aspir(al)ing

The Cookie Baking Post.

Posted by terri | Filed under tabemono, tetsukuri

It is almost December 25th, and I’m afraid to say that I haven’t done the things that I had hoped to do for the holidays. Hunny and I took pictures for our Christmas Card but never got to put a card together. I’ve also gotten very little shopping down, which will probably result in me getting some last minutes gift cards…and online.

I did manage to get some baking done, though the only thing Christmasy about it was that it was for a Christmas Party for my day job. I think that it is quite an achievement since I hadn’t baked anything for a couple of years. Our house had gotten a new oven about 4 years ago, but I never got to use it for baking until Saturday night when I decided to make Rice Krispie Chocolate Chip Cookies. It took about 3 hours to get about 7 batches of cookies baked and ready. Though I had made them before, I was worried that they would turn out disastrous. I was afraid to even taste them, but thankfully Hunny gave me the thumbs up from the first bite. As with anything else I do, I took pictures!

Mixing it all up!

Fresh out of the oven!

Peanut Butter Chips for the last batch!

Thankfully, they were a hit rather than a miss at the Christmas picnic the following day. It has not inspired me to bake more or to try to make new desserts but it has encouraged me for this coming Christmas Day when I have to make Christmas turkey at my house along with some if not most of the fixings.

Happy Holidays!

Ramen Wars.

Posted by terri | Filed under tabemono

With all the indulgence of this Thanksgiving not too far from our memory, it seems inappropriate to make a post about ramen, of all things. Let’s just say that this is what happens when you don’t blog right away when you mean to. So here goes…

I have a rather unique thing with ramen compared to any other dish out there. When I lived in Japan, going to an authentic ramen shop was always a treat because of the pride that I knew the restaurant put in their dishes. Coming back to Hawaii, I held very low expectations for ramen as it seemed that all the restaurants get their noodles from the same supplier (that being Sun Noodle) and they ended up tasting the same and very less than ordinary. Ramen has to be really good for me to like it; I wouldn’t settle for subpar ramen as I do for other things. I think just to please others or to be part of the group, I would “endure” a bowl of ramen from places like Ezogiku or Daiichi.

These past several weeks, I had the opportunity to go to not just one but two ramen establishments on the island that have a reputation for being authentic. That being said, I went in with the expectation that some extraordinary ramen was out there to be had. The first one I tried out was ごまいち (Gomaichi) on Keeaumoku Street across from Wal-Mart upon the recommendation of many of my co-workers. I felt that my co-workers could appreciate a really good bowl of ramen, and so I decided to give it a shot with my friend Kent. I ordered the Char Siu Tan Tan Men which is apparently one of their best selling items. I have to say that it was quite magnificent. There was a kick to that broth and richness unlike anything I had before. The noodles were also quite different and well prepared. And where usually I find ramen overfilling with its mediocre soup, I managed to down almost every drop of what was in my bowl. Definitely good stuff. I can see that a lot of other people think so too. When they opened up for dinner, the small place quickly filled up; it even appeared that many Japanese speaking residents (or dare I say tourists?) frequent the place. Hey, so it’s got to be REALLY good.

And then a couple of days ago, I went to another ramen restaurant upon the suggestion of my sister. My sister, who had never been to or even heard of ごまいち, had said that Yotteko-ya in the McCully Shopping Center had the best ramen. I ordered their signature dish, the Paitan Chashu Ramen. The noodles were fairly good, but the soup just seemed bland to me despite it looking good with its unique looking texture. Perhaps with my expectations were set a bit too high, I ended up leaving the place a bit disappointed.

So the winner for me was obviously ごまいち (Gomaichi), and upon telling my sister this, she is anxious to try it out. To any readers (or lurkers) I may have that reside on our lovely island, I definitely recommend that you check it out at least once to try their Tan Tan Men. Gomaichi is located on 631 Keeaumoku Street on the other side of Makaloa Street from the old Tower Records store (or new Walgreens, if you actually visit that place.) I think they have parking on Makaloa Street, but otherwise, you can go during a trip to Ala Moana and just walk through Nordstrom’s to get to the Kapiolani Boulevard exit where the restaurant is only a block away. It is a cash-only establishment, and prices start at about $9 up. For some variety, I would definitely recommend ordering vegetables in addition to ordering the ramen because you otherwise just get meat and noodles in soup.

Not sure when is the next chance I’ll get to go to Gomaichi to eat, especially with all this ingestion of turkey and other bad food with lots of leftovers to be had. I had a wonderful Thanksgiving and am actually looking forward to the holidays. I hope there will be more entries in the coming weeks, and that the mention of food will be to a minimum.

All pho feeling better…

Posted by terri | Filed under health, tabemono

Just when I write about needing to find a doctor, I find myself getting sick with a scratchy throat. And a scratchy throat can only mean one thing: heading all the way across Ala Moana during lunch for pho. For others, pho is the food of choice for a hangover, but seeing as I don’t drink (um, anymore), it has become the food for relieving symptoms of a cold. Whenever I’m sick, I always find some comfort in some pho. That yummy broth and its rice noodles of that perfect texture taste so good when I’m feeling icky.

Chicken Pho from Bale in Ala Moana

I’m probably going to take this opportunity to find more establishments that serve pho while I’m under the weather as I don’t care to eat it when I’m feeling well. I’ve been to Pho Viet in Aiea and several Bale locations on the island. I have never found a bowl of pho that I didn’t like, but I know some are better than others. Next stop tomorrow on my day off will probably be Pho Five-O in Waimalu. I hope it’s good, and I hope that I can get rid of this bug.

Redeemed!

Posted by terri | Filed under family, tabemono

How long does it take to forgive a bad experience? Well, when it comes to a restaurant, a bad experience can pretty much spoil one’s desire to ever go there again. Gyotaku in Waimalu was one restaurant that I actually had frequented many times as it is just several blocks away from my house, but it was the last time I went there in March 2002 that had me thinking that I would never go there again. And unfortunately for Gyotaku, it was during the time of my blogging prime that I wrote a scathing entry about it so that I wouldn’t forget it: Read the rest of this entry…

Aloha!

Hello from the island of O'ahu in the beautiful state of Hawaii. I am terri, a local girl who at 30 is trying to make sure that life doesn't entirely pass her by. I've recently become engaged and am enjoying living a great life in paradise.