I wasn’t planning on even mentioning this dish. I have no expertise in the realm of authentic Latina cooking and typically leave it up to others that actually know what they’re talking about. I mostly just do the eating. Since, well, that happens to be my expertise.
But it makes no difference because these impromptu tacos and those close to the HungrytoHappy kitchen were at something of a standstill. They were dinner last Tuesday. They were lunch on Wednesday. They were a snack on Thursday. And if that isn’t a good indication of how good they were, let me tell you. They were awesome.
I’m going to Guatemala tomorrow. I don’t doubt I’ll eat food better than this, but for all I care, this counts for something. The bright and tangy flavors of cilantro and lime along with the crunch from the average packaged coleslaw are unmatched when paired with some spice-rubbed chicken, red bell pepper, and zucchini. Oh, and that chipotle cream? Absolute perfection. It adds a hot and smokey dimension to the cool and creamy zing that is sour cream. As if all of that weren’t good enough already, it’s all layered atop a toasty corn tortilla that emits a scent that takes me directly to Adela’s kitchen in Los Angeles – the cozy dining table, plates of food, ice-cold coronas with salt and lime, Adela delivering a freshly-heated stack of corn tortillas bundled in a kitchen towel. This is the type of family meal I always crave. I can’t wait to satisfy that craving tomorrow. So until then, buen provecho!
Spice-Rubbed Chicken and Vegetable Tacos with Cilantro Slaw & Chipotle Cream
Adapted loosely from Bon Appétit, June 2006
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped canned chipotle chiles* (about 2-3 chiles with adobo sauce)

2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

1 tablespoon smoked hot Spanish paprika (Pimentón de la Vera, or regular paprika would suffice)

2 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise

1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut lengthwise into 3/4-inch-thick strips

3 tablespoons canola oil

6 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

Buttermilk (enough to soak chicken)

12 5- to 6-inch-diameter corn tortillas, warmed

Cilantro Slaw (recipe as follows)

2 limes, each cut into 6 wedges

Preparation:

Season chicken thighs in shallow pan with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cover and soak in buttermilk for 2 hours, or best overnight.

Whisk sour cream and chipotle chiles in small bowl; season with salt. Whisk brown sugar and next 5 ingredients in another small bowl to blend for spice rub.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.

Drain buttermilk and place chicken thighs on rimmed baking pan. Place zucchini and red bell pepper on separate baking pan. Drizzle with canola oil; toss to coat. Sprinkle spice rub over both sides of vegetables and chicken.

Rub thighs with prepared seasoning. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoon oil in a 12″ cast-iron or heavy nonstick skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking.

Nestle chicken in skillet, skin side down, and cook 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high; continue cooking skin side dow, occasionally rearranging chicken thighs and rotating pan to evenly distribute heat, until fat renders and skin is golden brown, about 12 minutes.

Transfer skillet (or transfer chicken back to baking sheet/pan) to oven and cook 13 more minutes. Add seasoned vegetables to chicken. Flip chicken; continue cooking until skin crisps and meat is cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Cook until vegetables are tender and browned in spots and chicken is cooked through.

Transfer to work surface; tear chicken into shreds. Cut vegetables crosswise into 3/4-inch pieces. Place chicken and vegetables in large bowl; toss to blend.

Place chicken and vegetables, chipotle cream, tortillas, slaw, and lime wedges on table. Allow guests to assemble their own soft tacos.

Cilantro Slaw
Adapted barely from Bon Appétit, June 2006
Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients:

12 ounces purchased shredded three-color coleslaw mix (about 7 cups)

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cumin

Preparation:

Place coleslaw mix and cilantro in large bowl. Whisk canola oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, and cumin in medium bowl to blend. Add to cabbage mixture; toss to coat.

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The funny thing is between all the heres and theres, I’ve landed somewhere neither here nor there. Somewhere at a crossroads. Somewhere within the familiar and the foreign. Somewhere between childhood dreams and grown-up realities.
But the truth is, it’s in times like these, I feel the most grateful. I’m forced to reflect upon where I’m from, where I’ve been, and ultimately, where I’m going. I admittedly get lost sometimes often, but I’m fortunate enough to have constant reminders along the way.

Like this Kimchi Chigae (김치찌개), or stew. In more ways than one, it represents so much of who I am and where I’m from. For every city I’ve lived in and for every person and culture that has left its permanent mark on my soul, there has been an affiliated dish or two that I’ve come to love and re-create as my own. For Seoul, the city I was born in, it’s everything kimchi. Kimchi chigae was, in fact, the first Korean dish I learned how to make. Simple ingredients are treated simply with diligence as they come together to gain more depth and flavor over time. This is what makes Korean food and Korean culture so raw, so remarkable. Often times, this is how I view myself – a stone pot of various ingredients being simmered together to create a formidable flavor, one whose whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.

That’s what’s great about cooking. Sometimes, it isn’t about precision. It’s about tasting, cooking, waiting, adding, and tasting again and again until the flavors are just right. I admit it’s frustrating at times and to be honest, I don’t even know how long it will take to achieve the exact flavor I seek for my own self. Who knows. In the coming weeks, I might get sick of the tender sweetness of stewed zucchini or the biting heat of a jalapeno pepper. Before long, I may change it up by adding the irresistible richness of pork belly or brined flakiness of canned tuna. But whatever it takes, everything good is worth the wait. Kimchi chigae is undeniably one such thing. And it’s here, in limbo, where the simplest of ingredients are simmered with patience and diligence to yield an unfathomable new flavor.

Kimchi Chigae (김치찌개)
A Hungry to Happy Recipe
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

2 cups kimchi (the more fermented/older, the better), chopped with its juices
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tspn sesame oil
2-3 cups water, or dashi (recipe as follows)
1/2 zucchini, halved length-wise and sliced
1/4 cup leeks and/or green onions, chopped
1/3 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
1-2 tspn chili pepper flakes, or 고추까루
1-2 tspn chili pepper paste, or 고추장
1 tspn sugar
1/3 pack of tofu, cubed

Preparation:

In a medium saucepan or pot, heat sesame oil and minced garlic. Then add kimchi, leek, jalapeno, and onion and sautée with chili pepper flakes, chili pepper paste, and sugar until tender, about 7 minutes. Add zucchini and sautée for another minute or two. Then add water or dashi until all ingredients are submerged.

Bring pot to a boil then let simmer over medium-high heat for 20-25 minutes. The longer the simmer, the stronger the flavors.

Adjust sugar, chili pepper paste, and sesame oil to taste. Add tofu and cook additional 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped green onions. Serve immediately with rice.

* optional: most varieties of Kimchi Chigae are made with pork belly or canned tuna. You can include about 1/4 lb of chopped pork belly or about 1 can of tuna by adding one or the other into the pot in the beginning of the recipe after the minced garlic.

Dashi
Makes about 4 – 5 cups

Ingredients:

5 cups of water
1 (2-3 in) strip of konbu (dried seaweed)
1 cup bonito flakes, or 10 dried anchovies

Preparation:

Place konbu square in water with anchovies and bring to a boil. Let simmer at medium-high heat for 30 minutes.

Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or strainer and discard konbu and anchovies.

Use liquid dashi as soup base for various recipes or store in air-tight container in fridge for up to one week.

My apologies for the mini-hiatus that followed the mini-dinner party. Sadly, upon reflection of my posts, I have become aware of how narcissistic blogging can be. Furthermore, I have come to realize that so far, I have only fulfilled half of what I claimed to be this blog’s objective. That being said, enough show-casing of my gradually accumulating culinary repertoire, for now, and onto equally important eating excursions. As I have mentioned in earlier posts and such, Hawaii is comprised of a semi-wide range of cuisines. I say ‘semi’ only because there are often times I find myself eating some version of the same thing, especially since Hawaii is well-known for their ‘plate lunches’ and other such wonderfully simple and filling plates.

However, due to this omnipresent comfort food, anything remotely out of this domain of food is usually considered fairly ‘new’ and ‘hip.’ For example, I have only been to one restaurant in town during my time here that specializes solely in Shabu Shabu. It’s either because there aren’t many restaurants that are popularized by this dish or probably more so because I’m biased and haven’t sought out such restaurants. I realize that Shabu Shabu is all the craze amongst many, but I had quite the unfortunate experience of Shabu Shabu indigestion in Korea when I was younger and have never liked the dish since.

Well, that was the case until I tried Sweet Home Cafe. This quaint and cozy, no longer hole-in-the-wall, place really drew me into the Shabu Shabu craze. For those of you who have been there, you know that the up-to-one-hour wait is most definitely worth it. For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure, please do yourself the favor! I seriously started the wide spread trend within the restaurant I work at and I’m sure once you’ve been there, you won’t be able to keep this secret to yourself.

On 2334 S. King St next to Moili’ili Long’s and Pizza Hut etc, this restaurant prides itself in the Taiwanese hot pot. With a menu consisting of up to 12 different types of broths (Seafood, Spicy, Healthy Herb, Vegetable, Lemongrass, and more), 4 different meats, 15 homemade sauces, and 3 fridges full of add-ins, the combination options seem endless.

At first, this out-of-ordinary dining style may seem overwhelming and confusing as it was for me, but let me break it down for you. Once you have the privilege of being seated in the actual restaurant from waiting outside, you choose your broth. You can even choose two broths, in which case they split the pot with a divider. After you choose your broth (I highly recommend Seafood, Spicy, and House), you choose your meat. There’s beef, beef tongue, pork, and lamb. You can choose each one, it’s really up to you. Then, you head over to the different fridges and you choose as many add-ins as your excited stomach can handle. These add-ins include different vegetables and seafood that are price coordinated by color plates. Once you bring your dishes from the fridge, you can go back to get several petri-dishes of sauces for dipping. By this point, the hot pot is probably cooking at your table and once the broth is heated to the desired degree, you can begin bombarding it with all the meat, vegetables and seafood surrounding you. I’m sure by now, everything else is self-explanatory.

What’s also amazing about this place is their service. The family that runs this joint is not only hospitable, but also has a great sense of humor that is evident in some of the jokes they crack throughout your meal. Now, although the temptation to indulge in sinful gluttony is undoubtedly hard to resist, please save it for dessert.

Yeah, I was pretty serious about that one. After such a fantastically filling meal, you get to top it all off with this amazing shave ice dessert that is, can you believe it?!, on the house. It’s the perfect sweet note to end the meal on especially since the hot pot gets you warm and steamy. This mountain of delicious shave ice is covered in different flavors of tapioca, jelly, pudding, some strawberries and condensed milk. No matter how stuffed you may be, I suggest you unbutton your jeans and start shoveling that mountain with your spoon. The fleeting remorse of temporary weight gain and uncomfortable fullness are truly nothing compared to this unforgettable experience.

Sweet Home Cafe
(808-947-3707)

2334 South King St.
Honolulu, HI 96826

Mon-Sun: 5 pm – 12 am.

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