Simple and yet... erm, elegant?!

I opted for a simple and delicious lunch today. I was just reminiscing about the best summer ever... the one my family and I spent in HAWAII! And I felt like reliving some of the Honolulu magic. What better way to do that than to make some good ol' spam musubi?! I can't think of anything that would fit better. So, the recipe's pretty simple and you end up with, what I think, is a delicious and asthetically pleasing lunch containing all the important food groups... grain, sea veggies and spam.

Spam Musubi

Ingredients:

- Some short grain, sushi rice

- One piece of spam for each musubi

- 1 thin strip of seaweed for each musubi (approx 5-6inches long and 0.5 inch wide)

Method:

1. Take a handful of rice and mold it into a rectangular shape, with long sides as wide/long as the spam you are using.

2. Place a piece of spam ontop of the molded rice.

3. Wrap the thin seaweed strip around the musubi to "secure" the spam to the rice.

Honestly, I just made the musubi like I pictured it back in Hawaii. Make it however you like... but be sure to savour every bite and remember the Big Island! I should really get back to cooking real food, instead of reporting on silly little recipes like this one... but who cares, I do what I do :P

RANDOM THOUGHTS: You should know that at first I attempted to eat my musubi with chopsticks... but that attempt failed horribly. I then just decided to eat it with my hands... forget KFC, this was finger lickin' good. Why is the spam so wrinkley? I reminds me of elephant skin... any who, I'm finished now :)

Hawaii Part 2... Finally

I guess I decided to finally finish up my blog on Hawaii because the weather we've been experiencing is just so completely opposite to that of Waikiki. Went there during the last summer of my high school career and just before entering the crazy world that is university :P So let's reminisce shall we? I think in Part 1 I talked about the International Marketplace and shopping... but right now I feel like remembering the beautiful beaches of Waikiki. Funny thing, we woke up early the morning of our trip to Hanauma Bay but the first 2 buses to that beach were full so they didn't stop to pick us up!? So we eventually decided on taking a taxi to the beach, the fare was decent and the taxi looked like a limo (my family thought this was neat as we had never ridden in a limo before). We managed to reach Hanauma Bay before the buses and we were 5th in line, ready and roaring to enter the sandy paradise. We spent about 2 hours there, snorkeling was awesome (except for the salty water going up your nose... blegh). After that amazing experience we decided to go to Genki Sushi... oh boy do the Hawaiin's love their Japanese cuisine.

We did a tons of stuff in Hawaii, don't think I'll be able to fit all the awesome pictures onto one blog... so I guess there'll be a part 3 to this seemingly endless saga. Please stay tuned!

To read Part 1 click here.

Hawaii Part 1 1/2 (well this one's mainly just about the food)

Wow, when you go to Hawaii you first think sandy beaches and a beautifully warm tropical breeze. Then maybe coconuts and other cliché images of the island. But Waikiki has an amazing aray of culinary delights which you have to try at least once. They really love their spam down there. Even at McDonald's they have a lunch item called saimin, which is basically mr. noodles with spicy fish stock and spam. For breakfast they have an entire menu dedicated to none other than spam. Even walking by a 7-11 my eye was caught by something I had to try... Spam musubi. Here's the one I brought back to our hotel... it may look a bit odd, but by george it was good!

The japanese play a big role in influencing Hawaiin cuisine... I was walking through the Ala Moana shopping center with my sister when we spotted a japanese rice treat stand. They were selling sakura mochi! I had to buy that too (oh, and let me give you a heads up... if you ask them "Do you have mall discount?" you'll get 10% off, even if you don't work there. Try it!) Anyways here's the pic. Along with a picture of Hawaiin Andugi, kinda like the malay deep fried sweet potato ball... and just as tasty. Sad to say I did not eat the Mcdonald spam breakfast platter, but I did end up

going to a great sushi restaurant, Genki Sushi. It was the first time I had been to one of those sushi places where you could pick your sushi dish from the conveyer belt... and I must say that it was pretty cool. I expected more flavor from the sushi, but I guess I was more impressed with the conveyer belt than the food itself... and while we sat down to lunch you could see the machines making the sushi. Yup, sushi's no longer made by hand my friends...

well, that's all the photos of food I took guys. But there's tons more variety there in Waikiki... to really get the feel for Hawaiin cuisine, you'd have to take a trip down to the island yourself. Happy Travels!

Hawaii Part 1

As mentioned in previous posts, I have just returned from Hawaii... Waikiki, Oahu to be exact. Wow I loved it down there.

Sidebar: I haven't been on an airplane in some time and I was really looking forward to flying down to Hawaii. I was so glad to hear that we would be served a hot meal on the flight. I remember the last time I flew, I think it was on west jet or something and the meal sucked. All the passengers were suppose to grab a bag lunch (which was a sandwich and chips), a drink and a cookie... quite sad. But our flight to the Big Island was far from cold-cuts and greasy potatoes.

Our first meal was hashbrown, scrambeled eggs, yogurt and OJ with a whole wheat roll (much better than Tim Horton's too... I know, crazy!) The meal even came with an adorable airplane shaped salt/pepper shaker. After a couple more hours we arrived in the Hawaiin airport.

The heat was actually bearable as opposed to the weather here in Canada. It was a dry heat, so you don't end up sweating all over yourself... not that I do anyways but the humid weather here is just disgusting. I enjoyed walking along the beach, Kuhio and Kalakalua Rd. The atmosphere there is just so inviting. My family and I also ventured to some really interesting market places. We visited the flea market... where everything was so much cheaper than the ABC stores (which are infesting Hawaii). Shopping was a blast, I bought so many outfits while I was down there... I often wondered what it's like to go on a shopping spree (being asian I never spend more than about $50 at a time when going to the mall... I know shocking).

We found some great deals on tons of cool stuff while searching through the market place. I just love the culture there and the surroundings are amazing. The palm trees make you feel like your in some tropical getaway... but then you spot a car and realize that you're still in touch with the busy western world.

Oh... and today is my first day of University, I can't believe that summer is finally over. After returning from Hawaii I only feel like lounging about all day and/or baking :) I hope I don't loose my orientation group and end up wandering around aimlessly trying to find my way out... what a nightmare. I will continue to post on Hawaii... but it may take a while because of work and school. For now I shall say toodles to my blog... but not forever.