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Top to bottom (or back to front): Ume Musubi, Pickled Cucumber, Maui’s Uradomo Farm’s Takuan (ichiban!), Kim Chee Sausage, Pastele Sausage and Chorizo Sausage

In spirit of the popular Portuguese Sausage Shootout, here’s a further spin on ethnic variety in the form of Kim Chee, Pastele and Chorizo Sausages! Who woulda’ thought? Yes, give a butcher some casings, ground meat and a bunch of ethnic flavorings and things like this do happen as we see here!

You can’t help but think to yourself when seeing something like this on the store shelves, “I wonder how those taste? Does the flavor actually resemble what it’s labeled as?” Well, those questions certainly crossed my mind, so nothing else to do but throw them in the cart and give ‘em a spin!

These three sausages are all made by Kukui Sausage Company in Honolulu, Hawaii. Here is each one in detail…

Kim Chee Sausage
8oz.
Ingredients: Pork, Water, Salt, Vinegar, Flavorings, Paprika, Sodium Nitrite, Chili Powder, Cabbage, Garlic, Scallion, Sugar, Fish Sauce, MSG

Pastele Sausage
8oz.
Ingredients: Pork, Bananas, Salt, Black Pepper, Tomato Paste, Achote Oil, Spices, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Nitrite

Chorizo Sausage
8oz.
Ingredients: Pork, Vinegar, Parika, Garlic, Chili Powder, Black Pepper, Spices, Sodium Phosphate, Sodium Nitrite

As you can see, these are all pork-based sausages, and from there the flavor components completely take a different course.

Hawaii’s culinary scene is no stranger to these three flavors due to the contributions of our fellow Korean (Kim Chee), Puerto Rican (Pastele) and overall Latino (Chorizo) folks.

So how do they taste? First of all, notice that I accompany these rather heavy-hearted foods with my trusty Ume Musubi, Takuan and pickled cucumber. These help buffer the palate and also bring balance to an otherwise oily affair.

Right down to it, the Kim Chee and the Pastele both taste as advertised. The Kim Chee sausage taste like Kim Chee-flavored pork and the Pastele Sausage tastes like a “porky” pastele. That really is the best and only way I can explain it.

With the Kim Chee sausage, there’s actual slices of cabbage mixed in it, so the texture further reinforces and convinces you what it’s supposed to be. I would recommend they make this one a little more spicy-hot; not too hot, but more than what it is so that you really are convinced this IS Kim Chee sausage. Still, that flavor is there and you know it upon first bite.

Here you can see a slice of Kim Chee cabbage in the sausage…

I can see cutting this into cubes and adding it to the classic Kim Chee Fried Rice.

In truth, I didn’t like the Chorizo Sausage at all. It lacked quality in flavor, tasting mostly like a spicy porky “something”. Worst of all, it falls apart as it cooks, turning into basically a sauteed ground pork with a strangely-spiced flavor profile. There’s no way this even comes close to that good stuff in the green can.

My favorite, and certainly the one shining with the most character and most true to it’s labeled name is the Pastele Sausage. While I won’t say you can taste the bananas in it, there’s something about that ingredient that gives this sausage its signature flavor. It’s really hard for me to describe this, but it’s really good and taste, well, like Pastele Sausage! Shouldn’t it?

You can sort of see the complexity involved in this cross section of the Pastele Sausage…

This is certainly one you must pick and try if you like the flavor of Peurto Rican style Pasteles.

Any of these three would be a welcome addition to an ethnically-charged fried rice.

1st place: Pastele Sausage
2nd place: Kim Chee Sausage
3rd place: Chorizo Sausage

Once again, I highly recommend the Pastele Sausage if you like pasteles. This hits home.

Kukui Sausage Company
Honolulu, Hawaii 96819
(80 841-8843

P.S. I’ve added Frank’s Foods (Hilo), Redondos (duh!) and Kukui brand Portuguese Sausage to “The Great Portuguese Sausage Shootout” entry.

Portuguese Sausage Shootout

Please join me in laying out a warm virtual welcome to Loco Kine Grindz! A new Hawaii-based food blog…

Author and founder Dale Yasunaga is already off to a great start with nice photos and very thorough, well-written reviews of Ichiriki and Restaurant Epic here in Honolulu.

To learn more, visit LocoKineGrindz.com.

Aloha and Congratulations!

Kenny’s Celebrated Chinese Chicken Salad

Kenny’s Restaurant, formerly Kenny’s Coffee House & Deli, has been a mainstay in the Kamehameha Shopping Center in Kalihi for as long as I can remember. They gave the restaurant a complete renovation back in 2003, not long after closing Kenny’s Burgerhouse in the same shopping center, which is now a McDonald’s.

We decided to have lunch here the other day to catch up on this popular neighborhood Kalihi eatery.

The renovated interior has a clean, warm, at-home and relaxed, non-hurried feel to it, with comfortable, semi-private booth-style seating.

The coffee house & diner style menu has all the comfort foods one would expect, of course with a local twist to many of the dishes.

Getting right into it, I remember reading an article about their fantastic fish dishes, so from their fresh fish listing, I chose the Grilled Teriyaki Ahi plate…

Fresh Grilled Teriyaki Ahi. $11.50

This HUGE slab of Ahi steak , measuring about a full hand span, had to have been at least 12 ounces. At least. Certainly kudos to the chef for knowing just how much to sear and cook this cut of fish without drying it out. It was wonderfully moist and fresh-tasting (not frozen), with a nicely-seared crust on the outside for texture and flavor contrast. It was plated with a bowl of Tentsuyu and daikon oroshi tempura dipping sauce, which added further moisture and flavor. Just excellent.

A fresh and tender bite of grilled Teriyaki Ahi

The fresh fish dishes include a side dish of miso soup and tsukemono (pickled vegetables) and your choice of white or brown rice, mashed potato or french fries. I opted for brown rice, which I barely touched due to the massive quantity of fish I had to finish!

Tsukemono and Miso Soup accompaniment

Other catch of the day options included garlic ahi, misoyaki butterfish, salmon and various reef fish such as Akule, Manini and Taape.

Diner “C” ordered their popular Chinese Chicken Salad…

Chinese Chicken Salad - Shoyu chicken, char siu, won ton chips, Chinese parsley, and peanuts on a bed of crisp lettuce laced with our Special Sesame Seed Dressing! $9.59

During the hour or so we spent there, I witnessed at least 5 of these popular salads brought to various tables around the establishment. It’s accompanied by a sweeted sesame-based dressing..

Kenny’s Special Sesame Seed Dressing

The large-portioned salad can be enjoyed either alone as entree or shared amonst your table as a side salad for everyone. Diner “C” made an interesting comment in that she thought the chicken was actually Kalua Pig, as it has a sort of smoked flavor to it. She likened the dressing’s flavor to the Oriental Sesame Oil Dressing sold at Costco, although, you can tell Kenny’s makes their own. Overall she really enjoyed it, although she could only finish half of it and took the rest home for later.

Diner “A” chose the Teri Beef King sandwich…

Teri Beef King (open-faced) sandwich - Served open faced on a toasted sesame seed bun with lettuce, tomato, a pickle spear & fries. $7.59

Diner “A” really raved about this one, saying the teriyaki beef was exceptionally moist, tender and flavorful, also commenting how he liked the fries. Something he’d reorder on his next visit.

Diner “E” ordered the Rueben sandwich…

Rueben Sandwich - Thinly sliced corned beef on grilled rye with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, 1000 island dressing, a pickle spear & fries.
$9.59

Diner “E” commented that the 1000 island dressing had a pronounced flavor to it, giving the sandwich a unique flavor profile. Overall he enjoyed it, also giving a thumbs-up to the fries along with it (hey, that IS important!). For that photo, I should’ve asked him to prop the sandwich up over the fries so you can see the inside, but were hungry and too hurried to think about that!

Being the local boy Diner “E” truly is, he had to order a side of Fried Rice go accompany his sandwich and fries!…

Kenny’s Fried Rice (side dish). $2.25

I tried a small sample and gotta’ say… this is some ONO fried rice!

The lunch specials of the day on our visit was Stuffed Cabbage or Spaghetti with Meatballs. We also took notice to the “Early Bird” special, which was $3.00 off all dinner entrees.

The prices across the menu have apparently gone up significantly based on recent online reviews, which might be hard to swallow for larger families watching their budget. This was especially noticed by Diner “E” who used to be a regular here when he lived in the area. It’s still within par for the course though.

See their website at www.kennysrestaurant.com for the complete menu.

We were promptly seated upon arrival and the staff did a great job taking our order, filling our glasses, bringing our food and removing dishes all in a timely manner.

There’s so many tempting dishes to want to come back and try more, which hopefully we’ll do again. We all agreed it was a great lunch at Kenny’s Restaurant.

In closing, let’s all sing together their famous old school advertising jingle!…

“Kenny’s… at the Kam Shopping Center in Kaliheee”

Kenny’s Restaurant
Kamehameha Shopping Center
1620 N. School St.
Honolulu, HI
808-841-0931
www.KennysRestaurant.com

Tasty Island rating:

Supah’ Ono!

The 6th Annual Korean Festival took place on Saturday, July 14, 2007 from 9am to 9pm at Kapiolani Park. Events included song and dance performances, including Korean pop recording artists Lee Kee Chan and Wax (how she got that name is beyond me). There was also a Korean song contest, a kim chee eating contest and Korean cooking demonstrations.

This was my first time attending a Korean Festival, to which I arrived about 5pm, just when Lee Kee Chan began singing. ..

A karaoke singer performs before just before K-Pop sensation Lee Ki Chan takes the stage

As with any cultural event, one of the key points of interest are the food, so with that, let’s take a look at the sites and smells at this year’s festival!…

Kim Chee

There’s no question Kim Chee was the star of the show. Just about every food booth offered it as a side dish, or implemented as the key ingredient to various dishes as you’ll see later.

And if there’s any other dish synonymous with Korean besides Kim Chee is Kal Bi!…

Kal Bi grillin’ on open flames.. the RIGHT way to do it!

Kal Bi and Kim chee

I’ll just take these two pans for myself and call it a night!

Korean Style pickled vegetables

This is what sets Korean food apart from the rest. The assortment of pickled vegetables offered at most Korean restaurants provide a wonderful balance to the meal. They’re often flavored with a red pepper seasoning, shoyu or sesame oil. Light, fresh and very tasty!

Korean Pickled Vegetables

Mussel Salad

Another popular Korean dish is Mandoo, which dumplings similar to Japanese Gyoza, except they’re deep fried instead of steamed and pan-fried…

Mandoo

Mandoo frying station

Pan of Mandoo

Yup, they’re popular…

THIS, I HAD to try!…

Kim Chee Hot Dog . 4 scrips.

Yes, a Kim Chee Hot Dog. This beast of a dog is made using a Kosher Sinai Hot Dog (the big Costco ‘kine), covered with no bean chili and a huge pile of Kim Chee. What did I think of it? Sorry, I didn’t like it. The Kim Chee is just too acidic to compliment the hot dog. You might like it though. Go try make one yourself and let us know what you think!

Then you have those Korean plates we’re all familiar with…

Kal Bi Plate with Kim Chee cabbage and cucumbers

BBQ Chicken Plate with Kim Chee cabbage and cucumbers

Korean Garlic Chicken, Mandoo and Kim Chee Fried Rice

Kim Chee Fried Rice Plate

4 typical Korean plates (marked with description). 1 scrip = 1 dollar.

These really nice ladies were selling just one item. It’s like mochi with Azuki Beans mixed in it, shaped like a little cake. So I bought one to try it…

Name? It’s like Mochi with Azuki beans in it

What did I think of it? Different. Not really flavorful on its own term, but I can see this working with something along with it. Maybe a beer? lol

Palama Market is a Korean supermarket with 2 locations in Honolulu. Anything and everything Korean can be found at this ethnic wonderland. Fittingly, they’ve set up a mini-store at the festival…

I didn’t walk up to this wagon for further inspection, but anyway, these guys were there…

Blue Water Shrimp & Seafood

With a paint job like that, they sure must get lots of curious folks stopping by to check them out! I was more fixated on the tent booths.

According to my friend who volunteers at the Okinawan festival every year, the Korean Chamber of commerce received alot of technical assistance from Hawaii’s Okinawan community when they first began organizing the festival at Kapiolani park. This is evident in the layout, entertainment and attractions, which are very similar to the Okinawan festival. Such as the bouncies to keep the keiki entertained while the adults roam the festival…

Bouncies for the keiki

Of course there’s more to culture than just food, and with that, like the Okinawan Festival, they also had a Cultural Exhibition tent. Following is a pictorial walkthrough of what was on display.

Cultural Exhibition (typo on that banner… oops!)

Alot of the displays didn’t have signs, or they were written in Korean, so please pardon my lack of describing what you’re looking at. I’m guessing what’s shown above is a table setting in a traditional Korean home.

Korean ceramics and pottery

Traditional Korean tools?

More tools ‘n stuff

This looks like something religious. Perhaps a Korean Bible?

Korean Masks

Traditional Korean garments…

Well, that was fun. Although the skies were cloudy, the turnout was high. I’ll certainly be back next year to support our fellow Korean community. Of course, I do that almost once a week eating at my favorite Korean restaurants! Hope you enjoyed my virtual walkthrough of this year’s Korean Festival as much as I enjoyed being there for you! And you know what? As much Kim Chee as I seen and eaten there, I still want more!

Tani’s Roast Pork with Mushroom Gravy, $6.00

Surprisingly, although The Tasty Island has been online for just over a year now, the humble, yet oh-so-ono local style lunch wagon grinds hasn’t been covered here yet. Well, we’ll start it off in high gear with Tani’s Lunchwagon!

According to their menu, they were voted #2 in KHNL’s Cheap Eats Lunchwagon battle, so they gotta’ be good!

I ordered the highly recommended Roast Pork with Mushroom Gravy shown above. Excellent choice! Folks, if you remember how delicious the roast pork was at the former Kanda’s “Kewalo” Lunch Wagon, Tani’s does them proud! Fork-tender, very flavorful with that hearty and comforting brown mushroom gravy. The gravy itself has just the right thickness to adhere and coat the tender slices of pork, and salted just right - something that can often be a hit-or-miss. This they nailed.

Fork-tender roast pork… doesn’t get any better than this.

Luckily, my friend doesn’t eat onions, so he gave me the (very sweet!) sauteed onions from his Teriyaki Hamburger steak plate, which went quite nicely with my roast pork plate.

Teri Hamburger Steak, $6.00

My buddy ordered the Teri Hamburger Steak plate shown above, which was one of their Friday specials. The hand-made patties were generous in portion, though not flavored with anything that stood out. They did have a nice char on them. Otherwise, they were mostly dependent on the Teriyaki gravy that covered them, which had a sort of hybrid brown-meets-teri’ zip to it. Again, good viscosity, and not too sweet or salty.

What initially stood out as soon as we opened our plate was how honkin’ HUGE the two scoops of rice were. We’re talkin’ BASEBALL huge. They’re not using the average rice scooper here. They’re obviously out to please the hungry working man. lol I could barely finish just one scoop.

Their macaroni salad was very good. It had this crispness to it, versus the usual creamy type, but otherwise retained that neutrality that we like in mac’ salad. No “5th wheel stuff” like tuna or peas. Just the mac’ and a some grated carrots. Nuff.

Tani’s daily menu includes Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy, Teri Meatloaf, BBQ Chicken, Roast Pork with Mushroom Gravy and Teri Roast Pork.

It gets really interesting with their daily specials, which includes everything from Garlic Mahi with Ginger Soy Cream to Roasted Rosemary Chicken to Kim Chee Fried Rice with Seafood Croquettes. Or how about Baked Macaroni with Sausage & Peppers, Cajun Chicken with Guava BBQ Sauce or Furikake Salmon with Wasabi Aioli. Oh my…must try!

The gourmet influence comes from the son’s side of this mother and son team, where Tyler honed his craft working at Mariposa restaurant (Neiman Marcus Ala Moana) and other fine dining establishments.

According to my lead, Tani’s Lunch Wagon is a big hit with the lunch hour crowd in the industrial Kalihi area. They’re located right in front of Eki Cyclery on Dillingham blvd.. You can’t miss ‘em.

We’ll certainly return to try more daily specials as well as that excellent roast pork!

Tani’s Lunchwagon
1603 Dillingham Blvd. (front of Eki Cyclery)
Monday - Friday 11:00am to 1:00pm
Phone orders welcome: 285-5255
Catering available
Monthly menu available by email request to:
tanislunchwagon@hotmail.com

Tasty Island rating:

Supah’ Ono!

Macadamia Nut Crusted Monchong with Main Lobster Cream Sauce

Roy’s, by Hawaii regional cuisine celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi opened the latest in their worldwide stable of fine dining restaurants in the new heartbeat of Waikiki. The establishment opened several months ago, located at the makai end of Outrigger’s new Outrigger Beach Walk, on the corner of Lewers and Kalia Road, across the street from the Halekulani Hotel.

Roy’s Waikiki main entrance, located on the makai end of Lewers St. and Kalia Rd, across the street from the Halekulani Hotel

The patio at the entrance includes the reservations and greeting counter, followed by an outside bar area. As you enter inside, you’re greeted by a seating area with a large screen TV that looks to be multi-functional as either seating for the outside bar or as a seating area while you wait for your table…

Roy’s Waikiki seating/waiting/inside bar entrance area

A multi-tiered industrial wine chiller dominates a short hallway which leads to the main dining room inside…

As you enter the main dining area, you’ll immediately notice the lively open kitchen which also includes a small sushi bar on the entrance end…

Roy’s Waikiki open kitchen and sushi bar

Because this was a birthday celebration for my girlfriend, I requested a more private booth area, which they kindly provided, located on the back right end of the main dining area. Here’s a view of where we were sitting, looking towards the main dining area…

Roy’s Waikiki main dining area

Notice the Gyotaku style fish art on the wall across the way. The lighting was dim, yet ambient enough to see your food. Our booth had a recessed light fixture pointing towards the back of our table, which made it perfect for me to get good photos of our food. Speaking of photos, the staff was very cool about picture taking (I asked permission), as many in the restaurant were snapping away at themselves and the various artwork decorating the room. Overall the ambiance is elegant without being pretentious. Just like the Roy’s in Hawaii Kai, it’s quite LOUD, with many speaking at regular to sub-shouting levels, which doesn’t bother us, but might annoy others. This seems partially due just to how busy the restaurant is, which on our July 3rd visit (holiday the next day), the house was PACKED. In fact, just after I took that photo above, that round table on the right had just been seated (full). It was a 100% capacity night.

Establishments get booked full capacity for a reason, and like most restaurants should be, Roy’s is all about the FOOD. so let’s get to that!

Upon reading the Mock Dinner at Roy’s review over at Hawaii Diner.com, I had an idea what to expect on the menu. The Waikiki menu includes sushi dishes such as Trio of Yellowfin Ahi, Main Lobster California Roll. Sample items such as Roy’s Classic Dim Sum Canoe for Two: baby back ribs, blackened ahi, spring rolls, shrimp stixx & crab cake. Entrees include dishes such as Honey Mustard & Garlic Beef Short Ribs, Kaffir Butter Grilled Island Fish and Peppercorn Grilled Filet Mignon with a Truffle Madeira Sauce. Sumptuous desserts and a wide selection of wines to choose by glass or bottle. Those items mentioned were just a few of many more to choose on their full menu.

Upon being seated, we’re immediately given water, a request for drinks and given a complimentary bowl of seasoned Edamame (boiled Soy Beans). I must say, whatever seasoning (furikake and/or chili flakes?) they had on them besides salt, they sure were tasty!

Complimentary Edamame (seasoned soy beans)

To keep it simple - and thankfully it was on the menu - we both ordered Roy’s Three-Course “Hawaiian Fusion” Prix Fixe selection at $39.5o per person.

The first course to this “Hawaiian Fusion” dinner is “Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Sampler”…

Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Sampler - Blackened Ahi, Szechuan Baby Back Rib & Chinatown Chicken Spring Roll

One bite of this “triple treat of heaven on a plate”, and we knew were in for one AMAZING dinner. That generous portion of seared rare Ahi just melts in your mouth, combined by that just delicious cream sauce (which I couldn’t figure out) was probably the best twist of eating raw ahi I’ve ever experienced. Not tasted. Experienced. That Szechuan baby back pork rib was just as amazing. Fall-off-the-bone tender, flavorful, with a nicely seared grilled crust and that Szechuan flavoring, which was similar to Charsiu. I could eat a whole RACK of these babies. The chicken spring was crispy and mild, leaving the flavoring up to the bold sauce it came with. Overall, nice. The sum of this appetizer and all its parts? Incredible.

For the main dish (2nd course) you can choose either the Macadamia Nut Crusted Whitefish, the Slow Braised and Broiled Short Ribs of Beef or the Hibachi Style Grilled Salmon.

In my order of the Macadamia Nut Crusted Whitefish, which featured today was Monchong (my favorite!), you can see how wonderfully moist this rather uncommon fish is….

Macadamia Nut Crusted Monchong

The cook prepared the Monchong perfectly, just under medium. The Main Lobster Cream Sauce complimented it beautifully. It was a bit complex, but remained a “back-up singer” to the star instead attempting to take lead vocals. The Macadamia Nut crust was a nice texture contrast to the soft and moist Monchong, flavorful without overpowering the delicate fish. Tender spears of Asparagus, baby potatoes and chopped scallion rounds this absolutely fabulous dish out.

She opted for the braised beef…

Slow Braised and Broiled Short Ribs of Beef (shown sliced open to reveal its tenderness)

This includes a generous portion of “no knife needed” tender slow-braised beef, set atop a cooked potato and tender pieces of zucchini (shown with the green skin) in a hearty demi-glace reduction sauce. Without meaning to subtract from the level this is at, let’s just say this is like the “Ultimate Pot Roast”. Excellent, excellent.

Will we have room for dessert? It’s part of the dinner, so we’ll try!

Knowing it was my guest’s birthday, they provided a complimentary “Birthday Parfait”…

Complimentary Birthday Parfait

How nice of them! This was unexpected. The parfait was nicely chilled with swirls of yogurt, candied Macadamia Nuts, sliced strawberry and mint leaf garnish. It was delicious!

For the actual dessert (3rd course), she opted for “Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle’”…

Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle’

Melting chocolate is the word… hot too!

The chocolate souffle’ is accompanied with a scoop of home-made style ground vanilla bean ice cream.

I opted for the Macadamia Nut Tart…

Macadamia Nut Tart

“Ooey, gooey, caramely and macadamia nut crunchety”, with the contrast of the cold home-made style vanilla ice cream. Yummmmmmmmmmmy!

For drinks, she ordered a Lava Flow (her favorite) and I tried one of Roy’s Private Reserve Beers…

Roy’s Private Reserve Beer

This ale beer is brewed by Hilo’s Mehana Brewing Company. It reminded alot of Kona Brewing Company’s standard ale.. a bit bitter, without biting too much, with a balanced body and head to it.

Along with that the complimentary birthday parfait, they also had a birthday party hat awaiting on our table..

Above the beautiful ambiance and absolutely incredible dinner, the service was over and beyond all expectations. Our server, Melanie was very courteous and friendly, knew the menu well, and was attentive, yet not overdoing it and making us feel “hovered over”. Every staff member walking around the restaurant acknowledged us with a smile and greeting as if we were VIPs. Speaking of which, the staff looks mostly in their younger 20’s, good looking and well trained in working at a Roy’s restaurant and meeting guests expectations. Kudos to everyone working that night.

Our dinner at Roy’s Waikiki was absolutely stellar on every level, giving them a unique rating here at Tasty Island that’s never been seen before…

10 SPAM MUSUBI!

Da’ Best! (highest recommendation)

Roy’s Waikiki
808-923-7697
www.RoysRestaurant.com