Third School, our elementary school. Before and after school, this was the place to get some candy or some chow fun, a soda, or maybe a rice ball and shoyu chicken. And before I forget, Sunset Freeze was on the opposite end of the school, so we had two places to sneak away for good local food.

Also on Front Street was Yamamoto Store, owned by Mr. Yamamoto and his wife, we would go there for his hamburgers just as tasty as Sunset Freeze's, but Mr. Yamamoto had his famous shave ice, he'd put ice cream in the cup then top it with shave ice that was fine, and top it with some strawberry syrup. Yes! And then, if you needed fishing supplies, he'd have those too. It was a one stop shop, food and fishing gear.

For Chinese we'd hit the Golden Palace, your typical Cantonese American style Chinese, famous for their crisp gau gee mein, a gravy rich chow mein with crispy fried dumplings on top, and the won ton min too, as well as the kau yuk, everything was very good and you could smell the ingredients well outside the parking lot.

For cream puffs, long johns, cinnamon twists, chocolate Dobash cakes, and pies we'd visit my mom who was the lead cashier at Nashiwa Bakery. They had the coldest soda machine too, I remember when the cans of soda were a quarter, it's amazing we weren't diabetic back then, c'mon a glazed doughnut and a coke?

Food was simple back then, their wasn't any chain restaurants except for Mc Donald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken, and later a Pizza Hut. But back when we were kid kids, it was just mom and pops that ruled the school, and looking back, it was the best times. After baseball practice, we'd race down towards the Lahaina Shores area as it is now, but across the street there was this little green stand that still stands, it was called Mango Stand, where the elderly woman would sell her pickled mangos, and candy. Yeah those were the days.

For ice cream, we didn't have any Baskin Robins and stuff like that, no Ben and Jerry's, but we had Ed and Don's, it was in the Pioneer Inn Hotel street level. I loved their vanilla ice cream with some nuts on it, it was the bomb back then.

And we can't forget this place called Okazu Ya, that was it, it's Japanese for small portions of food, or something like that, you go in, and pick food by the pieces, and I used to go in there and raid the doughy shrimp tempura and Chinese sausage. The good thing was my classmate Karl Yamada's family owned it, and whenever we had a school outing, we'd give our money to Karl, and he and his family would show up early to pass out the box lunches, that was true customer service way before companies were instilling that idea of going beyond the call of a sale.

                        

         © 2014

BACK TO THE WOK

For those who know me well, I am a cook that loves simple food. Hardly am I, one to go to the meat market and buy a quarter of beef and create steaks by slicing myself. I just purchase the cuts I need. Likewise with fish, if all possible I'll buy just the filets all nice and portioned off unless of course I'm cooking for more peeps and say they want a whole snapper steamed or something, well I dislike lots of work period.

Back to this blog, it is about the wok. The wok is very dependable, very unique, it serves many a cooking purpose. What woks I work with are carbon steel flat bottom ones. If you cook at home, get at least a 12" or 14" or both in diameter, if you go to the Wok Shop online, there's some good ones for a good price. Remember carbon steel does rust, and you'll need to season the wok before using go on Youtube to find instructions.

Now here is a simple recipe for wok cooking, and this recipe is good for two people. Have some cooked rice at the ready, and maybe some cold beverages too.

AHI STIR FRY WITH SHITAKE MUSHROOMS

2 tbsp. vegetable oil for frying
1/2 tsp. minced ginger 1/2 tsp. minced garlic

10 oz. cubed raw ahi (yellow fin tuna) or any fish

Photo via 808Fish

MARINADE (MIX 5 ingredients and then add raw ahi for about 15 minutes & reserve liquid).
1/4 cup light soy sauce
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. sambal oelek


1/2 cup rehydrated shiitake mushrooms (sliced if large)

Slurry to thicken
1 tsp. cornstarch
3 tsp. water

1. Heat up wok over high heat for about 2 minutes, turn down heat to medium high. Add in vegetable oil, then the ginger and garlic and cook for a few seconds before it gets brown.

2. Add in the marinated ahi cubes, and stir fry until turns white, add in shiitake mushrooms, stir fry until cooked through, add in sauce and cook until bubbling and then add in the slurry thickening agent, cook until sauce has thickened slightly.

3. Serve on platter to share with hot white sticky rice.

                            

© 2015

AN EVENING AT MALA OCEAN TAVERN LAHAINA

Having ohana in from the mainland visiting is a good thing, haven't seen them in a while, my sister and her husband kicking on Maui for two weeks, they were nice enough to take me to dinner at Mala Ocean Tavern in Lahaina.

"No reservations until 830pm is that okay?" asked my sis over the phone.

"Yeah no problem, sounds good."

So I waited for them to come and pick me up, and have some good fresh food. When we got there the place was packed, but we did not have to wait too long, in a few minutes a table was cleared perfectly for three. We started out with the popular Ahi Bruschetta for the appetizer. Tasty seared ahi, very clean, citric, with the balsamic. And we had a few cocktails, Bikini Blonde on tap, a lite brew, and a virgin Mojito.

This is what the food looked like, if you ever get a chance to be on the west end of Maui, Mala should be a stop at least once. The staff does work hard, though our waitress may have had a bad day, she was still nice, I've been a waiter in my younger days, and was trained by a strict old dude that taught me the finer points of waiting tables as a professional, and pay attention to the customers, well she did her job so no real complaints, just being in the industry I guess I expect to see staff go above that imaginary bar that I set, but again, she did her job and she was kind, so what the heck.

Seared Ahi Bruschetta © 2015 SAMBRANO

Hoisin Glazed Baby Back Ribs © 2015 SAMBRANO

Grilled All Natural Angus Filet Mignon © 2015 SAMBRANO

Seafood Pasta © 2015 SAMBRANO

The dish I had was the Seafood Pasta, spicy. The Pomodoro Sauce was nice, kinda on the pasty side, but it worked. The flavors did blend, very melodic, and the heat made it exciting. Shrimp was perfectly cooked, the Pappardelle was just right, and bits of the other seafood was perfect like the Dungeness crab, scallops, clams and ahi. Thumbs up!

              

© 2015

FRIDA'S BEACH HOUSE LAHAINA, MAUI

Frida's Beach House Lahaina, Maui is another creation from Chef Mark Ellman and his wife Judy. Set in the Mala District in Lahaina, a small community of locals that lived there were tied to the ocean that you can literally touch by walking off of the lanai at Frida's. 

The locals were...and still are fishermen and surfers, Mala has a lot of history. The Baldwin Packer's Pineapple Cannery is right across the street, of course it's been renovated in the early 80s and now is a shopping center, Mala is a very unique small stretch of Front Street till today.

Mark and Judy's new Mexican eatery and bar is named after Frida Kahlo the famous artist from Mexico. So why Mexican? Again? Most food aficionados on Maui and really around the world is familiar with Mark and Judy's project Maui Tacos that still is in business run by someone else. 

"I met Judy in a Mexican restaurant, that's how we met, I was the chef and she was the bartender," says Mark. Well, Frida's is a nice restaurant. We were asked to help Mark with some small media work taking pictures of their soft opening which was part of a fund raiser for the school Punanaleo, a school devoted to the Hawaiian language and culture, to preserve it. "My heart is into this," says Mark. "Giving back to the community, our host culture is the right thing, the pono thing."

The important people that made this event happen came by slowly as the sun was setting. And Lahaina has the best sunsets in the world. "The bar will have a nice trade wind breeze," Judy explained. "Our guests will enjoy this experience, sitting here and looking out into that natural beauty."

So if you are near Mala in Lahaina, stop by Frida's Beach House for some authentic Mexican food, and drink. Home made stocks, broths, soups and sauces, a butcher room for fresh cut meats, and homemade gelato, Frida's does it fresh Maui Style. Here are some pictures from the soft opening and the Punanaleo Fund Raiser. Mahalo Mark and Judy for caring for the kids, and the community.

Executive Chef Dee Tsurumaki ©2015

Frida's Line Cooks in Action ©2015

Frida's Ceviche ©2015

Chef Dee hollering Instructions ©2015

Fresh Stocks & Soups ©2015

The Wines © 2015

The Sunset at Frida's © 2105

Chef Mark talking story with supporters of Punanaleo ©2015

Frida's Soup and Sauce Chef making it fresh © 2015

Frida's sign © 2015

Happy Local Supporters of Punanaleo © 2015

Local Supporters of Punanaleo © 2015

The Happy Crew © 2015

Frida's lanai seating © 2015

          

©2015

CHICKEN ADOBO HOMESTYLE

Chicken Adobo, a dish that's popular in the Filipino/Spanish community, like how Chicken Parmesan is popular with Italian families, it is comfort food for the foodies.

If I did blog this tangy dish before, sorry because I made it again recently one day for dinner, so I'm going to share it with you all. If you have apple cider vinegar, garlic, bay leaves, whole pepper corns, salt, soy sauce, and if available annatto water (0r Oil), you're in.

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Here's the directions, trust me follow this, tweak it to your liking, but it will be tasty.

INGREDIENTS

3 lbs. chicken thighs skin on (all thighs cut in half with a cleaver)

6 cloves of smashed garlic

3 whole dried bay leaves

1 tbsp. whole pepper corns

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 cup soy sauce

1 tsp. salt (after it is cooked)

1. get a medium stainless steel stock pot with a cover, over medium heat, add in the chicken, garlic, bay leaves, pepper corns, vinegar, and soy sauce. Toss all ingredients around to coat.

2. cover pot, and let it steam, turn heat down to medium low, and slightly cover let it vent, and cook for about 1 hour. (let the slow cooking sweat out the juices from the thighs).

3. Turn off heat, let it rest. Stir in a teaspoon of salt, and mix well. Drain some of the fat out by carefully spooning it off, leave in some of the fat and juices. If you want this drier, return to heat uncovered and cook au sec or until dried and sticky.

Serve with white rice.

© 2015