Shirokiya, Saimin and LikeLike (Food extravaganza)

July 12, 2012

Aloha auinapo (Good evening after midnight) again :) I don't know how to say "I'm a big fat cow and have eaten myself into a stupor" in Hawaiian. I'll try not to fall asleep as I type this so bear with me.

I woke early and got to work at 7. I immediately went to work on recoding the DVFR database with some new categories to overcome some data collection issues. Some of the finer points we needed to know, namely the "why" factors, were in the case files but not in the database variables. I spent the majority of the day figuring out where to find the data in the case files, coding it, and then adding and rearranging the database to allow us to not lose this invaluable data. For morning snacks Ann brought minini (small) apple bananas to share. They are each about 1-2 bites. I had two (3 bites). Also, Susan brought a pastry she got from Diamond Head Grill. It is a flaky pastry crust with a filling made from lima beans. It doesn't TASTE like limas though, it tastes like a sweet confection and a bit lemony. It was delicious and smooth filling, on a flaky and not oily homemade crust. I was very impressed!

Lunch was a can of wild caught albacore tuna, a small nectarine, and a guava yogurt. The guava yogurt is from Marukai and is fabulous. I also had a bit of red dragon cheese which is welsh cheddar cheese with welsh ale and wholegrain mustard seeds. It is freaking fabulous. It is a strong cow's milk cheese but at room temperature it is easy to spread on crackers and it has a wonderful soft but not runny texture. It tastes delicious and I love the texture with the mustard seeds. I had this spread on a few pita chips. Shu shared some garden veggie straws and chips. I ate most of the individual size bag of straws and she ate the chips but we all shared and tried both. I liked the straws best due to the ranch flavor. Lisa shared some Mochi Pop. It is caramel popcorn with spicy rice crackers mixed in. I really liked the popcorn and ignored the spicy arrare after I tried it.

After lunch I went back tot he DVFR database and finished setting that up and rearranging. I worked till 5 then called it a day. I managed to review, recode and enter 4 cases the last 2 hours. It will get faster as I memorize the variables and options for each. It was a good productive day but exhausting for the brain.

Lisa had a rough day so we decided to go to Shirokaya and pick up a few items. All I can say is WOW! Love that place. Upstairs it is like a massive food court and grocery combined with all Asian foods. Downstairs is housewares, small gifts, fabric for kimonos, art and some lovely historic kimonos on display. There is a bakery, a few sweet shops, and packaged sweets and snacks. I got pink grapefruit mentos and mixed berry mentos. I also got a few other small items for gifts (not food).
Shirokiya - the store made of awesome.

 Gourmet popcorn - we tried a bunch but didn't buy any. I loved the title "Death by Habanero". Hehe.

 A kimono in beautiful white and silver.

 A historical kimono on display.

 Coffee jello - I kid you not. And not just the fact that it exists but is prepared 2 ways: with cream (top photo) and without (bottom photo).

 These really neat fish shaped pastries. They were cleaning this up at the end of the day and scrubbing out the fish shaped baking molds. The fish pastries are filled with chocolate, custard cream and many other options (see some examples in bottom photo).

 Some really fabulous artwork.

 Catfish Lily - By far my favorite. This was AMAZINGLY gorgeous. So creative and just really neat.

Papa George was hungry so her got 3 tofu patties and 3 andagi that were yummy. The tofu had onions and herbs mixed in and it was very good. The andagi are Okinawan fried donut like cake balls that are not overly sweet. They were good also. We sat in a nice little eating area. I loved the purple fake flowers twined all over the overhead trellis.

After this we ran to Marukai to pick up some Green Tea Kit Kats and Raspberry Kit Kats. I grabbed a neat cat bowl that is ceramic so I have to figure out how to get home in one piece. I got 3 more monkey shakers. I also got the one-drop deodorizer they use here for the toilet bowl. They are pretty neat and effective. I haven't seen them at home. They are in every restroom at work. Silly I know but I like to send a variety of items that we don't have at home. Lisa's birthday was yesterday and Marukai gives a small gift to members the week of their birthday. She got a wooden bowl and a small windchime as her gift. :)

After that we all went and met up with Wayne at The Old Saimin House. This is a small family owned place with 5 or 6 tables and REALLY good food.
Here is Papa George and me in front of the restaurant.

I got the large Wun Tun Min for $6.25 and could have gotten the small and still been full. WunTun Min is these super yummy wontons in a bonito based lightly flavored broth with saimin. there are scallions and char siu pork small thin strips as garnish. The saimin is like ramen but much better! From Wikipedia, "Saimin is a noodle soup dish unique to Hawaii. Inspired by Japanese udon, Chinese mein, and Filipino pancit, saimin was developed during Hawaii's plantation era. It is a soup dish of soft wheat egg noodles served in hot dashi garnished with green onions. Kamaboko, char siu, sliced Spam, linguiça, and nori may be added, among other additions."

We got 8 BBQ sticks. These are skewers of beef that are grilled and served with a light teriyaki sauce. here BBQ meat refers to meat with teriyaki, it is also often called teri beef or teri chicken. When someone here says BBQ meat don't think of mainland definitions like Texas, Carolinas or Memphic BBQ. This meat was in small bit size pieces - 4 on a skewer. I was SO TENDER and utterly delicious. I've had steak at great restaurants like Malones, Chop house and other places that were no where near this good. It was astounding.

As if that wasn't more than enough food we then went to LikeLike Drive-In and had lemon chiffon pie. I think I died and went to heaven. The whipped cream on top was a much better choice than a heavier and sweeter meringue. The crust flaky and not oily. The lemon chiffon was so light and was piled high in the pie crust. The lemon was deliciously tart and the pie wasn't overly sweet but just right. Heaven on a fork. It is pronounced Lee-kay lee-kay by the way. :)

Lisa and Papa George brought me home while it rained lightly. I didn't get home till after 11pm. late night for me! I decided to do the blog before bed so I didn't forget anything and to hope my food digests a bit. I am full and happy. I am so fortunate to have the inside scoop from locals on the good non-touristy places to eat. I'd never have found a fraction of these places on my own.

And now it is time to go to bed. 6 comes awfully early when you have seen this side of the midnight hour.

Malama pono,
~Melissa