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Cooking in Hawaii: Ahi Sashimi with Shiso, Chili Pepper, and Shoyu

August 22nd, 2009 | Author: Dot

Shiso, Ahi, and Manoa Lettuce

NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County.

DoT’s Thot: Like fish and poi, laulau and lomi salmon, sashimi and shoyu are staple items that many islanders love. Here is one of my mother’s favorite dishes, ahi sashimi.

Plate of Ahi Sashimi with Shredded Manoa Lettuce and Shiso, Garnished with Shiso or Red Perilla Leaves

Mom Loves Ahi Sashimi with Chili Pepper and Shoyu (Soy Sauce)

At 92, Mom eats whatever is not too hard or crunchy (dentures don’t always allow for all foods). One of her favorite foods is raw fish and ahi sashimi is one that she loves. One day we were eating lunch alone together, so I stiopped at the market and got some ahi and took it home along with some Manoa lettuce. In the garden, Mom has some red perilla or shiso growing.

In addition, there are always some red chili peppers in the yard. Instead of the green wasabi that most people are familiar with at restaurants and sushi bars, one of our favorite ways of eating sashimi is with soy sauce and bird’s eye or tiny red chili peppers.

Chili Peppers and Shoyu for the Ahi Sashimi, Noe the Small Red Chili Next to the Bowl

Preparing the Ahi Sashimi with Chili Peppers and Shoyu

Once you are able to buy a nice block of ahi for sashimi, preparing this dish is simplicity itself. Shred some manoa lettuce or other tender lettuce leaves and scatter on a plate. Shred some shiso or red perilla leaves and sprinkle those on top of the manoa lettuce. Reserve some shiso or red perilla leaves for garnishing the dish. Slice the ahi sashimi and place them on the shredded Manoa lettuce and shiso. Garnish with the reserved shiso leaves.

For the chili peppers and shoyu, use light soy sauce and some small hot chile peppers. If the little island chilis are not available, you may use other varieties that appeal to you, such as Thai hot chili peppers or jalepenos. Break or chop the chili peppers into the soy sauce or shoyu and just be careful with the seeds. Some will want to eat the seeds for the extra zip; some will want to avoid them. Our family happens to like the flavor of chili peppers and shoyu better than that of wasabi and soy sauce.

We enjoyed this so very much.

Aloha, DoT

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Grow Tomatoes Review: Neves Azorean Red Tomato

August 19th, 2009 | Author: Dot

NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County

DYT Neves Azorean Red Tomato July 24, 2009

DoT’s Thot:

Neves Azorean Red Tomato Characteristics

Neves Azorean Red Tomato is an indeterminate tomato plant (I) which is reputed to yield 1 to 3 pound fruit. The tomatoes are a deep red and very beautiful. In my southern California garden, these tomatoes proved to be a late season heirloom beefsteak tomato. The seedling for this tomato went into the ground in late March and I harvested my first four Azorean Red tomatoes on July 16, 2009.

Neves Azorean Red Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Review

This heirloom beefsteak tomato slices up into a beautiful presentation and had a full, rich flavor. The deep red color is very attractive. My tomatoes did not achieve the large size that this tomato is reputed to have, but yielded a nice collection of tomatoes. There were more tomatoes ripening on the vine and still growing in size, but I had to leave my tomato crop late in July to come to Hawaii to help my mother through some medical issues. I wish to plant Neves Azorean Red Tomato again, since late season tomatoes give me an extended season with the tomatoes that I love so much.

Bottom Line: Neves Azorean Red Tomato

This tomato is on my plant again list, as I wish to have some nice red tomatoes toward the end of the season and an heirloom beefsteak tomato like this would be very welcome in my kitchen. My recommendation to self is to prune, watch the fertilization and try for larger fruit next year.

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Aloha, DoT

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Grow Tomatoes Review: Aussie Heirloom Tomato

August 17th, 2009 | Author: Dot

A Pair of Aussie Heirloom Beefsteak Tomatoes July 24, 2009. SoCal

NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County

DoT’s Thot: “Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!” I heard this from an Aussie at a Cub Scout Camp when my boys were young. I thought the young fellow was saying “Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie” as in Ozzie and Harriet. Only some months later I suddenly realized that it was “Aussie”, like in this Aussie Heirloom tomato.

Aussie Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Characteristics

Aussie is an Australian Heirloom Beefsteak tomato, a regular leaf, indeterminate tomato plant (I), which was a late fruiting tomato for me — having planted the seedlings into the ground in the third week of March, I harvested the first two tomatoe on July 24, 2009.

The Aussie heirloom tomato is reputed to be resistant to both early and late blight. In our garden patch, this tomato appeared very healthy and yielded nice, clean-looking tomatoes.

Aussie Heirloom Tomato Slices on a Dinner Plate

Aussie Heirloom Tomato Review

Aussie is an Australian Beefsteak tomato bursting with great flavor; an excellent blend of acids and sugars. When we ate the tomatoes, we discovered that the is a very attractive consistent red, smooth skinned, and meaty. Having a nice tomato flavor, the Aussie heirloom tomato is a very satisfying tomato with a taste that lingers pleasantly on the palate.

A sweet tomato, it has just enough of an acidic touch to make me want to eat the whole thing all by myself. The plants produce well and some recommend it as a show competition tomato.

Grow Tomatoes Review Bottom Line for Aussie Heirloom Tomato

The bottom line on the Aussie heirloom beefsteak tomato is — there will be a spot for the tomato in my garden row as one of my late producers to extend my tomato season next year, provided I can find the seedling at the tomato sale.

Aloha, DoT

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Grow Tomatoes Review: Pineapple Tomato

August 12th, 2009 | Author: Dot

NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County

Pineapple Heirloom Beefsteak Tomatoes, July 16, 2009

DoT’s Thot: “Pizza with pineapple, that’s a cake…Pizza with cucumber, it’s an insult. — (Alessio Vinci ).

Pineapple Tomato — that’s a winner.– (DoT)

Pineapple Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Characteristics

The Pineapple tomato was listed as an heirloom beefsteak tomato with maturity date of 85 days. It is an indeterminate (I) heirloom tomato plant.

The pineapple tomato is bicolored, red and yellow and reputed to weigh up to 2 pounds. The flavor is rich, sweet, and fruity.

Pineapple Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Review

Slices of Pineapple Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato 20 July 2009

Our Pineapple Tomato plant yielded it’s first tomato on July 16, 2009, having been put into the ground as a seedling in mid-March. It was definitely one of our late tomatoes which makes this beefsteak tomato appealing from the point of view of extending the heirloom tomato season as much as possible, since we enjoy these fruits so very much.

Our garden’s Pineapple heirloom beefsteak tomato plant did not yield the very large tomatoes I would have liked. The tomatoes were more in the range of 1/2 to 3/4 pounds.

They are beautiful tomatoes that show little cracking (a real plus here with our periodic heat waves). Though the tomatoes were smaller, there was an abundance of tomatoes and the harvest has been good. I think I need to learn to prune my tomato plants — this is definitely the resolution for what to do differently next season.

Distinctive Red Edging on Pineapple Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Slices

The pineapple tomato itself is bursting with juicy flavor, very meaty, and a beautiful golden yellow orange with red mottling in the flesh. This is a very sweet tomato. If you look closely at the Pineapple Tomato slices, you can see the unusual and distinctive red edge that the skin provides against the mottled flesh. It is quite unique and beautiful.

Pineapple Heirloom Beefsteak Tomato Harvest on 17 July 2009

Grow Tomatoes Review Bottom Line for the Pineapple Tomato:

This heirloom tomato goes on the list for next year. A late season beefsteak tomato, it is plentiful and beautiful, tasty and yields tomatoes not prone to cracking which is a real plus in our Southern California garden.

Aloha, DoT

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Update to Curry Leaf Plant Review: Tiny White Flowers

August 11th, 2009 | Author: Dot

NOTE: DoT has been posting from Honolulu since late July when she left California to help her mother through some medical procedures. She will be doing so until she can return to Orange County

Curry Leaf Plant Flowers August 2009, SoCal

DoT’s Thot: ” The flower’s are gone when the Fruits appear to ripen.” — Alexander Pope

Curry Leaf Plant Produces Flowers

Back on July 17, I wrote up a description of the curry leaf plant and mentioned that it produces tiny white flowers. At that time, I only had a picture of the plant with leaves. Here in August, I can share with you a picture of the tiny white flowers that the plant produces. Later, we will try to capture pictures of the seeds. Although the flowers are modest, they do add a nice touch to the plant whose leaves alone do make this a potentially decorative patio plant.

As a reminder, these are the fresh leaves are an ingredient in many Indian dishes and is quite different from the western bay leaves.

Aloha, DoT

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