Donabe Zoni
Donabe are Japanese clay pots used for cooking. Donabe translated in Japanese means earthenware pot and are built to be durable and can last for years. Some rare Donabe have even survived for centuries and are prized family heirlooms. The older Donabe in general are supposed to be better for cooking than the newer ones.
Vegetable Soup
Here is a quick and easy vegetable soup you can make that is not out of a can. At least with this version you know exactly what is inside. With the mass produced stuff in the can you just never know.
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Hawaii Oxtail Soup
Hawaii’s version of Oxtail Soup most likely had its roots from the first Chinese immigrant workers that came over in the mid to late 1800s. Several of the ingredients in the traditional Chinese version such as gow pee (dried Chinese tangerine peel), Szechuan peppercorns, and Chinese dates are difficult to find and over time were simply left out or just not used. Most Hawaii restaurants and diners make a recipe similar to the one listed below give or take a few ingredients.
Star anise however is one of the Chinese ingredients that you will need for this recipe and you should go to the trouble to find it. You must be asking why fuss over the star-shaped fruit wall of the Illicium vercum, a small native evergreen tree of southwest China? Can’t this recipe be done without it? The answer is: you probably can but it just won’t be the same. Besides being one of the main ingredients in Chinese five-spice powder, star anise is also used to make the flu drug Tamiflu. Star anise contains high amounts of a substance called shikimic acid and without it the people at Roche could not make the miracle drug which saved millions of people over the last few years.
So now you know a little about this Hawaii comfort food and why it is no accident that so many people here love to eat it and simply can’t do without it.
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Rich Oxtail Soup: Mainland Style
In Hawaii Oxtail Soup is made much differently due to the strong Asian influence. Because this recipe is from the mainland it will taste a lot different from what you are used to but is still very good in its own way.
The recipe calls for two ingredients not commonly used in Hawaii: parsnips and marjoram. Parsnips are root vegetables similar to carrots except that they are paler and stronger flavor. Marjoram is a perennial herb or undershrub with sweet pine and citrus flavours and can usually be found in the spice section of your local supermarket.
Chinese Vegetable-Shrimp Soup
The recipe calls for ½ cup of shrimp but why stop there? Go for it and use one full cup instead and also throw in some Chinese Snow Peas and Abalone for kicks. Eat this soup with a good size bowl of rice and you got yourself a healthy low fat meal.
Cheese Soup
This recipe is a really quick and easy and if you want to do this one in hyperdrive try the microwave version. We however prefer to take our time and cook our Cheese Soup over the stove. If you really want to get fancy with this one make the Beer Cheese Soup version and substitute cream for milk and cheddar cheese for American cheese.
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Pumpkin Soup: aka Kabocha Soup
This recipe is best made with Kabocha or Japanese Pumpkin. Kabocha is actually a Japanese variety of winter squash. It has a bumpy greenish white skin and grows to an average of 2-3 pounds. Kabocha tastes more like a sweet potato than it does a pumpkin and that is why we prefer to use it rather than your average pumpkin. You should easily be able to find Kabocha in Chinatown or your local Asian Food Store.
Ono & Easy Corn Chowder
In Hawaii, Ono means both delicious and Wahoo. For those of you, who don’t know what a Wahoo is; just remember that it is a deepsea gamefish with sharp teeth. This recipe is about a delicious and easy to make corn chowder not a fish soup with corn. Besides who puts fish in their corn chowder?
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Pork Chiri
Chiri means soup in Japanese so Pork Chiri is essentially Japanese pork soup. This hearty soup is especially great on cold days. You can also substitute in Beef, Chicken, or Fish. All the ingredients can be found in the Asian section of your local supermarket or at our store.
Finnish Beef Soup
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Traditional Finnish cuisine is a blend of European and Russian flavors. The food was fresh and healthy and typically made with fish, meat (reindeer), berries and ground vegetables. Being situated so far north, spices were not readily available thus the food was more on the simpler side. Too bad the Finn’s did not have Lipton Vegetable Soup Mix otherwise they could have easily made this recipe with some reindeer meat.
