A lomi salmon creation wraps
By Betty Shimabukuro
up first place and a 'Local Boy'
is the runner-up
Star-Bulletin
Play it healthy or go for the grease. Sample the Top 2 winners of our Sandwich Isles Sandwich Sweepstakes and you'll visit both ends of the eating spectrum.
The first-place sandwich is a delicate wrap, invented by a team of nutritionists with low-fat, healthy eating in mind. The second-place bamboocha of a sandwich ignores every possible health rule in favor of layering Spam, Vienna and Portuguese sausages and mayonnaise.
Differences of opinion. That's what makes horse races.
Six judges made their way through 10 finalist sandwiches made with eel, caviar, even liver to come up with the Top 3. They were judged on a 15-point scale based on taste, appearance and creativity.
The $250 top prize will be split by Sharon Odom, Mae Isonaga and Rike Weiss, who entered as Hui o Sandwich. Odom is a nutritionist with the Mauli Ola Native Hawaiian Community Initiative, Isonaga is with the Department of Health and Weiss is a consultant, currently involved with the 5 A Day Coalition.
Their lomi salmon wrap impressed the judges with its light but tasty blend of flavors -- the salmon, of course, but also the onion and watercress. The wrap, sliced into rolls like sushi, is built on a purple taro tortilla, which makes the end product very attractive. "Good-looking and tastes great!" one judge wrote.
Wiess said her hui was after good health and good taste. The salmon is high in calcium and those good-for-you omega-3 fatty acids, and the veggie additives help meet that 5 A Day requirement. The cream cheese, used to hold it all together, is light cream cheese, she points out.
On the other hand, we have Edward Madamba, a retired nuclear chemist who lives in Hilo, who takes home second place and $150. Add his "Ono Local Boy" sandwich to your regular diet and you may as well book your bypass right now.
It totals 940 calories and 75 grams of fat, compared to the scanty 290 calories and 9 grams of fat in the lomi wrap.
"When the local boys eat, they don't like skimpy sandwiches," Madamba says.
Skimpy his is not. It starts with Punaluu taro sweetbread (the color purple seems to be a theme here) and continues with layers of all those local-favorite meats. It's quick and easy, he says.
Madamba says his sandwich was inspired by the Sam Choy-style of cooking -- big, generous portions. In fact, Madamba has been a finalist in Choy's poke contest for five years.
"I like the audacity of it," one judge said. Another, however, pronounced it "overkill." This sandwich generated the most debate among the judges, who couldn't agree if was a wonderful combination of tastes, or just too much of a lot of bad things. In the end, though, the pro-"Local Boys" scored the sandwich so high they carried it into second place.
One interesting side note: Two judges badly wanted the formula for the spread used on the sandwich. They refused to believe it was plain mayonnaise. Finally one said, "I know! It's the grease from all the meat -- it soaked into the mayonnaise." Yep, just another selling point for the "Local Boy."
Third place and $100 goes to Gini Stoddard of Kapaa for a simple chicken sandwich with a distinctive peanut-butter spread.
The judges found the combination of peanut, soy, lemon, brown sugar and cayenne pepper to be intriguing, 'with a hot, spicy flavor that sneaks up on you.'
Stoddard says her recipe was adapted from an old fried chicken entree that had a peanut sauce. "I'm a big peanut butter eater," she says. "If I skip lunch or something I will come home and in the middle of the afternoon I'll have two heaping spoons full."
She and her husband eat peanut butter with just about everything, Stoddard says, one of their favorites being a peanut butter and red onion sandwich. One of her most pleasant childhood memories: enjoying peanut butter and dill pickles in tea sandwiches with her mother.
The spread could be served with other fillings besides chicken, she says, and could be made ahead and refrigerated, then warmed to room temperature to make it spreadable for quick sandwiches.
In the healthy eating spectrum, this one is middle-of-the-road, weighing in at 315 calories and 15 grams of fat. It definitely leans more toward the lomi wrap than the "Local Boy."
Love a good sandwich? Try one of these, the best of 60 entries.
1 taro tortilla (see note)Mix cream cheese with salmon and spread on tortilla. Sprinkle with tomato and onion. Layer with watercress and cucumber and roll up tightly. Cut into inch-long slices. Serves 1.
2 tablespoons canned salmon
1-1/2 tablespoons light cream cheese
1/2 medium tomato, diced
1/8 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/8 cucumber, sliced lengthwise into sticks
5 sprigs watercress
Note: Arturo brand taro tortillas are available at most supermarkets where other tortillas are sold.
Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 290 calories, 9 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 450 mg sodium.*
2 slices Punaluu taro sweetbread, 1-1/2 inches thick, about 4 inches squareSaute all the meat and the onions.
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 Portuguese sausage patty
2 slices Maui onion
2 thin slices tomato
4 pieces Vienna sausage, butterflied
1 leaf Manoa lettuce
3 slices Spam
Spread one slice of sweetbread with 1/2 the mayonnaise. Then stack all the ingredients in the order listed. Top with another slice of bread, spread with the rest of the mayo. Serves 1.
Approximate nutritional analysis per sandwich: 940 calories, 75 g total fat, 16 g saturated fat, 170 mg cholesterol, greater than 2700 mg sodium.*
1 large, boneless, skinless chicken breast, steamed and cooledMix all spread ingredients together until smooth. Makes about 2/3 cup.
4 large hamburger buns, not onion, lightly toasted
Baby lettuce or watercress, about 2 cups
4 teaspoons margarine
1/4 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Lightly spread each bun with margarine, then generously spread the bottom half of the bun with the peanut butter-mixture.
Slice chicken on the diagonal and place slices over the spread. Top with greens. Makes 4 sandwiches.
Approximate nutritional analysis per sandwich: 315 calories, 15 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 550 mg sodium.*
