Hawaii Five-0 and the Doughnuts They Eat
This is the last Hawaii post, I promise! The day before we left Hawaii, we were able to meet up with Marsha (a Honolulu native) and her awesome family (mom Bette, dad Gordon, and sister Jen) at Ono's Hawaiian food for a traditional, delicious Hawaiian meal. It was as delicious as it was educational. And the food was very different from what I've had previously at a very touristy luau.
I felt like such a lame-o amateur compared to Marsha's family, who rattled off their orders like pros: "Lau lau plate. Pork. With poi, not rice. Day old." Whoa! Whaaa? I just followed suit and ordered what Marsha did. Apparently the day old poi is slightly tangier than the fresh, relatively tasteless poi, and provides a better contrast to the salty, fatty lau lau pork wrapped in seaweed. Cool! Other interesting aspects of the meal included little pieces of beef jerky to dip in the poi and eat almost like chips and dip. And thick slices of sweet Maui onion to dip in poi and then sprinkle with Hawaiian salt. Good, stick-to-your-ribs stuff! I'm not sure why so many people dislike poi. I don't find it offensive at all. Saya liked it, too!
After our meal, we arrived back at our rental van to discover that the driver's side view mirror had been knocked off by another car. The mirror was lying broken in the street, and of course there was no note. So annoying, especially because the amount of the damage will be less than our deductible and we have to pay the rental company for days they can't rent the van. Even more annoying: this is the second time this happened in the last month! (Side story: Kris was stopped at a light when another car tried to squeeze by him and knocked off his driver's side mirror. The driver didn't pull over until Kris followed her. Then she told him that she would pay for the damage via PayPal. After several phone calls, she had not, so we reported the accident to her insurance after paying a ridiculous $360 to get it repaired. Then, her insurance settled in her favor because she claimed that she had never been in the accident (there was no damage to her car). Her insurance company couldn't explain why we would have a random woman's driver's license number, insurance information, address, license plate number, etc...Needless to say, we were PISSED!). The whole thing just sucks because we really can't afford to spend $700 on mirrors in a month, especially for things that were not our fault. I could have bought a crib and high chair with that money.
We ended up having to file a police report for the damage. The Honolulu cops actually drove out to Marsha's parents' house to write it up. I found this very cute and conscientious of them. Can you imagine if LAPD went out to people's homes for things as minor as this?
Please be assured that I embraced the urge to yell "Hawaii Five-O!" when the cop showed up.
What better way to get over the car drama - and celebrate Honolulu cops - than to get a bunch of malasadas, the amazing Portuguese doughnuts that are famous in Hawaii! (I am still unclear about why we don't have these in California...they're awesome). If you haven't had them, they're more like deep-fried sweet bread than doughnuts - the dough is more yeasty. And they are served hot, covered with sugar (and sometimes cinnamon). The outside is slightly crispy, and biting into one is EXTREMELY PLEASURABLE. Trust me.
Marsha previously told me that there was something of a malasada war going on in her family. Her parents preferred Leonard's, the original malasada joint. But Marsha heard that they didn't change their oil frequently, leading to an oilier, heavier malasada. So Marsha said she preferred the malasadas at Champion's Bakery (run by a former Leonard's employee).
There was no other way to settle this controversy than by having a blind taste test. We went to both bakeries and picked up a dozen malasadas each. Then we placed the malasadas in front of Marsha. I'm not gonna lie...there was a certain suspense in the air. Marsha weighed each malasada carefully in her hands. She proclaimed that the lighter malasada was from Champion's. And proceeded to eat it with gusto.
Marsha was wrong.
It was almost heartbreaking to tell her. When we told her, her expression was both crestfallen and bewildered. Kind of like ours. It kind of felt like when I was watching the movie Spellbound...you know, the one about all the kids who compete in the national spelling bee? All those kids, who are so invested in spelling and do it day in, day out. You start rooting for the kids, and completely trusting their expertise. When you see one of the kids misspell a word, you feel the same sense of shock and hurt that they do.
Not to be dramatic or anything, but that is kind of how it went down. (Jen may also have yelled "HAH!" and Marsha may have backpedaled and said that she still preferred Champion's. I may have also comforted myself by eating a malasada from each bakery, just to make sure they were both good).
After a sugar-coma afternoon, we finished off a day of feasting with some fantastic drive-through plate dinners: shoyu chicken, mochiko chicken (chicken breaded and fried with rice powder), chasu, teriyaki beef, and the classic Hawaiian staple: potato salad. It was a great day! Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Ing!
I felt like such a lame-o amateur compared to Marsha's family, who rattled off their orders like pros: "Lau lau plate. Pork. With poi, not rice. Day old." Whoa! Whaaa? I just followed suit and ordered what Marsha did. Apparently the day old poi is slightly tangier than the fresh, relatively tasteless poi, and provides a better contrast to the salty, fatty lau lau pork wrapped in seaweed. Cool! Other interesting aspects of the meal included little pieces of beef jerky to dip in the poi and eat almost like chips and dip. And thick slices of sweet Maui onion to dip in poi and then sprinkle with Hawaiian salt. Good, stick-to-your-ribs stuff! I'm not sure why so many people dislike poi. I don't find it offensive at all. Saya liked it, too!
After our meal, we arrived back at our rental van to discover that the driver's side view mirror had been knocked off by another car. The mirror was lying broken in the street, and of course there was no note. So annoying, especially because the amount of the damage will be less than our deductible and we have to pay the rental company for days they can't rent the van. Even more annoying: this is the second time this happened in the last month! (Side story: Kris was stopped at a light when another car tried to squeeze by him and knocked off his driver's side mirror. The driver didn't pull over until Kris followed her. Then she told him that she would pay for the damage via PayPal. After several phone calls, she had not, so we reported the accident to her insurance after paying a ridiculous $360 to get it repaired. Then, her insurance settled in her favor because she claimed that she had never been in the accident (there was no damage to her car). Her insurance company couldn't explain why we would have a random woman's driver's license number, insurance information, address, license plate number, etc...Needless to say, we were PISSED!). The whole thing just sucks because we really can't afford to spend $700 on mirrors in a month, especially for things that were not our fault. I could have bought a crib and high chair with that money.
We ended up having to file a police report for the damage. The Honolulu cops actually drove out to Marsha's parents' house to write it up. I found this very cute and conscientious of them. Can you imagine if LAPD went out to people's homes for things as minor as this?
Please be assured that I embraced the urge to yell "Hawaii Five-O!" when the cop showed up.
What better way to get over the car drama - and celebrate Honolulu cops - than to get a bunch of malasadas, the amazing Portuguese doughnuts that are famous in Hawaii! (I am still unclear about why we don't have these in California...they're awesome). If you haven't had them, they're more like deep-fried sweet bread than doughnuts - the dough is more yeasty. And they are served hot, covered with sugar (and sometimes cinnamon). The outside is slightly crispy, and biting into one is EXTREMELY PLEASURABLE. Trust me.
Marsha previously told me that there was something of a malasada war going on in her family. Her parents preferred Leonard's, the original malasada joint. But Marsha heard that they didn't change their oil frequently, leading to an oilier, heavier malasada. So Marsha said she preferred the malasadas at Champion's Bakery (run by a former Leonard's employee).
There was no other way to settle this controversy than by having a blind taste test. We went to both bakeries and picked up a dozen malasadas each. Then we placed the malasadas in front of Marsha. I'm not gonna lie...there was a certain suspense in the air. Marsha weighed each malasada carefully in her hands. She proclaimed that the lighter malasada was from Champion's. And proceeded to eat it with gusto.
Marsha was wrong.
It was almost heartbreaking to tell her. When we told her, her expression was both crestfallen and bewildered. Kind of like ours. It kind of felt like when I was watching the movie Spellbound...you know, the one about all the kids who compete in the national spelling bee? All those kids, who are so invested in spelling and do it day in, day out. You start rooting for the kids, and completely trusting their expertise. When you see one of the kids misspell a word, you feel the same sense of shock and hurt that they do.
Not to be dramatic or anything, but that is kind of how it went down. (Jen may also have yelled "HAH!" and Marsha may have backpedaled and said that she still preferred Champion's. I may have also comforted myself by eating a malasada from each bakery, just to make sure they were both good).
After a sugar-coma afternoon, we finished off a day of feasting with some fantastic drive-through plate dinners: shoyu chicken, mochiko chicken (chicken breaded and fried with rice powder), chasu, teriyaki beef, and the classic Hawaiian staple: potato salad. It was a great day! Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Ing!
I love the Hawaii posts...especially the ones about food. We're hoping to go ourselves this may for Andrew's 30th (shhhh!-don't tell him he'll be old!), so the descriptions of food is much appreciated, as I am not well versed in Hawaiian cuisine! Keep 'em coming if you've got 'em!
Posted by
Mishy |
December 31, 2008 at 9:23 AM