Locavore Day 1 - Green Curry Chicken
Today marks the first morning of my locavore week and I'm off to a solid start: coffee is one crop Hawaii has in abundance. The day began lazily with a cup of Kauai Peaberry ($13.98/lb), on par with legendary Kona coffee but at half the price. For breakfast we dined on eggs ($4.88 for 18, from Oahu) scrambled with parsley ($1/bunch, Kahuku) and seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt. We cheated a little to use up homemade bread baked a few days ago--better than let it go bad--and rounded out the meal with a couple tangerines ($1.11/lb, from somewhere in Hawaii).
Later in the day, we cracked a couple cold ones during the tragic Sugar Bowl game. My first thought was to pick up beer from Kona Brewing. Seems reasonable, right? Turns out that they brew in Kona, but then ship the beer to Oregon for bottling before turning around and shipping most of it right back. The carbon footprint on a bottle of Longboard Lager could stamp out a whole field of hops. (corrected in the comments below) Mehana Pale Ale ($9.99/6pack, Hilo) proved a better option, brewed and bottled on the Big Island.
For dinner, I cooked up Thai Green Curry Chicken (see recipe below) and a side of wing beans ($2/bag, Kahuku by way of KCC) stir-fried with garlic ($1, Kahuku), ginger (unknown cost, Kahuku) and oyster sauce. It was at this point that I hit my first locavore problems:
- I used oyster sauce with the wing beans and fish sauce in the curry without even stopping to realize both were from California. My bad. Hopefully this will happen less as I become more aware.
- There are no rice paddies in contemporary Hawaii. None. Every house has a rice cooker, but all the rice is shipped in. Green curry requires something to sop it up.
- Cooking oil and most spices are much the same--no local sources I could find.
Faced with no good options, I cooked rice distributed out of San Francisco, cracked open my spice cabinet for coriander and cumin, then oiled my pan with canola from ConAgra in Nebraska. May God have mercy on my soul.
This whole locavore thing is going to be harder than I thought.
Thai Green Curry Chicken
Serves 4
- 2 stalks lemon grass, outer layer removed, then thinly sliced ($2/bundle, from Kahuku)
- 1/2 small yellow onion ($1/bag, Kahuku)
- thumb-sized piece of galangal ($0.50, Kahuku), peeled and chopped
- 3 kaffir lime leaves ($1.25/bag, Kahuku)
- 2 T. fish sauce
- 1 t. ground coriander
- 1/2 t. ground cumin
- 1/2 c. cilantro roots and stems ($1/bunch, Kahuku), roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic ($1, Kahuku)
- 3-4 small chili peppers, seeded ($1/bag, Kahuku)
- 2 T. cooking oil
- approx 1 lb. boneless chicken thighs ($2.35/lb, Honolulu) cut into chunks
- 2 c. coconut milk (from the tree in my yard!)
- 3 Japanese eggplants, thickly sliced (I forgot the cost, but still Kahuku)
- small handful Thai basil leaves ($1/bunch, Kahuku)
Combine all ingredients up through the chili peppers in a food processor or mortar and blend to a thick paste. Heat cooking oil in a skillet and cook the paste over medium heat for a few minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Add the chicken pieces and cook until the chicken is done. Add eggplant and cook until tender but not mushy. Toss with the basil and serve over rice.
Track progress through the other six days of locavore week.
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The second sunrise of my locavore journey began much like the one before: with a cup of Kauai Peaberry coffee. Except today was also a work day, so the first cup was chased with a second. I sent a third... Read More
I'm hungry. I woke up hungry. After getting ready for work, it was time to see what the kitchen held. This is only the third day in my week of eating locally but I'm already running out of breakfast ideas.... Read More
Even in Osaka, there aren't many things grown here, I found it hard to go totally local. Whenever possible, I do try to only buy "Japan" and try to buy imports. Good luck with the rest of your week, will be interesting to see what kinds of bumps you come across.
You've got it wrong about Kona Longboard Lager. The bottled Kona beer is brewed in Portland,OR and then shipped to HI. The carbon footprint is quite small actually as the power on the Big Island is created by burning desiel fuel while Portland uses hydro power.
Mehana must ship everything to their plant in Hilo and then ship out to the market where Kona ships it direct to market.
You should always verify your facts.
Kat, I'm surprised about Osaka. I'd have guessed there were strong local options there. Every bit counts though. Sometimes the best purchase, lacking local options, is to pick the supplier with the fewest ties to big agriculture conglomerates.
Matt, I'm really very sorry about mis-representing the Kona supply chain. I'd actually checked my facts on this one as I do try to be exceedingly careful about what I write. Here's how it went down...
Back in August, I swung by the KBC facility in Kona. I'd just missed the last brewery tour of the day, so instead I stood in the parking lot near the keg storage area and spent about twenty minutes talking to a KBC staff worker as she swept up. In the course of our conversation, she brought up how the beer was brewed in Kona but then shipped to Oregon for bottling (it's the idea of food miles that concern me as much, or more, than the carbon impact of production).
Now that you've clarified, I can see that the KBC staffer had her facts wrong, and therefore so did I. Turns out getting my info straight from the horse's mouth wasn't good enough. Again, my apologies.
Alan, no worries. Don't sweat the Kona Longboard Lager comment/information/correction. I'm still offended by brew from Oregon that takes a Hawai'ian locale, a Hawai'ian icon and a European brew type and mashes it together to imply a kind of Hawai'ian brew. It's as if they're trying to reinvent a certain long-dead brew, and you know what I mean.
Nevermind that Lager in the States is //not// like Lager in Western/Central Europe anyway.
Sometimes marketing in the US trumps sanity.
Keep posting. These are really enjoyable.
Just wondering, where do you buy the local chicken from?
Also, I love reading your blog! :)
TikiPundit, my main concern with the beer thing is that I want to be careful to be accurate. The last thing I need to be doing is spreading false rumors. There are many nuances when talking about locality and the details matter. If we really wanted to press the details far enough, no beer would qualify as purely local. It may bottle here but where is it brewed? It may brew here, but where are is the malt from? The hops?
I'm pretty sure that Kona's kegs of beer are brewed, filled and transported all with the state of Hawaii. It's the bottles that require the special facility. Someone please correct me if I've gotten this wrong :)
Crystal, I bought this chicken from the Times supermarket in Kahala. Look for the "50th State Brand." I think I've seen that brand elsewhere... maybe Safeway? Foodland? I don't recall for certain. I'm not even 100% sure the chickens are raised here, but the label on the package said Honolulu. Thanks for reading!