Chinatown

we went to Chinatown in Honolulu a few weeks ago, so it's about time i talked about it. the raw highlight was eating a freshly opened coconut! I'd had coconut water in a can before (the sweetened kind sold in Asian grocery stores sometimes) and it was barely natural and too sugary. a lot of people are now into coconut, unsweetened, in cans or aseptic containers. some with flavors or fruit bits included. It it said to be more re-hydrating that water, a good balance of electrolytes, thus making it good during or after exercise. And in WWII coconut water had been used as alternative blood plasma because it is sterile.


the kind you buy off a shelf must be pasteurized and thus not raw, but i do see it included in raw cook books for people that have the availability of coconuts and the muscle to open them.

we'd been walking around in the hot weather and i'd only had that breadfruit for breakfast. my energy was flagging. we went into one shop and saw a cardboard tray on the floor with some coconut husks and a cleaver. we inquired and found that they could open a coconut for us.

we watched as an aging man hacked of the husk of our green coconut.




when he made a hole in the top we were given straws to drink out the liquid inside. the water was barely sweet, but really was refreshing.


after we'd drunk it all, we handed the coconut back to be split completely in two so we could eat the meat out of it. I'd heard that young coconuts, they kind used in raw restaurants for the water and sold in healthfood stores AND is de-husked to the point where it looks like a huge tan pencil tip.... visual please

these have the most water and their meat is supposedly jelly-like in softness. over time, more of te meat hardens, and the there is less water in the coconut. so the ones you can buy at the store that looks like hairy brown bowling balls are older and had hard flesh inside and almost no water. what we had in chinatown was somewhere in between.

the meat was softer and a thinner layer than in a fully mature nut. it was actually scrape-able with a plastic spoon, as opposed to having to pry/cut it out.it was a little rubbery and looked a lot like boiled egg white. a smooth even texture, not like how older coconut has the all the small fibers in the same direction. if that makes any sense. the husk around the inner shell was very wet and fresh.


it wasn't as sweet as the more mature, harder meat. but i still finished the nut.
it sure was a special treat and really hit the spot.



there were other produce to speak of, a few of which i had never seen before, at the many stores in Chinatown. here are some logan a.k.a. dragon eye fruit.




i've seen these at the kailus market too.



then Tamarind and ..something orange.



and i actually did buy one of these becauze i loved the name. i saw it called "egg fruit" and chicken yolk fruit" one cost about 75cents.



mangosteen, which i dont think i've ever had, and that's not a bad price for avocados. better than supermarket price



what? what? and what?



i thought you couldn't get rambutan's fresh outside of their homeland. Philippines maybe?




a beautiful rainboz of fish.





giagundo avocado. i think these aren't Haas. they are more round with a thicker skin, perhaps Sharwill?



The best price for Apple Bananas, well, other than free.





well, next i'll show you the dissection of an egg fruit.

Freshly Baked Breadfruit

during my third third trip to the farmers market i decided that i should try something new each time i go there (or at least once in a while) so this time i went for Breadfruit, which sounds delicious.

Breadfruit originally came from the Philippines and grows in many tropical locales.
the Hawaiian name for it is Ulu. i think it is related to durian and jackfruit and it has that same spiky rugby ball look.

this is the Hawaiian legend about its origins (taken from wikipedia):
According to an etiological Hawaiian myth, the breadfruit originated from the sacrifice of the war god Kū. After deciding to live secretly among mortals as a farmer, Kū married and had children. He and his family lived happily until a famine seized their island. When he could no longer bear to watch his children suffer, Kū told his wife that he could deliver them from starvation, but to do so he would have to leave them. Reluctantly she agreed, and at her word, Kū descended into the ground right where he had stood until only the top of his head was visible. His family waited around the spot he had last been day and night, watering it with their tears until suddenly a small green shoot appeared where Kū had stood. Quickly, the shoot grew into a tall and leafy tree that was laden with heavy breadfruits that Kū's family and neighbors gratefully ate, joyfully saved from starvation

the breadfruit of Tahiti also played a role in the famous Mutiny on the Bounty.

I know of three or four places that breadfruit grows in my town, including on tree on the street where i live.



this is my breadfruit from the farmers market. i think it cost $2.50

the fuit exudes a white stick sap when it is raw.



exetreme close-up!


the whole thing is made of many parts, i believe they're termed bracts, that have fused together.


the inner wooden-like core must be removed.


I tried it raw and the texture was a bit like creamy avocado but with inner fibers. it tastes a little like banana with a grassy aftertaste, but it is very unique.



know i know this is a raw food blog, but breadfruit is usually cooked. in fact i'm not sure if it is safe to eat a lot of it raw. some things, like taro, should be eaten raw. in the case of taro, it has calcium oxalate crystals inside that are like fiberglass that are neutralized when cooked. with the strange sap of breadfruit, i didn't want to chance it and cooked it. it seemed to ripen the day after i got it, from hard to almost squishy. like plantains it is eaten both unripe and starchy and sweet/ripe. in fact is is cooked in similar ways. it can also be made into chips like potatoes.

I followed the easiest recipe that said to microwave it in a bowl with a little water for 3 minutes or so then add butter to melt on the top. it was very yummy! and it really does have a texture like breaddough. it was less sweet after being cooked and the salt from the butter was a nice addition.


i dropped the raw goo from the other half onto a hot frying pan to amke fritters of sorts. i fried it on both sides like i do to plantains. it tasted a lot like sweet potato fries. :)



to up the savoriness we melted a little cheese on top. shh! ;D


overall i'd recommend that people try this, especially if you are a sweet potato fan. it was very surprising!

learn some more!



check out this helpful page. i didn't know there was a Breadfruit Institute:
http://www.ntbg.org/breadfruit/uses/food1.php


a more technical page with breakdowns of the varieties and the specific nutrient contents:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/breadfruit.html#Food%20Uses

A millon uses! almost

Today my boss and i were discussing more sustainable containment options for acai bowls. they've tried other containers than the unfortunate styrofoam bowls, but they either fell apart, or let the acai melt to quickly. at the other location they have reusable bowls for people who want to eat in the shop. but we are going to start a B.Y.O.B. "Bring your own bowl" policy. people are welcome to bring their own bowls (if they are large enough) and we may even start giving a discount for people to do this.

anyway, during this conversation about containers i mentioned the pressed bamboo husk plates. My boss then proceeded to tell me about all they ways they use bamboo in Taiwan. (he moved to Hawaii 15 years ago, but is from Taiwan) they have many different varieties of bamboo there and of course eat bamboo shoots. but i also told me about an neat cooking method using bamboo. the giant type (is it Moso? that['s the biggest bamboo i've heard of.) they isolate a segment of the bamboo, with is still closed on both ends. they carve a lid into the side of the tube ( i imagine this is like opening a jack o' lantern :D ) and they rice and water are put inside and the bamboo is resealed and put on a fire.. the rice cooks inside and it imbued with the scent and flavor of the bamboo! id never heard of this before but it is interesting! i guess after you eat you can just put the bamboo back in the fire and burn it.

before there was fastfood style disposable chopsticks, families had to bring their chopsticks from home and back when they ate out. so inside they would cut some of the copious young bamboo and split it into sticks to eat with. They are clean and bamboo had no poisons or anything so they are safe. surprisingly, he told me they used bamboo in the bedding to keep cool in hot weather. i'm not entirely sure how it works, but the bamboo is used as a mat on top of the bed? so it is a little hard, but cooling. i dont know if it is the leaves of small grass or hard canes. same with pillows, stuffed with some part of the bamboo that stays nice and cool. other wise the canes are also made into light, sturdy chairs.


on the flip side of cultural education, my boss was surprised to hear that my mom would give use raw carrots alongside dinner. " you like carrots? do you eat them cooked or steamed? raw?!"