Made in Hawaii Festival features chef demonstrations

The annual Made in Hawaii Festival offers many opportunities to buy, buy, buy - but also to eat, eat, eat, and in a few cases, for free.

Grant Sato: The KCC instructor hosts a cooking demonstration

The festival, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall and Arena, features a number of cooking demonstrations by island chefs, with free samples afterward. The schedule:

» Friday: 2 p.m., Derek Kurisu, Hilo KTA Super Stores; 4 p.m., chefs Mark Ellman and Sergio Perez, Maui Tacos; 6 p.m., Chef Andy Nelson, Neptune's Garden

» Saturday: Noon, Dr. Terry Shintani; 2 p.m., Chef Grant Sato, Culinary Institute of the Pacific; 4 p.m., Chef Ed Kenney, Town; 6 p.m., Collin Hazama, RumFire

» Sunday: Noon, Chef Elmer Guzman, Poke Stop; 2 p.m., Chef Michael Imada, Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa

Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $3, children 6 and under free. Dollar-off coupons are available at First Hawaiian Bank branches. Call 533-1292 or visit www.madeinhawaiifestival.com.

Now, to get in the spirit of things, one of the featured chefs, Sato, offers these recipes using Hawaii-grown produce.

Easy Summer Salsa

2 cups Ewa sweet corn kernels
2 cups diced Ewa sweet onion
2 cups diced Ewa tomato
1 cup small diced roasted Ewa bell pepper
1 cup tomato sauce or diced tomato
2 tablespoons sliced garlic
Chopped cilantro, to taste
Chopped green onion, to taste
Salt, to taste
Lemon juice, to taste
Minced chili pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate 1 hour to allow flavors to blend (will keep up to five days). Serve with chips or use as a topping for burgers or a condiment for other food items. Makes 8 cups.

Honeydew Tea

1 Aloun honeydew melons
1 bunch mint
3 cups tea (Lipton is fine)
3 cups ice

Peel and cube melon. Wash and pluck the mint leaves. Combine in blender and puree. Freeze overnight.

In a cup, place 1 cup ice, 1 cup tea and top with 1 scoop of frozen honeydew and mint puree. Serves 3.