The inside story Thanksgiving is a great holiday. No frantic shopping trips to the mall for gifts, like at Christmas. No guilt over failing to meet goals or depression about the passing of time, like at New Year's.
By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Okinawan sweet potatoes, yams and pineapple make for an unusual, tangy stuffing.
Nontraditional stuffings to add island flair to your turkey dinner
At Thanksgiving, all you're required to do is to have plenty of food and eat it. But there is the question of stuffing: What kind this year?
While messing with tradition is dicey, here are recipes that add a Pacific tang to the turkey: a luau leaf stuffing with macadamia nuts and coconut milk; from Guam, a substantial side dish of ground beef and potatoes; Chinese-style barley stuffing; and an Okinawan sweet potato concoction.
If anyone in your family objects to trying something new or different, hand 'em a box of Stove Top.
Star-Bulletin staff Somewhere in Hawaii, a woman wants a stuffing made with Okinawan sweet potatoes. She wrote in asking for one, but we lost the note. So whoever you are, here it is. And we thank you for asking because we developed a hearty recipe in response to your request. Okinawan sweet potatoes are tasty gems with a purple tint close to amethyst. The sweetness is balanced by an earthy flavor. The potato stands up to heat without getting mushy but that's because they are tough little buggers.
Peeling these taters can be difficult without a sharp peeler or paring knife. The potato peels also have a stickiness that defies dishwashing liquid. When peeling, take off as much of the outer white or tan layer as possible to expose the purple flesh.
We mixed the purple potato with golden yams for color and taste and with pineapple for a tang to counter the sweetness.
For an 8- to 12-pound turkey Sweet Potato Stuffing
4 cups yams, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
6 cups Okinawan sweet potatoes, peeled, diced into 1/2-inch cubes
1 lb. sliced bacon, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
2-3 tablespoon bacon fat OR 3-4 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium Maui onion (about three cups), diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1-1 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 tart apples, (about 2 cups) peeled, cored and diced
1 cup canned crushed pineapple, squeezed dry
1 cup unsalted, macadamia nuts or walnuts, finely chopped
2 tablespoon parsley, chopped
For those who want to cut the calories, skip the bacon in this recipe and use olive oil instead.
Parboil yams and potatoes for about 5-8 minutes. The potatoes should be almost cooked through. Drain well and set aside. In a large pot, on medium heat, fry bacon pieces until crisp. Remove bacon, drain on paper towels. Pour out all but 2-3 tablespoons of the bacon fat (or use 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil), add onions to pot and saute until golden brown. Add salt, pepper and rosemary. Increase heat to medium high, then add apples, potatoes and yams, stirring while potatoes lightly brown for about 5 minutes. Add pineapple, nuts and parsley, mix well. Remove from heat. Stuff.
You may fill your bird of choice or even a pork roast with this stuffing, but it is also good outside, on its own. To finish the stuffing without stuffing, place in a large roasting pan or casserole, spreading the stuffing out so its only about 1-1/2 inches deep. If dry, sprinkle a tablespoon of bacon fat, olive oil or chicken broth over the stuffing. Heat oven to 450. Place stuffing in the middle of the oven and bake for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Approximate nutritional analysis per 1/2-cup serving, with bacon: 180 calories, 8 grams total fat, 2 grams saturated fat, 10 milligrams cholesterol, 150 milligrams sodium. Using olive oil instead of bacon: 140 calories, 5 grams total fat, 0.5 grams saturated, no cholesterol, 55 milligrams sodium.*
The traditional Hawaiian makahiki parallels the modern holiday season of Halloween through New Year's. The four-month makahiki features religious rites, athletic games and feasting starting about mid-October. To enhance a Hawaiian-style Thanksgiving, Iva Kinimaka - entertainer and owner of Diner's in Kalihi and Iva's Komplete Katering - suggests his signature luau-laced stuffing for turkey.
Kinimaka said to go by look and feel when adding desired broth, nuts, fruits or sausage to turkey stuffing.
"I can provide the recipe and people can ad lib and kinda come close. Whatever I feel like, I throw 'em inside. It never comes out the same. People can just improvise with macadamia nuts or lots of lup cheong. The haoles like throw in pineapple. You can jes' make all kine."
He added, "Stuffing is so delicate. When you take pride in making it, people can tell."
For 18- to 24-pound turkey, Luau Stuffing
or two small turkeys
1-1/2 pounds fresh luau (young taro leaves)
2 to 3 cups water
2 cups diced round onion
2 to 2-1/2 cups sliced celery
1 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon EACH sage, thyme (or 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning)
1/2 teaspoon EACH salt, pepper
20 cups cubed, day-old bread
12-ounce can coconut milk
Chicken broth, if more liquid needed
Optional additions: 1/2 to 1 cup sliced lup cheong or chopped kalua pork; chopped macadamia nuts to taste
Wash luau. Cut up, boil in 3 cups water for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, drain and thoroughly squeeze water from luau.
Saute onions and celery in butter; add seasonings. Toss mixture with bread. Add luau and coconut milk; mix thoroughly. Moisten stuffing with chicken stock, if necessary.
Place any leftover stuffing in a casserole dish, cover and bake in the oven with turkey during last 1 hour.
On the Pacific island of Guam, a big, buffet-style party is called a fiesta, and the typical family throws several a year. There are two rules for a fiesta: You never run out of food, and everyone takes home leftovers. Thanksgiving, far from being the ultimate family meal, is just another fiesta, and local cooks go at it with the same vengeance. Turkey and ham replace roast pig at the center of the table, but barbecued chicken, ribs, fish and other traditional fiesta foods often show up on the menu.
The operating philosophy - more is better - is reflected in the traditional Guamanian stuffing. You've got all five of your basic food groups here, from ground beef to fried potatoes, to chopped veggies, to applesauce, to milk. You even have pickles and olives, as a bonus relish kinda thing.
With a bowl of this, who needs a turkey?
Beatrice Calvo Perez, now of Davis, Calif., adapted this recipe and passed it on to her son Robert, and daughter Lisa Bautista, both Oahu residents who remember well the Thanksgiving fiesta back home.
Riyenu (Stuffing)For 24-27 pound turkey
1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey1 small chopped onion
1 clove garlic, chopped
1-1/2 cups chopped celery
1-1/2 cups chopped green bell pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
3 cups diced fried potatoes or 1 large bag frozen hash browns, fried until crispy
1/2 cup sweet pickle relish or 1/2 cup chopped dill pickles and 1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles
1 4-ounce can chopped olives
1 4-ounce can chopped pimento
1 15-ounce can whole olives
1-1/2 cups applesauce
3 large eggs
1 regular can evaporated milk
2 cups diced toasted bread or bread stuffing
1 cup raisins, optional
1 15-ounce can green peas and juice, optional
Saute onion in small amount of margarine. Add ground meat and cook 5 minutes. Add garlic, salt and pepper, celery and bell pepper. Cook another 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix remaining ingredients, except the whole olives. Add the meat mixture, mix together, then add olives.
Stuff turkey, hen or pig.
From China, where Thanksgiving isn't even celebrated, comes a stuffing made of barley. If you're a connoisseur of things Chinese you'll recognize the flavors in this one right away - it's what usually ends up inside a roast duck. The stuffing - filled with mushrooms, garbanzo beans, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts as well as diced pork and ham - translates well into a turkey and gives your table a taste of Asia.
To ease the preparations, the barley pre-cooks in the rice cooker while you fuss over the other ingredients. The recipe was developed by Betty Zane Shimabukuro, retired assistant director of the Hawaii 4-H organization and a home economist.
For 10-pound turkey or duck Chinese Barley Stuffing
8 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 cup pearl barley
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup cubed pork
1 cup diced smoked ham
15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinse and drained
1 cup bamboo shoots, diced
5-ounce can water chestnuts, sliced
1 tablespoon sherry (optional)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup green onions, cut fine
1/2 cup Chinese parsley, cut fine
1/2 cup chicken broth
Soak mushrooms until soft.
Rinse pearl barley in water. Add water, according to proportions in package or box directions. Cook in rice cooker.
Heat oil in pan. Saute pork and ham.
Remove stems from soaked mushrooms and slice mushroom caps. To pork mixture add mushrooms, garbanzo beans, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts. Stir and cook a few minutes.
Add sherry, soy sauce, salt and sugar. Stir in green onions and parsley. Stir in chicken broth until just moistened. Too much will make dressing soggy.
Stuff bird lightly.
Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the
Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of
Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.
