CANTON STYLE IN PRACTICE

Tuesday, the first day of August 2017, and I'm in the kitchen making some plates for my faithful. I am the light, that shines on the hill top, giving hope to my brethren. Wow! Is that Biblical? Hey man, I do not mess with God Almighty, but he did speak to me today, deep inside me, I felt his presence. "Ron you shall cook, and make the people happy who eat your food." OK, my dream  of being a rock and roll, heavy metal, progressive rock drummer is long gone, so my drum kit is now my wok! Oh I loves me my wok. A 14" carbon steel flatty from where? The Wok Shop in San Francisco, CA. This baby rocks! Only thing-I got to remember to make that oil super hot before I add any kind of meat protein in there because if it's not super hot, all that stuff sticks to the bottom. For a wok of this type, the oil has to be smoking for the wok to be non-stick. And for the love of God, I ain't using any non-stick Macy's wok, hell no!

So what was on the agenda? OK it was beef wontons, egg fu yung, and chicken black beans. 

First thing I did was get my 8" Mercer Chinese Cleaver and mince half a yellow onion, this will go into some lean ground beef (1.5) lbs. 

Next I put those minced onions into the 1.5 lbs. of lean ground beef, I seasoned it a little bit with some salt.

The total mixture added in, 3 large eggs, oyster sauce, minced scallions, white pepper, sesame oil.

The wonton skins (pi) was manufactured by a local company in Honolulu, Sun Noodles, these were nice to work with, the skins were thin, but it was floured well so each piece did not stick together. One pack made 54 wontons, some other brands will yield only 30-40, Sun Noodles does it right, more pi for the buck. Inside each dumpling is 1 teaspoon of ground beef mixture. Why not pork? I love working with ground beef, the texture and flavor to me is much better than ground pork. However if someone hires me and they want ground shrimp or pork inside, they'll get it.

Here I'm using a cast iron steal fry pan, all I'm using is vegetable oil, once one side turns golden brown, I flip it, and cook it until that side is brown and then I'll place it on a baking sheet with some paper towels to absorb the oil, and to let it cool down a little bit before serving.

The first batch rests on some paper towels as it helps remove the excess oil.

The bigger batch got to cooking fast, the trick is to make sure there's not too many dumplings inside of the pan when frying. Too much and the heat of the oil is reduced, we don't want any thing like that.

Here in a omelet pan is the Egg Foo Yung, 4 large eggs, soy sauce, salt and pepper, scallions, bean sprouts. The trick is to cook the first side really well, until it gets golden. You must make sure that the egg on the first side is always settled before attempting to flip the omelet. If it's too moist on the initial side, it is weak. When you flip it it will tear apart, always cook it well and don't be afraid.

The Egg Foo Yung has been flipped, notice how golden the top is, this was the first side that hit the hot pan.

Egg Foo Yung sliced into quarters, ready for the plating to happen, but wait. We need the chicken gravy to top it. 

The chicken gray simply made with low sodium chicken broth, seasoned with oyster sauce, a little sesame oil, salt and pepper, and thickened with a cornstarch slurry.

Time to prep the Chicken Black Beans, I bought some chicken thighs, no bones or skin. Took my 8" Mercer Chinese Cleaver and started to dice each chicken thigh, getting ready to marinade it.

Once the chicken has been cut into pieces, it was marinade time again. The ingredients starting from 12 o'clock is cornstarch, lower right is sesame oil, left of that is a small bottle of Chardonnay, ideally I wanted a Sherry Wine. And last is the white pepper. First I seasoned the chicken with white pepper, then added some sesame oil, and then the wine. Then added some cornstarch to the mix. Easy!

This is the chicken all done with the mixing of all the ingredients, I let it sit for a while until I am ready to jam this in a wok.

The wok welcomes the chicken, as I wok this, I add some garlic and ginger, scallions, oyster sauce, soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil, the aroma was awesome, the neighbors could smell it.

Finally it is cooked, and plated, the trick is not overcooking the chicken, cook it until the inside of each piece is heated through well enough to kill any bacteria and you are good to go. This was so juicy, because I cooked it right.

In a take-out box, we got some white rice next to the Egg Foo Yung topped with chicken gravy, some Chicken Black Beans and some Beef Wontons. Just plate to go and eat at the beach. 

© 2017

EATING OUT TO PREVENT GOUT

This is a post on dealing with gout if you need to eat out. First remember what foods trigger your gout, and what foods are high in purines, the cause of uric acid that hits the joints that causes ultimate pain! So was crab meat the culprit? OK, easy, stay away from crab, or for that matter, shrimp, lobster, any shell fish. But hey pork doesn't give you gout yay! Then you can eat pork, just remember that pork, or the real fatty parts are not good.

But let's just eat healthy, seriously, let's pretend I'm taking you out for lunch. It's a hot August day, and we are in Lahaina. Lahaina in the summer time is totally hot, like a sweat box, some folks can't handle Lahaina, while people from Florida or Louisiana laugh at us saying, "You don't know what humid and hot really is." OK, I get it, it's hotter there than Lahaina, but we got our share of heat. So again, let's pretend, we gout sufferers are going to eat healthy. Where would I take you? Well since it's hot, we don't want hot foods, we want something cool to eat and drink.

I'll take you to Kimo's on Front Street.

On the menu for lunch, I will suggest these for you, and it should be safe for the gout action.

Fresh Fish

FISH TACOS- Citrus herb grilled, pico de gallo, queso fresco, roasted tomatillo aioli, tortilla chips 19

FISH SANDWICH- Fire grilled, Waipoli Farms lettuce, vine ripened tomatoes, locally baked brioche bun 17.5

KIMO'S BAKED- Roasted basil, lemon & garlic glaze, vine ripened tomato salad, jasmine rice 18.5

Chicken

All Natural Chicken Breast- choice of cheese, shredded iceberg, Maui island dressing, grilled pineapple, red onion, teriyaki sauce & more. 15.5-16.5

Salads

CHOPPED CHICKEN- Grilled chicken, applewood smoked bacon (minus this), avocado, tomatoes, corn, edamame, Kalamata olives, Asian pear, chick peas, buttermilk dressing. 14.75

KIMO'S MAUI

As you can gather, I didn't choose any kalua pork, or any kind of crab meat or shrimp. The stuff I picked really isn't boring food. Kimo's does food right, it's fresh, and tasty all the time. And we get to sit close to the water if there's a table, we can look out into the blue Pacific Ocean, watch the boats go by, the south swell coming in, Lanai Island in the distance. This is really healthy stuff my friends, good food for the soul, heart healthy, and just a feel good day all around, can I get an amen? Amen! Thank God for good food at Kimo's, we can eat and not worry about gout. Is this a Yay Yay :) thing? Yeah it is Yay Yay :)!

© 2017

WINE TALK- MALBEC WINE

In this blog post, we are going to learn about the Malbec grape, that is the source for what else? That's right junior Malbec wine. Malbec wine is considered a red wine. And though I am no expert on wine, I do know some very basics, like when I used to wait tables out of high school, the floor manager always said, "If your customers are gonna order a Steak Diane, it's a red wine. If they are gonna get the Mahi Mahi, it's a white wine, got it?" Yeah easy man! But there's more to just that. I mean, I've read up one wine experts saying, "This Chard goes well with fish, lobster, as well as a lean beef cutlet." What? Wait a second.  Is this dude on drugs? Chardonnay with beef cutlet? I swear I read that somewhere. OK, my latest studies once again produced the unusual. Malbec, which is a red, will do well with roasted chicken. Hmmm. Chicken, is good with whites right? Is this nuts? Is this confusing? It sure is confusing. I was taught, that whites goes with poultry. Unless however, the guy that wrote the blog meant, roasted dark meat of chicken. Now that makes more sense. You take the Chardonnay, or Sauvignon Blanc, and serve it with the lean chicken breast. And you take a Malbec or Cabernet Sauvignon, or Merlot and serve it with a chicken leg, the dark meat. 

Malbec hanging from the vines in Argentina

A bottle of Malbec

The Malbec from what I understand isn't a top red, it's like the wounded cousin of all the so-called better reds, like higher priced Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. However this information I'm getting states Malbec is a full-bodied red that grows big time in Argentina. Malbec originated from France, but it couldn't stand the weather, its resistance was weak. Now it flourishes in Argentina, where Malbec is grown exponentially. Let's just say Argentina is Malbec, or Malbec is Argentina.

Wine Characteristics

FRUIT FLAVORS: Black Cherry, Pomegranate, Plum, Raspberry, Blackberry, Blueberry

OTHER AROMAS: Cocoa, Milk Chocolate, Coffee, Mocha, Molasses, Leather, Black Pepper, Gren Stem, Gravel, Tobacco. (Gravel? Really?)

OAK AGING: Vanilla, Dill, Coconut

ACIDITY: Medium

TANNIN: Medium

SERVING TEMPERATURE: Slightly Cool 69 deg. F.

SIMILAR VARIETALS: Syrah, Merlot, Dolcetto, Touriga Nacional, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Lacrima, Nero d' Avola, Mourdevdre (mower, vedd drah)

BLENDING: Blended commonly in Right Bank Bordeaux with Merlot and Petit Verdot. In Argentina, Malbec is occasionally blended with Bonarda, a regional red grape originally from Italy.

Other basics: Malbec does well in higher elevations, it does not thrive in lower elevations, in lower elevations, Malbec does not produce enough acidity. Wines need acid so it can age longer. 

Why is acid important in wine? Acid is an important component in both winemaking and the finished product of wine. They are present in both the grapes and the wine, having influences on the color, as well as the balance and taste of the wine. Other factors are the growth and vitality of yeast during fermentation, and to protect the wine from bacterial growth. Now we wouldn't want that crap in a bottle do we?

About alcohol: Alcohol occurs during the wine making process, when yeast breaks down the sugars into alcohol. Some wine makers will add additional alcohol if some of the grapes haven't broken down, these wines are altered and called 'fortified' wines. These wines generally have a longer shelf life. Some examples of fortified wines are Port, Sherry, Madeira, Marsala, Vermouth.

The alcohol also affects the taste of the wine. The Malbec's ABV is about 14% (from what I've read, and spoke to other wine junkies haha!)

A long time ago, I talked to Hawaii Sommelier Chuck Furuya, and I asked him all about wines. And he basically told me, if you like the bottle, no matter the price point, just enjoy it. So that was cool. But if you're going to be a salesperson in a fine wine shop, you need more in depth knowledge, or if you're going for your sommelier medal. Hey, it's a trip. Just like all the different varieties of marijuana. Haha.

HEALTHY PORK MEAL (GOUT)

Back to blogging something healthy if you are a lover of pork. Remember, I suffer from high uric acid that causes gout, but I also love to eat delicious rich foods at times. Pork is something I loved to eat since I was a kid. But there's lean cuts of pork, and there's fatty cuts of pork. So for health's sake, let's do lean cuts of pork and try and turn it into the fatty cut pork dishes we love. OK, let's get going shall we.



Let's do a Mexican grilled pork dish, called Pork Adobada Chile. We are going to take some loin chops and marinade it for a few hours, then grill it over some hot charcoals, or use you indoor broiler, or you can bake em if you want over wire racks.

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup or so of pure chile powder

1/4 cup or so of white vinegar

3-4 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon of sea salt (Hawaiian Sea Salt if you can)

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper or white

1/2 teaspoon or more of dried oregano

1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves

4 lean pork loin chops

DIRECTIONS

1. In a blender, add all of the ingredients from the chile powder to the ground cloves, and blend it well.

2. Take a sharp knife and make slits in the loin chops, so the marinade will penetrate into the meat and give it the flavor.

3. In a glass dish, lay the 4 chops on the bottom, pour the marinade that you mixed over the chops. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 3 hours or more. Ideally overnight.

4. When ready to cook, preheat your charcoal grill, gas grill or broiler to about 350 degrees F to 400 degrees F.

Because these are lean chops, the cooking time should be about 3-5 minutes per side, you as the cook must watch the meat as it cooks, if it starts to burn, remove it from the heat, and lower the temperature, you want even cooking no mater what apparatus you are using to cook.

5. Place each chop on to the grill, or broiler, brush some marinade over it. Cook 3-5 minutes, then flip, and brush more marinade over the chops again, continue to brush marinade until cooking is done. 

If you have an instant read thermometer stick it into the thickest part of each chop, if the register is 145 degrees F. It's good to go, if it's higher, remove immediately you don't want to ruin the chops.

6. Let the chops rest under some tin foil for about 5-10 minutes.

Before plating, add lots of green veggies on to your plate, and a small amount of starch, your favorite bread, mashed potatoes, or rice. Then place your rested chop onto the plate, and dig in. 

This serves 4 people, so invite 3 others, or freeze the other 3 chops for later dinners or lunch.

Wine paring for this dish: According to Wine Folly Dot Com-  A Sparkling Brut Rose', especially a Cremate d' Alsace for its fruity notes.

© 2017

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH & SOME OE EGGS

Today's blog post is about something I cooked. Nothing new, someone in this great big world must have done what I did. I mean, it was like 10am and I was ready for some coffee and some eggs and toast. Well, there wasn't any pods for the Keurig so big nay on the coffee, however I did have a full cup of Starbucks coffee in the refrigerator. I had a tall cup yesterday because I was using their wifi and air conditioning, but didn't drink the coffee and took it home, yay that.

So I'm at the stove, I got two slices of white bread, two slices of American cheese, some butter and two large eggs. You know what I was up to right? Of course you know what I was up to, that's right guys, I was gonna make a grilled cheese sandwich with two over easy eggs. 

2 over easy eggs cooked in butter over a grilled cheese sandwich

So I bring the cheese to room temperature for about five minutes so it melts fast in the pan. Then I put two slices in between the two slices of bread. The pan is going on medium high heat, and in a couple of minutes the pan is hot. I put a pat of butter on to the pan, and melt it. Once melted I place the sandwich on to the pan. I let it sit for about 40 seconds, then I press down with a spatula. I hold it for about 20 seconds, lift it up to see if it is golden brown. It is, yay! Then I put another pat of butter into the pan, melt it and then flip the sandwich to cook the next side, just repeating what I did. Then I put the sandwich on to a plate, then put the pan back onto the burner with about 2 pats of butter. I crack the two eggs and cook it until the whites settle, then flip it. Then cook the flipped side for about 10 seconds then flip it again. 

Now I could have put the cooked eggs on to the side of the plate, however I put the cooked eggs on top of the grilled cheese sandwich. Eating it like this is nice, you get a fork, and break the yolk, and then it runs all over the grilled cheese sandwich. As I cut into the grilled cheese with the yolk of the eggs oozing all over, and take a bite it was cheese, butter, and eggs heaven! Yay yay! What a breakfast, and thank goodness for my quick thinking, "Shit I got coffee in the fridge!" So all was Yay Yay. Until next time.

© 2917

ZIPPY'S MAUI MINI KATSU PLATE

Yesterday was kind of stormy outside, remnants of a broken up hurricane that was moving over the Hawaiian islands. Me and my bro Ronnie wanted something to eat, we decided to head to Zippy's located in Kahului just minutes from the airport. 

The good thing about Zippy's is the foods are totally local since its inception long time ago, simple foods, done right. They have a bakery inside most of their dives called Napoleon's. And they got all the rich sweets you could ever want with hot coffee after a meal for dessert. Or take dozens of their famous Napples home, simply that's an apple turnover.

But this is what was on my plate, the Mini Chicken Katsu, one scoop of white rice, and one scoop of delicious macaroni salad. Really the mini plates are big enough, I got to stop going for those huge regular plates, too much food. One scoop of rice can fill you up, and the mac salad is starchy for one thing, and the mayonnaise isn't too healthy. So go easy if you're on a diet. Maybe ask the girl at the counter or the waitress because they have two dining areas, a sit-down spot, and a take-out counter, just ask for veggies instead of rice, they should accommodate you.

The Mini Chicken Katus Plate

My buddy had the Portuguese Bean Soup, one scoop of rice, and one scoop of mac salad, sorry couldn't get a pic of that. But he said it was 'ono' delicious! OK, this post is very short because I gotta split and do some errands, but for those of you that may be visiting Maui for the first time and want to eat what we locals crave, one stop would be Zippy's it is a good introduction to local fare. 

Other things we love at Zippy's:

HAMBURGER STEAKS

LOCO MOCO

ZIP PACKS (various entrees)

CHILI AND RICE

SAIMIN (like ramen)

Check out their website ZIPPY'S MENU ALL ISLANDS

© 2017

PORK LOIN CHOPS IN THE PAN

Today I'll talk about eating pork and gout. Can you eat pork if you have gout? Maybe not, it is not a good idea. However if you are clear of gout, and you want to treat yourself to a pork meal, you can probably have some, considering it will be lean cuts, without heavy duty marbleization happening. And to have that meal with lots of vegetables like a green salad with oil and vinegar and some herbs, garlic, ginger, squeeze of tangerine or lemons. You want to get a pork cut that is lean like I said, also an all naturally raised one. If you knew that the foods you ate was injected with chemicals for whatever reason, would you feed that to your kids? I'm starting to realize how damaging my diet was in the past. It was not good. So the question is this, do we want to feed our bodies good food? Or bad food? Well, as much as possible nowadays I try to eat foods that are at least mostly natural and organic, and surely staying away from the evils of high fructose ingredients, and high sodium too. In fact I'm starting to cook old school. Buy chicken in bulk for instance, make stock from the carcass, cook the different sections accordingly, it makes plenty of meals with different cooking methods as well as flavors.

So back to the pork, in this blog let's do a (Loin Chop), a lean one with no bones and little fat. In fact I ate a piece of this with veggies the other day, that's about close to a week after my gout cleared, I ate lots of fruits and veggies before I ate that, and after. And I drank lots of water, and before bedtime, I drank 3 teaspoons of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar in a glass of water. Knock on wood, I did not swell up, and this my friends is without taking my Allopurinol tabs. I really don't want to take medication any longer, it's really damaging for our organs. So hence let's get into this pretty safe dish for you gout people.

INGREDIENTS

3- 4 oz. lean loin boneless pork chops. (you will eat only one save the rest in the freezer)

3 lean 4 oz each loin pork chops

Garlic Salt TT
Black Pepper TT

1 tbp. Vegetable Oil (for cooking)

Lots of your favorite veggies and fruits on the side & a scoop of rice (brown or white), not a huge scoop, just a tad the size of your fist, and lots of water with squeezes of lemons or lime, or any citrus fruit.

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat a large skillet with vegetable oil over high heat, once it starts to smoke, turn down heat to medium.

2. (Chops should come to room temperature about 15 minutes out of the fridge) Place each chop into skillet, using tongs, sear the edges to brown, to cook it through and also to add color or it will look pale.

Loin chops hitting the hot pan

3. After about 3-4 minutes, flip each chop, and continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes.
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO OVER COOK THESE CUTS, WHEN COOKING, LOOK FOR THE JUICES TO RELEASE, THE CHOPS WILL BEGIN TO LOOK SHINY MEANING IT IS SWEATING OUT THE NATURAL JUICES, THIS MEANS THE INSIDE IS COOKING THROUGH.  USE AN INSTANT READ THERMOMETER IF IT REGISTERS 145-150 F, REMOVE IT FROM THE PAN, AND LET IT REST FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES.

4. Plate the chops with your veggies, fruits, and rice, and drink lots of water.

Until next time healthy cooking healthy eating!

© 2017