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Top Five: August 2001
Top Five Taste Bud Experiences: If you had to recommend any five eating experiences, what would they be?
Another month, another Top Five topic for which I went out of my mind trying to limit myself to five. I ended up having to break my ridiculously long list into categories, and crown a champ in each. (And, of course, I had to acknowledge a few other nominees — it's only fair, considering the ecstacy each has brought to my palate over the years.) - Favorite Delicacy: Sashimi
Yes, raw fish. It bears noting, though, that this dish is so common in the local diet (and that of the Japanese, of course) that I think I was probably a teenager before I realized some people (read: white people) thought it was weird... or even mind-bogglingly gross. If you're new to it, it's an acquired taste, to be sure. And you should get "good" sashimi for your first experience. Eventually, though, you might end up like me — fairly indiscriminate about my fish types and cuts, provided it's not moving or clearly rancid. When I make it myself, I usually screw up or use too dull a knife, and end up with a plate of fish "chunks" simply torn apart by hand. Hot (sinus-clearing strength) green wasabi and shoyu (soy sauce), lightly mixed, is the quintessential companion. I, paradoxically, want the stuff to be so overpowering my eyes cross, and yet focused enough so that I can still taste the essence of the fish. I should mention that while Jen listed sashimi tops on her list too, she didn't always consider it edible. I remember the night I took her to lose her sashimi virginity. Four or five had to be delivered to our table before she'd attempted to eat it, and she did only after drowning — I mean, drowning — the hapless little pink yummy slab in shoyu. Now, of course, we fight over the stuff. It ain't cheap, and doesn't appear on the menu very often. Runner-up in this category? Something I picked up from Nate's mother: black caviar and soft pepper brie, spread on Carr's table water crackers. For best results, consume on a beautiful, empty beach immediately after sunset. - Favorite Snack: Li Hing Gummi Bears
Of course, I love gummi bears in general, and indeed, all types of gummi things. Gummi cola bottles, gummi worms, gummi frogs, gummi apple and pear rings... I lean more toward the softer and sweeter Black Forest (Germany) variety than Haribo (France), but really, I'm not picky. But li hing gummi bears are coated in li hing powder — a Chinese-derived, but Hawaii-warped flavoring/seasoning that's mostly pickled plum, but heavily salted to create a fairly intense sweet-sour one-two punch. (One recipe for the powder calls for Hawaiian salt, brown sugar, lemon juice, whiskey, and cloves.) These days, folks put li hing powder on everything — my mom especially likes it on apple wedges — but to me, it works best on gummi bears. It, too, is an acquired taste. I brought some to share at JournalCon last year, and I still had lots left to eat on the plane back. But really, if you're a sweet-sour snacker, you'll grow to love it. Runners-up in this category include popcorn and arare (baked, puffed, shoyu-seasoned rice crackers that Jen says makes my breath deadly), called "the movie mix" by Hawaii-savvy movie theater chains, and shave ice. And no, local shave ice is nothing like a Sno-Cone. (You can get li hing shave ice syrup, in fact. Mmm hmm.) - Favorite Comfort Food: Loco Moco
I'd seen loco mocos on local menus my whole life, but I never fell in love with it until I lived in Hilo, purportedly the birthplace of the dish. Like sashimi, Jen initially thought it was simply disgusting, but now she orders them more often than I do. A loco moco is: a big bowl of sticky, steamed, short-grain rice; topped with a big, floppy, somewhat burnt hamburger patty; topped with two large sunny-side-up or over-easy eggs; all smothered with thick, thick, occasionally lumpy brown gravy. Then, of course, you pour on shoyu, black pepper, and tabasco sauce. Then — and this is the good part — you grab a fork and mash the living hell out of it. Turn the bowl's contents into a massive, dense pile of yum. Technically, it's a breakfast, but really, it's good any time. Of course, it'll also sit in your stomach for a day or so. I think when gluttony was made one of the seven deadly sins, they had something like a loco moco in mind. One runner-up is related: the Ozawa Breakfast Moco (what Jen calls "that weird thing you do"), which is like the above but you swap hash browns for the rice, corned beef hash for the hamburger, and hold the gravy. The mashing remains a requirement. The other top contenders were New England clam chowder with a dash of Tabasco sauce, which Nate introduced to us when we camped out at Malaekahana years ago, and mom's French toast, which is topped with a slice of American cheese, and which Jen finds absolutely repulsive. (I'll turn her around, you just watch.) And yes, I have noticed the prevalence of Tabasco sauce among these selections. Anyway. - Favorite Meal: Genuine Southern Barbeque
I thought I knew what barbeque was when I puts Hunt's sauce on chicken or ordered ribs at Tony Roma's. Boy was I wrong. One one of my trips to visit Jen's family in Florida, they took me to a "real" barbeque place in Daytona called "Hog Heaven," with a real two-day barbeque pit. I fell immediately in love with the whole kit and kaboodle. Barbeque pork roasted so long in sauce so thick it literally melted in your mouth. Baby back ribs so irresistable your face and chest ends up looking like a horror movie prop. Real baked beans (that is, not out of a can!). Corn on the cob, buttermilk biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy. During that trip, I was trying very hard to be a non-intrusive, polite house guest... but after that, I just about demanded one more barbeque meal before we left. Runner-up spreads are Japanese teishoku (shrimp tenpura, miso soup, sashimi, tsukemono, namasu... all the fixings), and simple, thick, bloody prime rib with garlic mashed potatoes. - Favorite Dish: Jen's Tuna Casserole
Truth be told, this is one of the simplest things Jen can fix. She even taught me to do it, to some degree, and I'm a guy who only recently graduated beyond Mac & Cheese. But she's made it ever since we first started going out seven years ago, and with its sheer simplicity, I look forward to it more than any other dish. Egg noodles, cream of chicken soup, milk, tuna, peas, and bread crumbs. Twenty minutes at 350 degrees, and I'm home. Runners-up are chicken w/oyster sauce on cake noodle, Vietnamese phö with shredded pork, and Korean kal-bi ribs. Mmm!
Okay, now I'm hungry.
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· Created: 13 November 1997
· Last Modified: 14 January 2008