Still Stayin’ at Home

As we’re well into the 2^nd month of the mandated “stay-at-home, work-at-home” orders, I’ve expanded my list of restaurants that are offering take-out options when that 30^th bowl of Sapporo Ichiban and fried Spam just aren’t cutting it anymore. So, over the past month, we’ve tried to support local restaurants by placing a take-out order at least once a week.

We started with our favorite neighborhood Chinese restaurant, Pah Ke’s Chinese Restaurant which already had a brisk take-out business well before COVID-19 was part of our daily dialog. And whether dining in or take-out, we usually order their Chinese Chicken Salad which only uses crisp won bok instead of the usual salad greens and their dressing is created with peanut butter instead of mayonnaise as well as miso so it’s nothing like the traditional Chinese chicken salad but leagues above in taste and texture. And whenever you place a take-out order, those crispy fried wontons strips are placed in a separate bag which the Mrs. approves of a she usually tries to remove those fried strips of goodness from her portion which isn’t necessary with take-out. I love it as I get a larger share of that crunchy goodness! We’ve also been selecting their Singapore Mai Fun more often than other noodle dishes as the thin noodles give a better textural sensation and Pah Ke’s sauce has just a touch of sweetness to balance the savory flavors while the Chicken and Abalone Casserole with Black Mushroom is Chinese surf-and-turf at its finest.

 I also placed a take-out order from our local Gyu-Kaku located in the Windward Mall. Though Gyu-Kaku primarily has diners grilling their own food directly at the dining table which isn’t realistic with shelter-in-place orders, they do offer pre-cooked appetizers as well as meat, rice and noodle dishes. And because some locations have partnered with Uber Eats to provide delivery, I decided to peruse their online menu and low-and-behold, larger portions are only offered through Uber Eats. The “Mega” portions of fried rice and garlic noodles that normally aren’t even offered directly in the restaurant are available through Uber Eats. And along with convenience as I could enjoy a glass of wine while waiting for the Uber delivery, the Mega Sukiyaki Fried Rice with Beef was very good with just a hint of smokiness and perfectly textured rice like it was refrigerated for a day or so prior to frying (I like to refrigerate my rice for about 2 days for that perfect grainy texture without any clumping) while the Mega Garlic Noodles with Shoyu Chicken was the absolute bomb! Thicker noodles reminiscent of Okinawan soba with the perfect chewiness along with the PERFECT shoyu chicken! The chicken wasn’t simply cooked in shoyu, it must have been marinating for a day or so and it was so good, I would order the chicken by itself but paired with those chewy garlic noodles… The Mrs. hopes that Gyu-Kaku continues the Uber Eats mega portions and delivery well after COVID-19 is just a distant memory.

Then during the Easter weekend, 12^th Avenue Grill along with their usual take-out menu added a family Leg of Lamb Dinner including white beans cooked with tomatoes and rosemary, sautéed local kale and fried Brussel sprouts with dried cherries. We also added a family portion of their Mac N Cheese created with house smoked Pecorino cheese. And since the Liquor Commission loosened restrictions on alcoholic beverages, they allow take-out of wine and spirits as long as the establishment normally offers food as long as the diner also orders food and the beverage is still in the original container – restaurants and bars that do offer a selection of wine and spirits with their meals must open (uncork) the bottle then reseal as diners have had the option to “doggie-bag” their unfinished wine for many years now.

However, that bottle of Camino Pinot Noir we ordered never made it into our trunk and by the time we realized it, were back in Kaneohe though the staff at 12^th Ave Grill were very gracious about the mistake so we had a friend who worked in Kaimuki pick it up and enjoy with his meal that evening. Though the food that did make it back to Kaneohe was delicious as usual with very tender slices of perfectly roasted lamb on a ragu of white beans – it must be Mom’s Kumamoto heritage that I can simply make a meal of well cooked beans. And if you’ve never sampled 12^th Avenue Grill’s Mac N Cheese, the house smoked cheese makes it taste like they’ve added bacon to the mixture when it’s actually a vegetarian dish.

Pantry Recipe

 Of course, placing take-out orders for all your meals is not realistic so here is another recipe using common items in your pantry to avoid that visit to the supermarket. My Mom has been making these tuna patties for about 40 years so I’m not even sure where she found the original recipe. However, over the past 40 years, a lot has changed like canned tuna. It used to contain 6 & ½ ounces of solid tuna and now it’s down to 5 ounces of flaked tuna “soup” – if you don’t use a fine mesh strainer, you’ll lose half of the tuna with the liquid. So instead of 2 cans, a standard recipe calls for about 4 cans of tuna.

If you don’t have any eggs at home (and don’t want to visit the supermarket), the crushed potato chips also act as a binder though your patties will crumble easier. The pre-cooked patties also have a sticker texture so cooking with a partner makes the process a lot easier and a lot less messier.

 4 to 5 cans tuna

One 5 to 6-ounce bag of sour cream & onion potato chips, crushed to cracker meal consistency

One-half can of cream of mushroom soup

1 beaten egg

 

Drain the tuna with a fine mesh strainer and add to a medium mixing bowl. Add the crushed potato chips, cream of mushroom soup and the beaten egg and mix well. Form into patties and pan fry over medium heat or bake at 350 degrees flipping each patty halfway through the browning process – it takes a couple of minutes on each side. What to do with the other half can of cream of mushroom soup? Either double the recipe or add it to your rice cooker for plantation style “okazu” as the issei and nisei did between paychecks.

 This next recipe also uses canned tuna and it’s the Mrs’ variation on a dish we sampled many years ago at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Greystone located at the Northern end of Napa Valley. Though originally started as a post graduate program for culinary graduates, it now offers associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in the culinary arts and they originally offered multiple small plates during lunch service (my favorite way to dine) and one course featured flaked tuna served with white beans and a touch of greens in a simple wine vinegar vinaigrette. A couple of years later, we found this recipe in one of the major cooking magazines and over the years, changed it a little to accommodate our own tastes. I have used water packed tuna and if you don’t have fresh parsley, it doesn’t change the flavor a lot, but the fresh red onion is an important component.

 

Tuna and White Bean Salad

 

Three to four 5-ounce cans tuna packed in olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar

~1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped

4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

5 tsp chopped fresh sage or 3 tsp dried, rubbed sage leaves

Two 15 to 16 ounce can cannellini beans, drained

 

Drain oil from tuna into a medium bowl. Add enough olive oil to make 3 ounces total; whisk in vinegar. Add onion, parsley and sage. Mix in beans and tuna. Season with salt and pepper.