By Request

By Catherine Kekoa Enomoto

Wednesday, July 2, 1997

ByKathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Deep fried haupia diamonds garnish curried lobster tail meat..

Lobster has
Hawaiian touch

NORA Kidwell and Tamar Pane'e requested the recipe for retired chef Dai Hoy Chang's classic Curried Lobster with Fried Haupia.

Steve Chiang, executive chef of the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Golden Dragon for 6-1/2 years, shared the restaurant's recipe.

"Many of my associates and second cooks have worked (here) for 20 and 30 years, so there was no problem learning chef Dai's cuisine," he said.

Chiang called the lobster dish "very good for taste, very good for eating. It's popular in Hawaii because of the Hawaiian flavors of coconut milk and haupia.

"The haupia looks like it's easy, but it takes a lot of time to cook, cool down, then cut, dip in egg wash, loading the cornstarch, then wokking. There are a lot of things to do, but it's OK," he said.

Chiang, 50, was born in mainland China and raised in Taiwan, where he started cooking as a teen-ager in his family's restaurant. He has worked in restaurants and hotels in Dallas, San Francisco, Vancouver and Portland, where he owned the Dragon Palace.

Savor this lobster delicacy:

Golden Dragon Curried Lobster
with Fried Haupia

3 tablespoons green peas
4 tablespoons carrots
1/4 cup potato, cut in 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons round onion, diced
8 ounces (1-1/2 cups) lobster tail, shell and membrane removed, cut in 1-1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup curry powder
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoon half & half cream
1/8 teaspoon EACH salt, pepper
3 tablespoons raisins
8 deep-fried haupia pieces (see recipe below)

Cornstarch mixture:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons chicken stock

Blanch peas and carrots in boiling water. Drain. Set aside.

Deep-fry potato 2 minutes or until cooked. Set aside.

Heat a wok on high heat, add oil, then reduce heat slightly. Stir-fry onion and lobster 2 minutes or until cooked thoroughly. Add chicken stock, curry powder, coconut milk and half & half; stir-fry 1 minute more. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the wok. Add peas, carrots and raisins; then bring to a boil.

Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with deep-fried haupia on the side. Makes 4 servings, as one of several entrees.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving with haupia: 360 calories, 23 grams total fat, 9 grams saturated fat, 55 milligrams cholesterol, 450 milligrams sodium.*
Approximate nutritional analysis per serving without haupia: 240 calories, 13 grams total fat, 4.5 grams saturated fat, 40 milligrams cholesterol, 440 milligrams sodium..*

Golden Dragon Fried Haupia

1-1/2 cups coconut milk
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons cornstarch for dusting
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Egg wash:
1 egg
1 cup water
1 tablespoon flour

In a double boiler, heat coconut milk.

Stir together water, sugar and the 5 tablespoons cornstarch until smooth; stir into coconut milk and cook over low heat, mixing constantly, until thickened. Increase temperature slightly and stir the mixture vigorously to prevent burning.

Pour mixture into a cake pan, 8 by 8 by 2 inches. Cool until set.

To garnish curried lobster recipe, cut haupia into about 32 diamonds, each 1 by 1-1/2 by 1 inch. Otherwise, cut haupia into 24 pieces, each 2 by 1-1/2 inches.

Dip in egg wash, dust with cornstarch and deep-fry for 2 minutes.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving, based on 24 pieces: 80 calories, 6 grams total fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 10 milligrams cholesterol, 5 milligrams sodium.
Approximate nutritional analysis per serving, based on 32 pieces for lobster curry, 2 pieces per serving: 120 calories, 10 grams total fat, 4.5 grams saturated fat, 15 milligrams cholesterol, 10 milligrams sodium..*