Locavore Day 5 - How to Butterfly Fish
The biggest surprise along my locavore journey has been the way it has changed my relationships. I find myself talking with the produce guy at Times Market about the origin of banana varieties and which specific farms grow tomatoes. The lady at the stand on the corner of 10th and Waialae explains how her vegetables are delivered from her sister-in-law's farm in Kahuku, "They're fresher!" The poke guy at Tamura's "gets it" right away and describes where each fish is sourced. Apparently the best tako is Japanese and the best mussels are from New Zealand, but the best ahi and pipikaula continue to be Hawaiian.
At first when I started asking, "Is this local?" I was apologetic, embarrassed to bother people. Silly me! Not one vendor has been annoyed by my friendly quizzing. They welcome the conversation and the chance to highlight their local food. Now when I run into the butcher at the bank, he flashes a subtle shaka as we continue on our respective errands.
Not all the conversations have been happy ones. One cook was worried about the difficulty of obtaining local produce due to a recent Young Brothers rate increase that hits food particularly hard. (Young Brothers handle nearly all inter-island shipping, and their rates jumped 15% for less-than-container loads.) As a direct result of the rate increase, several Maui farms are stopping shipments to Oahu. In the words of this cook, "Ninety percent of the people live on Oahu but ninety percent of the agriculture is on outer islands. When they stop shipping food, we have a problem." I don't pretend to have answers, but know that just talking about the issues raises awareness and the hope that something can be done to encourage local agriculture to flourish.
Breakfast was good today. We cooked up french toast using Honey Oat Bran bread (Love's, Honolulu) coated with island eggs ($4.88/18, Oahu), Meadow Gold milk ($5.69 1/2 gal!, Honolulu) and the zest from local tangerines. Love's doesn't use local flour for their bread, but at least they bake here in town. After that big breakfast, we weren't terribly hungry for lunch. Mid-afternoon we ate rainbow papayas ($0.99/lb, Kahuku) with the juice dribbling down our chins.
Saturday is good for running around town. We finally made it over to Tamashiro's to pick up fresh moi ($6.96/lb., Ewa), island pork chops ($3.95/lb., Hawaii) and hooked ʻopelu ($5.95/lb., Oahu). ʻOpelu are essentially identical to akule, leading us to pull out a recipe for pan-fried akule again. There are few things as tasty as fresh, fresh fish simply prepared. We served it with rice (non-local) and pak choy (Oahu) stir-fried with ginger (Kahuku), garlic ($1, Kahuku) and Aloha Shoyu (Honolulu).
I remember the first time I worked with akule the part that gave me the most trouble was knowing how to butterfly the fish. Butterflying cuts fish open along their belly then opens them up like a book, or if you prefer, a butterfly's wings. This technique is well-suited for pan-frying, grilling or drying--essentially any time when you have smaller fish that you want to cook evenly without filleting.
Track progress through the other six days of locavore week.
Kudos for attempting your locavore challenge! As noted in your blog, it's definitely a difficult task here in HI.
Question about the Meadow Gold milk; technically the milk isn't local, is it? My understanding was that mainland milk gets shipped to HI for a couple days and then gets ULTRApastuerized here. I think we're the only state that allows that process for milk.
I had to stop drinking milk since I moved here because I was finding that my milk was getting sour way before the printed date. After some investigation, I found out that the milk here on the island is not exactly the freshest thing in the dairy aisle.
It's a hard toss up: drink organic milk (that gets sent overseas chilled) or unchilled milk that gets pasteurized when it arrives on the island? Either way, the milk takes a long journey before it arrives in HI.
Good luck with your challenge and I look forward to reading about the rest of your meals!
p.s. Quick question: where do you find local meat (chicken, pork, beef)? I've been shopping at KCC for Maui beef and I recently got a gamey chicken at the Blue Lotus farm stand... but I was wondering if there were other options. Mahalo!
Aleka, as I understand it Meadow Gold is the last dairy remaining in Hawaii after Foremost closed operations a year or two ago. Their website seems to confirm the availability of local milk, saying, "Meadow Gold and Viva's Island Fresh milks come from Island Dairy on the Big Island and Mountain View Dairy on O'ahu." I had heard the same thing about most milk from the mainland being re-pasteurized after traveling unchilled from California.
I find my local meat at a vareity of places. KCC is best for beef because the North Shore Cattle Co has their booth every week. You have to go early though because they can sell out. I forget where I found the chicken, but it was either Times or Safeway. Look for the 50 State brand. I found my pork at Tamashiro's Market on King Street. There are probably more options for all of the above and I just haven't been attentive to them. Now that I'm trying to eat local I'm noticing many more Hawaii options than ever before.
Thank you for your encouragement.