Happy Hearts Mochi + Roy's Restaurant | Honolulu, Hawaii

This past Friday was wifey's birthday and I wanted to do something really nice for her. I started by ordering a sampler from Happy Hearts Mochi. Then it was off to an early dinner at Roy's in Hawaii Kai.

Happy Hearts
748 Hoawa Street
Honolulu, HI 96826
(808) 382-5714
Website

Roy's
6600 Kalanianaole Highway
Honolulu, HI 96825
(808) 396-7697
Website

I'm pretty sure this is the best mochi you will find anywhere on this island. It's made fresh and with lots of TLC. Renee (@surfchik4jesus), the owner, was nice enough to wrap it up with a "Happy Birthday" sticker and delivered the package right to my door! You just can't beat that kind of service. I ordered a Sampler with 1 peanut butter, 2 pumpkin and 1 hazelnut chocolate. The pumpkin is a seasonal flavor available around the holidays.


I made dinner reservations at Roy's based on a recommendation from Lesli Ashburn (@macrohawaii).


Even before you order, they bring you a nice little dish of edamame. It was tossed in a sauce that had just the right amount of sweet and spicy.


Wifey ordered herself a Key Lime Pie Martini to drink.


A couple of friends of mine happened to be working that evening so they hooked us up with this complimentary appetizer. There was pork in it so guess who got to eat both ;)


Lesli specifically mentioned a vegetarian sushi that the Roy's in Waikiki had prepared for her, so we had to ask about it. It was packed with bok choy, asparagus, and other veggies and topped with a garlic aioli.


We also shared the Tomato salad. Heirloom tomatoes atop a bed of watercress, onion and goat cheese.


We asked our server for vegetarian entrée options and she said they could do tofu in place of the poached fish. It was topped with a cilantro pesto and drizzled with hot oil. I took a bite and actually preferred this to the fried tofu she had at Alan Wong's.


I ordered their Surf N Turf special and it was just massive. Two "bomboucha" beef ribs, four shrimp skewers, a piece of grilled salmon (hiding in the back), rice, and kim chee. I enjoyed the different flavors of the dish and despite it's size, didn't feel overly full afterwards.


For dessert, we ordered the Caramel Crème Brûlée. The custard tasted very much like dulce de leche.


They also brought out a special birthday cake on a personalized plate, which I thought was a nice touch. This dessert is called their Chocolate Decadence Cake. It was more like a block of rich fudge than a "cake," but it did live up to its name - it was both chocolaty and decadent.

Thanksgiving Dinner

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was responsible for cooking Thanksgiving dinner for our family. I pretty much stuck with the planned menu - a traditional theme, with local flavor.

The turkey was done kalua style in the oven. Click here for a copy of the recipe.


To make the cranberry relish, I used fresh cranberries, sugar, crushed pineapple, a mixture of pecan and macadamia that I candied myself, and li hing powder. It's garnished with a couple of orange slices.


The yams were baked in sugar and covered with marshmallow. I dusted the top of the whole thing with cinnamon and li hing powder.


Here's a picture of my kim chee cornbread stuffing. It's made of onion, carrot, celery, fresh thyme and sage, butter, beer, kim chee, Zippy's cornbread, vegetable stock, and salt. Garnish is just a few sage leaves.


Instead of mashed potatoes, I went with garlic infused mashed Okinawan Sweet Potato. This is one of the simpler dishes, made with just potato, salt, butter, cream, and garlic.


Here's the picture of the full spread. You'll see some green beans in there. Those were marinated in a garlic-ponzu sauce and pan fried. They aren't much to look at, which is why I skipped the picture.


Here's the far end of the table. I shredded the turkey and served the white and dark meats separately. The gravy was also homemade: turkey gizzards, onion, carrot, celery, crystallized ginger, beer, shoyu, thyme, water, and cornstarch.


For dessert, I made a pumpkin haupia crunch. It's actually a combination of two recipes: pumpkin crunch from a coworker and haupia topping from @konaish.

4 Kings | Honolulu, Hawaii

Our babysitter (aka my mom) has been sick, so last week's "date night" was a family outing to 4 Kings restaurant on Waialae Ave. Those of you familiar with the Kaimuki area would probably remember the space as being previously occupied by Green Papaya. It feels very homey, with a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Overall, we enjoyed the food at this family-friendly establishment.

4 Kings
3579 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-8820

In addition to Green Papaya's location, 4 Kings has also retained some of their menu items. You'll find lots of vegetarian-friendly options here, which is a big plus for wifey.


There aren't very many places to sit, but we went early enough that we sat down right away. It began to fill up by the time we left, though.


Our son wasn't very hungry so they made him a special rice-only temaki.


I ordered the "spicy Thai noodle soup," which I'm presuming is their version of Tom Yum. The soup was very flavorful without being overly spicy.


Wifey got vegetable tempura and the veggie roll. Yes, I realize now that I should have turned the veggie roll around before taking the picture.

Kalua Turkey Recipe

KALUA TURKEY

I used this recipe (given to me by my uncle) last year. It's very easy and the turkey tastes amazing - almost as if it came out of an imu. If I were doing a more traditional dinner, I'd brine the turkey for 24 hours and cook it upside down. If anyone's interested, I can post that recipe as well.

Prep the pan:
1. Line an aluminum pan with lots of foil, going from top to bottom and side to side. Make sure you have about two to three feet of foil hanging over the pan on all four sides, which will be used to make a seal.
2. Line banana leaves, if you can get them, in the bottom of the pan. Save some for the top of the turkey.
3. Then line the pan with ti leaves. Save some for the top of the turkey.

Prep the turkey:
1. Rinse the bird inside and out.
2. Take out the neck and the bag of gizzards.
3. Rub Hawaiian rock salt and liquid smoke all over, inside and out. I use Alea Hawaiian rock salt (the red one) and Mesquite smoke flavor.
4. Place the turkey in the pan.
5. Place the remaining ti leaves over the turkey, then the banana leaves.
6. From the sides, wrap and seal the turkey with the aluminum foil. Then do the same with the top/bottom foil. Wrap the foil as airtight as possible.

Bake at 300 degrees for eight (8) hours.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

I've been cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family for the past several years. I usually cook the usual turkey, stuffing, yams, etc. Don't get me wrong, traditional is not bad, but it is sure is boring. Being that wifey is back in school, she's also invited some friends over to share the meal with us. Since none of them are from here, I've decided to add some local flair to the usual fare. Here's what's on the menu so far:
• Kalua Turkey with Giblet Gravy (considering a gravy that's either miso-based or has a light ponzu flavor)
• Candied Ginger Cranberry Relish
• Kim Chee Cornbread Stuffing
• Roasted Garlic Infused Mashed Okinawan Sweet Potato
• Li Hing Pineapple and Yams
For those of you who are interested, I will post recipes as I come up with them.

So what about you? What are your Thanksgiving plans like?