Vote HFWF in USA Today poll

Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival photo
Among local chefs involved in the. Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival are co-founders Alan Wong, left, and Roy Yamaguchi, right, and between them, Mark Noguchi, Lee Anne Wong and George Mavrothalassitis. Now they're asking you to vote for the festival as best in the nation in a USA Today poll.

Sunshine. Beaches. Food and wine selections from an international roster of top chefs and sommeliers. What's not to love about the Hawai'i Food & Wine Festival?

We've always known Hawaii is epicenter of world-class culinary events and word is getting out about the festival that, since 2011, has raised $1.3 million for local culinary and agricultural programs. HFWF is in the running for a USA Today poll looking for the Best Wine Festival in the USA Today 10 Best Poll.

HFWF has a good head start, currently in 2nd place out of 20 candidates and is hoping fans will push the festival into the top spot over the next two days.

Voting is open through 5:59 a.m. Aug. 15, Hawaii time. Here's the link to vote: 10best.com/awards/travel/best-wine-festival/hawaii-food-wine-festival-honolulu.

No need to enter email or personal information. Just click on "Vote."

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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her food coverage is in print in Wednesday's Crave section. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.

Koko Head Cafe hosts Secret Menu dinner

Nadine Kam photos
Lee Anne Wong spoons sauce over Volcano Meatballs on focaccia during a Secret Menu dinner. No, it wasn’t spicy, just red as lava.

Koko Head Cafe was the site of the second in food writer Sean Morris’ Secret Menu dining series. As a culinary insider, he’s privvy to dishes chefs are able to pull together with ingredients in their kitchen, that are not on their formal menus. These dishes are generally available by request, staff time permitting.

The dishes they build are often the things they like to eat themselves, and at Koko Head Cafe represent, that meant a no-holds barred feeding frenzy far more decadent than anything you could create for yourself at home, considering what they’re starting with. Imagine: A whole deep-fried Jidori chicken karaage burger topped with cheddar cheese, sugar-coated billionaire’s bacon and rich mushroom gravy, on sweetbread bun, arriving halfway through the meal.

Then there was Donburi Chen, named after fellow chef William Chen, who helped Koko Head Cafe chef Lee Anne Wong in preparations for her book, “Dumplings All Day Wong.” After preparing a meal for all who helped her, Chen insisted he put this particular dish on her menu, a sweet chili glazed pork and egg combo over greens with black garlic “soil.”


Non-flash video

With chefs trying to outdo each other with each dinner presented, there was a generous amount of food, and with nine similarly weighted courses, there was plenty of to-go boxes being handed out at the end of the meal.

If you are intrigued by any of these dishes, it doesn’t hurt to inquire about availability. I was particularly enamored of another over-the-top course of a kim chee hash brown Reuben, which I would love to have again … next time starting with an empty stomach!

During the evening, chef Lee Anne Wong took the opportunity to give shoutouts to her kitchen staff, including Clark Neugold and chef de cuisine Nicole Anderson, who will take over duties at Koko Head to allow Wong to focus on her newest endeavor, a ramen bar slated to open before summer.

The Parmesan and basil-finished meatballs.

Haloa gnocchi, comprising luau leaf and pa’i'ai, with coconut cream.

 Call it over the top, but the kim chee hash brown Reuben was my favorite dish of the evening. I will definitely be back for this. The slaw makes it healthy, right?

The Koko Head Cafe staff gets creative in building their daily “kitchen sink salads.” On this night it was all about fried tofu on a bed of greens beautifully garnished with Ali’i mushrooms, watermelon and timely Easter egg radishes, with the crunch of bubu arare.

 By the time the Jidori chicken sandwich arrived, people were beginning to feel stuffed and we could not believe we each received a whole sandwich. We thought they would be quartered, because that’s all I could handle of this mochiko fried chicken topped with cheese, billionaire’s bacon and mushroom gravy on sweetbread bun. Oy! This proved to be a favorite of many. I loved the gravy the most, with all its glorious mushroom essence. Because our table of four shared a couple of sandwiches, I was able to take home 3/4 of mine to enjoy the next day. (It was just as good!)

Next up was a soothing bowl of jook topped with scallions and scallion sauce, chili flakes, bubu arare, chili oil and Indonesian sweet soy sauce, all meant to be stirred in. Because the shoyu was more sweet than salty, a pinch more salt and heat would have been nice.

 By the time Donburi Chen—named after fellow chef William Chen who prompted Wong to add it to her menu—arrived, I was sad I had but one stomach. As delicious as this sweet chili glazed pork and egg combo was, I could not finish.

I could not finish the pork belly and certainly couldn’t add carbs to my opu so a course of Okinawan soba with miso smoked pork and caramelized and crispy fried onions also came home with me.

Dessert was cornflake-crusted banana drizzled with lehua honey, that Wong said we should be able to finish in one bite, but no, after the feast that came before, I could only nibble. This is one instance in which I wish I could have started with dessert.
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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage is in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.

On set with Lanai Tabura's 'Cooking Hawaiian Style'

Nadine Kam photos
On set during a taping of "Cooking Hawaiian Style" on Sunday were, from left, Thyra Abraham, chef Lee Anne Wong, "Cooking Hawaiian Style" website founder and producer Frank Abraham, Yolanda Santos-King representing one of the show's sponsors, Island Princess and host Lanai Tabura.

Who knew, when Lanai Tabura burst onto the standup comedy scene, that he would turn out to be such a foodie? From establishing Look Me in the Eye by Lanai wine company to winning The Food Network’s Great Truck Race with his Aloha Plate food truck, to hosting “Cooking Hawaiian Style,” he now brings a taste of Hawaiian cooking to viewers all over the world.

Talk about being a modern renaissance man.

I was invited, along with other social media guests, to sit in on a taping of the show during an episode featuring Koko Head Cafe’s Lee Anne Wong—no slouch in the media universe herself, having initially captured the public’s attention as a contestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” for which she went on to become a producer.

The event took place at the Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery in Kalihi, a nice promo for their kitchens.

It was an eye-opening experience because I didn’t know they had to be so precise in the taping. Because I do a lot of editing and chopping on my quickie, news-style, guerilla videos, I always believed these shows were put together with a lot of takes and editing, but no. Pros that Lanai and Lee Anne are, they’re just told they have 18 seconds for their intro. They overshoot the target by 8 seconds, so they do another take, and fall under. Third time’s the charm, and so on.

Dumpling ingredients ready to go.

Mahi poke omelet with masago aioli. Nom nom. Could not get enough of the crunchy goodness, thanks to a coating that includes masago arare.


There’s also no redo for the mixing of ingredients. In showing how to create her chicken dumplings in lemongrass-chicken broth, excellent fried poke (recipe below) omelet and dessert of macadamia nut pie, each is demonstrated seamlessly in a matter of minutes. There is no second take because there is no second batch of ingredients to mix! They are crazy good at what they do. Crazy good is my new catchphrase BTW. Last year it was WAO!

Of course the best part came after the taping, sampling what Wong had made. She was a bit dismayed when she learned we had eaten the dumplings because, being on television, they weren’t cooked through for final cut. But after sitting in the lemongrass chicken broth, they were indeed cooked. And ono!

The episode will air sometime in April. You can keep up with the show and view past recipes here: http://cookinghawaiianstyle.com

One of many cameras.

 The finished chicken dumplings in lemongrass-chicken broth.

Makamae Kahawai scoops up chicken meatballs made from the leftover dumpling filling after the taping.

The were gracious enough to share the recipe for the mahi fried poke ahead of air date. Note that Wong cooks for the masses so the recipe calls for a lot of fish! Adjust to your needs.

Lee Anne Wong’s fried poke
7 pounds mahi filet, diced

Marinade
1/2 cup shoyu
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup saikyo (white miso)
6 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons Sriracha

Poke dredge
2 cups cornstarch
1/2 cup furikake
1 cup masago arare

Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add fish and toss to coat.
Combine dredge ingredients in a large bowl. Add fish in batches and toss to coat.
Heat frying oil. Drop in fish in small batches and cook until light brown. Remove and serve with dipping sauce of mayo and masago mixed to taste.

Enjoy!