Eat, Play, Run

Pike Place Market: Mee Sum Pastry

Living in the International District, I'm at ground zero for the best Chinese food the city has to offer. Sure there are other places in the area that have standout restaurants, but if you want to go restaurant hopping, you can't beat the Chinese food here.

But, for the best hum bao in the city, you need to try Mee Sum Pastry at Pike Place Market. It's a little stand that faces the Market. At $2.50 a piece, you will hard pressed to find better bang for your buck.

The two types of hum bao, in particular, that I enjoy are the standard barbecue pork and the curry beef. The buns at Mee Sum are sweet and light. On the curry hum bao, they actually bake it with suger (I think) to create a crisp, even sweeter crust.

When at the Market, in between gawking at the flying fish and taking pictures of the first Starbucks, swing by Mee Sum Pastry and I recommend giving the hum bao a shot.

From My Kitchen: Spaghetti with Clams and Caprese Salad

I woke up this morning and decided I wanted to make myself dinner. Since it was such a nice day, I decided to stroll down to the Pike Place Market to grab some fresh veggies and clams.

When I returned, I prepared two dishes: a spaghetti w/clams and bacon from this month's issue of Gourmet, and a Tyler Florence Caprese salad.

I have to admit, I'm not much of a cook, so when my food turns out, it's a minor miracle. In this case, I succeeded on both dishes!

The Caprese salad, which took all of five minutes to prepare, was a simple matter of combining a vine ripe tomato, a 1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil. There was really no way for me to mess it up.

On the spaghetti, I fudged the Gourmet recipe, so I could've messed it up. First, the recipe called for grilled clams and the 'sauce' to be prepared over a barbecue. However, living in an apartment with no access to a fire, this was not possible. So I steamed the clams (using a little water and some of the excess fat of the bacon to try to make them a little smoky) and just sauteed the sauce. Ramps are in season, so I added those and cut down a little on the parsley and garlic. It turned out splendid. Despite having bacon, the dish is very light. The sauce is based on lemon, olive oil, dried red peppers and garlic, so it's quite snappy. I loved this. It serves 4, so I'll be eating for the next two days. Sue me, I like big portions!

Kirkland: The Slip

I left work to a beautiful, sunny Friday evening. Instead of heading home, I grabbed a bus and my friend in Kirkland at small cafe on the water called The Slip.

The Slip is known for their burgers, but I was actually leaning towards a salad, as I'm planning on a pretty hard tomorrow. In the end, though, after very little convincing... OK, all my friend had to say was "try the peanut butter hamburger," I went burger.

The peanut butter hamburger contains only four ingredients, 100% beef patty, bun, bacon and peanut butter. The meat is pretty ordinary, in this case, slightly overcooked. It's then topped with bacon and large spread of peanut butter. The combination is heavenly! The peanut butter on the bacon/hamburger is a fantastic combination. Before you "blech," I'm sure you've had a Thai peanut sauce over chicken or beef. Same concept here.

Again, I wasn't all that impressed with the actual beef patty, but this hamburger proves once again that everything is better with bacon... and peanut butter.

Maui: Malasadas, Manju and CookKwees

Snack time is a good time on Maui. OK, snack time is good time pretty much everywhere in the world. On Maui though, it's better than most places.

Three of my favorite snacks are malasadas, manju and peanut butter CookKwees.

Malasadas are Filipino Portuguese donuts. At Home Maid Bakery, you order them fresh and hot. They have plain sugar and custard filled. I like the custard filled malasadas. Again, they're served hot, so you have to wait a few minutes to get them, but oy, they're definitely worth it. The "donut" part is hot and sweet, and the custard is rich and creamy.

Manju are flaky, dense pastries, primarily filled with fruit, but they have other types, as well. My three favorites are apple, peach and peanut butter. The apple and peach are like mini-pies. The peanut butter is like, well, imagine a buttery,flaky pie crust, baked around a spoonfull of peanut butter. These are served five to a package and also come from Home Maid Bakery.

Cruise by any ABC convenience store and you're likely to find an aisle full of "Hawaiian cookies." My favorite brand is CookKwees. Favorite type? Peanut Butter. I like to put the whole cookie in my mouth and chew it by pushing my tongue up to the roof of my mouth. From there, the cookie melts in my mouth. Love them!

Maui: Da Kitchen

Ah, a good ol' fashioned "plate lunch." Here on Maui, actually, anywhere on the Islands, there's a lunch-time specialty called a plate lunch. It's basically rice/macaroni salad (mac) and something else, served, uh, on a plate.

There are two Da Kitchen locations, each in my part of town, depending on whether I'm staying at my brother's place in Kahului or in our condo in Kihei.

Today for lunch, I ordered "Da Big Bruddah"... the aforementioned rice/mac, plus two main dishes. I went with their always yummy chicken katsu (battered and fried chicken) served with a cup of katsu sauce (think tangy gravy) and kalua pork (a shredded, slow-cooked pork.)

The general problem I have with kalua pork is that it is often times too salty. Today's was no exception. General rule of thumb... when ordering kalua pork, remember to have plenty of rice to help it down. It's so tender and flavorful, even though it's overly salty, you'll still want to devour it.

I try to hit Da Kitchen at least once every time I'm out here. It just reminds me of Maui.

Maui: Spam Musubi

One of the great delicacies of Hawaii is the Spam musubi. A musubi is a rice ball. Simply put, rice, shaped into ball. Spam is, well, canned "meat." Like peanut and butter and chocolate, they're two great tastes that go great together.

So, a Spam musubi is a rice ball, topped with Spam, wrapped by a piece nori (seaweed) to hold it together.

Here in Hawaii, you can pick up Spam musubi at pretty much any convenience store, found next to the hotdogs that have been been grilling for the past 20 hours.

Maui: Alexander's

When in Hawaii, one thing to take advantage of is the seafood. Or, at least the seafood that's caught locally. The cheapest way to do that is to order fish and chips.

On Maui, along the south shore in Kihei, is a little shack called Alexander's. There's no seating available inside the shack, but they have some covered tables as well as a few tables out in the sun.

I went back the last two days to try the two types of fish for which they're renowned: mahimahi and ono. Two different fish, and depending on your preference, you're bound to like one much more than the other. Mahimahi and Ono are sort of like Jack and Locke on "Lost," they're polar opposites.

The batter on both is excellent. Both are white fish, but the comparison ends there.

The ono is firm and somewhat dry. The flavor is also very mild. I would say the ono is perfect who doesn't really like fish and chips, but finds themselves at a little seafood shack with nothing else to order.

The mahimahi, on the hand, is flaky and moist, loaded with flavor. I love this. It's some of the best fish and chips I've ever had. If you like fish and chips, and don't mind a little grease running down your chin, this is the type you need to order.

The fries are of the krinkly variety and quite good. However, steer clear of the tempura battered sweet potatoes. The sweet potato is woefully undercooked. In fact, giving them the benefit of the doubt, the cook may have just screwed up. If they meant for them to be that 'snappy' then they really need to go back and fix their prepartion.

There used to be a fish and chips window a couple of blocks down that street that was also very good, but it's gone now, replaced by a Mexican food restaurant. Oh well, Alexander's is great. I definitely recommend it.

Maui: Cinnamon Roll Fair

When it comes to cinnamon rolls, I'm not all that picky. I pretty much like all of 'em. But, I love the cinnamon rolls from Maui's Cinnamon Roll Fair.

Cinnamon Roll Fair is located in a strip mall across the street from the beach in Kihei. The rolls are served fresh out of the oven. I like the crisp edges and the stickiness of the goo. Often times, cinnamon rolls are way too sweet, but these are really nice.

I like to top mine with macadamia nuts. Being on Maui, why would I even try anything else?

 The only not so good thing about Cinnamon Roll Fair is the price. One roll with the macadamia nut topping will run you about $4.50. That seems a little steep for a cinnamon roll.

Food Fight: Yummy House vs. Beard Papa's

Until recently, I always associated cream puffs, rightly or wrongly, with French food. You know, eclairs. I loved them. Shouldn't speak in the past tense... I still love them. Chocolate eclairs are one of my favorite desserts of all time.

But cream puffs are also popular amongst Japanese and Chinese food diners. Beard Papa's is cream puff shop that started in Osaka, Japan and grew into a worldwide phenomenon. I had first come across Beard Papa's in New York. I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw there was one here in the International District, located in Uwajimaya.

But Beard Papa's isn't the only cream puff in the ID. Yummy House Bakery, with two locations, a stand-alone shop and a counter about 20 feet from Beard Papa's in Uwajimaya, also makes a mean cream puff.

So, let me introduce a new feature: Food Fight, where I'll compare similar foods  from different shops/restaurants, and choose a winner.

Here we have a battle of cream puffs and they'll be judged in two categories: Pastry and Filling.

1. Pastry: Yummy House tastes fine, but it's a little heavy and soggy. Whereas Beard Papa's is light and crisp.
2. Custard filling: Again, Yummy House is fine, not overly sweet with a nice consistency. But, Beard Papa's is lighter, and while not overly sweet, seems to pack more flavor.

Well, this one is a first round knock-our for Beard Papa's (right, in the above photo.) Beard Papa's topped Yummy House in both categories. It's not that Yummy House is bad, but Beard Papa's is just really good!

See how I suffer for you? I ate two cream puffs in one night. By the way, you'll never see me doing a Food Fight on peas or spinach. But more desserts? Absolutely!

International District: Kau Kau

The International District, which used to be called Chinatown, is an area rife with Chinese barbecue joints. It wouldn't be a "Chinatown" without pork and duck hanging in the window.

My favorite Chinese barbecue restaurant in the city is Kau Kau. Outside of its standard Chinese menu, featuring barbecue, that you can eat dining in, Kau Kau offers up a great to go counter where the butcher(?) will cut up your meat and drop it into a container to take out.

I think I've tried all of the takeout offerings. I've settled on two dishes as my favorites: the barbecue pork and the roasted pork. The duck is OK, but I find it a little too oily.

The porks, however are perfect. The barbecue pork, cha shu, is excellent. I like the firmness and texture of the meat, and the sweet "skin." Dipped in hot mustard, it's the ultimate appetizer or side dish. The roasted pork, siew yuk, is pork done right. The crisp, salty skin off-sets the tender, oily meat.

If you go to Kau Kau, and I highly recommend it, don't leave without trying the roasted pork.  You won't regret it.