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HIGH on the list of things we take for granted would have to be electricity. Flip a switch, it's there. Turn a knob, it's there. Hard to imagine a time when electricity was so novel a concept that people had to be taught how to use it.
Hawaiian Electric's cooking show
celebrates the Lunar New Year
with its 100th episodeElectric recipes
By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-BulletinThose were the days that gave birth to Hawaiian Electric Co.'s cooking classes. The first electric ranges showed up in Hawaii in the 1920s, and in 1926 the utility began offering demonstrations to teach the value of the new appliances -- as opposed to gas or even the wood-burning variety.
One can only imagine how basic those classes must have been ("Look, no matches required!") But over the decades, HECO's cooking lessons have grown in sophistication along with the audience, moving to that other modern invention, television, in 1987, and lately venturing onto the Internet.
The current incarnation of these how-to-use-your-stove instructional sessions is "The Electric Kitchen," now 6 years old and airing its 100th episode through the first half of this month with a celebration of the Lunar New Year.
THE ELECTRIC KITCHEN
Milestone: The show's 100th episode, with guest chef Glenn Chu of Indigo Eurasian Cuisine, airs throughout the first two weeks of January.
"Electric Kitchen" features guest chefs preparing dishes as they are chatted up by host Alison Zecha. The term "chef" here is loosely applied, as it may refer to a professional from a four-star kitchen, or a home cook who has never stirred a pot in public before. The idea is to present dishes that would be easy to recreate at home.
As in the '20s, the show's reason for being is to promote electrical appliances and their efficient use. "It's our way of trying to get our message across, as far as using our equipment safely or anything else," co-producer Julia Cabatu says.
That message is considerably muted nowadays. The promotional aspect is reduced to an occasional tip on energy efficiency and the slick HECO commercials that air during breaks.
Otherwise, "Electric Kitchen" resembles any other cooking show on local TV, or even the more relaxed programs on the Food Network. But there is one significant difference: Recipes demonstrated on "Electric Kitchen" pass through the show's home economists, Cabatu and Pat Rea, who ensure that the instructions make sense, the ingredient lists are accurate -- and bottom line, that the recipes are useful.
This may seem an obvious thing, but if you've ever tried to recreate a dish off of TV, you know that professionals often provide confusing directions or call for obscure ingredients. Amateurs at times don't provide any measurements at all.
On some cooking shows, these types of recipes are allowed to stand. But "Electric Kitchen" aims to teach, not strictly entertain. In this, it has a long history.
Those early cooking classes from the '20s had morphed by the '70s into ethnic cooking programs held in HECO's King Street building. When classes outgrew that venue, the shows moved to the Kaiser Dome (original name of the Hilton Hawaiian Village Dome), and later the meeting rooms of the Blaisdell Center. These classes drew hundreds of people on a regular basis.
In the '80s, HECO began video-taping the demos so they could be shown on a wide screen for the audience, and eventually Oceanic Cable put those videos on a cable-access station. In 1994, the live classes ended and the show was turned into the half-hour "Electric Kitchen," taped in a HECO studio.
The show remains an in-house affair. Cabatu and Rea hold down full-time jobs in HECO's Education and Consumer Affairs department; Zecha, the host, works in Human Resources. The show's other producer, Harry Alama, handles all the camera work, editing and other production chores out of Corporate Communications. Guests are sometimes HECO employees, their children in tow.
Six shows are taped over an intense two to three days each quarter. They air two per month, year-round, with no reruns.
The first show featured staff home economist Regina Tang, making kalua turkey and guava-glazed sweet potatoes. It was October and Thanksgiving was just around the corner.
"It was hard to get guests at the start," Cabatu recalls. "Now we have a waiting list of people who want to get on."
Shows are taped straight through, with little time for retakes. The guests rarely bring enough supplies to make their dishes more than once, anyway. "Once we add our first ingredient, we just keep going," Alama says.
It's his job to go back later and edit out any miscues. Sometimes, he says, an electric wok just won't get the oil hot enough -- "we're sitting there waiting for the food to cook" -- or an amateur cook will forget an ingredient. "We just keep going and pretend it didn't happen."
The one time Alama can remember stopping filming was when a blender fell apart and everything spilled all over the counter.
For all the care that goes into prepping guests and their recipes, Cabatu says, "We don't have any clue how the recipes are going to turn out."
Zecha is the show's public face, chosen in auditions involving several HECO staffers. Personality and presence were the criteria, not cooking knowledge, which is a good thing because Zecha doesn't cook at all.
She recalls during her audition being asked to select a fruit to go into a smoothie. She picked a tangerine, but was forced to reconsider when she realized she'd have to peel it.
"I quickly realized this was probably a bad choice. As a non-cooking person it takes me a long time to do something even that simple."
She switched to a banana.
"My husband keeps saying, 'You've been doing this show for a long time, when are you going to make one of the recipes?' "
Actually, Zecha did once make a vegetarian chili demonstrated on the show, and it turned out well, but that was a one-time affair. "Every show I always think, 'This looks so easy, I could do this,' but it never comes to fruition."
The show's producers have never measured the size of their television audience, but Zecha says she does enjoy some small measure of celebrity. Strangers occasionally will recognize her face or her voice and stop her to talk about the show.
As with "Electric Kitchen" itself, though, it's a casual thing. "One day I was out, picking up some things, and this guy said, 'Eh, you that lady!' "
Guest featured on "The Electric Kitchen" range from first-class chefs to cooks who've never ventured beyond the home kitchen. Their recipes run from heart-healthy to the most sinful desserts. ‘Electric Kitchen’
recipes put spark
in mealtimeStar-Bulletin
This selection, taken from episodes over the last several months, samples the variety the show offers.
The first recipe is from this month's 100th-anniversary show. Guest chef Glenn Chu said he created the dish in honor of his grandmother, or popo, who was such a commanding presence in the kitchen that he nicknamed her "Emperor." She would fix the dish, Chu says, for new mothers to help them regain their strength after giving birth.
Emperor Po's Gingered Pig's Feet
Glenn Chu, Indigo Eurasian Cuisine3 to 4 pounds young pig's fore shank
2 quarts low-salt soy sauce
1 cup vinegar
6 cups water
1 cup Sweet Sour Tangerine Sauce (see note) or frozen concentrated orange juice
1/4 cup Dragon Fire Chili Sauce (see note) or sweet chile sauce
3 cups brown sugar
1 hand fresh ginger root, sliced or crushed
4 whole star anise
8 bay leaves
1/4 cup black peppercornsHave butcher slice shank into 1-1/2-inch pieces. Place shank pieces into a large sauce pot; add remaining ingredients. Cover and bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer for about 2 hours or until tender.
Remove shanks and strain stock. Cool stock; skim fat.
Reheat stock and taste; add water if too salty. Return shanks to stock and heat. Serve over hot rice. Serves 4.
Note: Sauces are available at Indigo.
Nutritional information unavailable.
Cornish Game Hens with Rosemary Jus Lie
Rodman Machado, Diamond Head Grill6 Cornish game hens (about 12 ounces each)
Salt and pepper to taste
6 sprigs thyme
6 sprigs rosemary
Sprigs from 1 bunch parsley
1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves
12 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup melted butter
Giblets from hens, chopped
2 carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, diced
Leaves from 1 sprig of thyme
Leaves from 1 sprig of rosemary
2 bay leaves
4 peppercorns
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
2 quarts hot chicken brothPreheat oven to 425 degrees. Rinse and drain hens; season with salt and pepper. Place 6 of the thyme and rosemary sprigs, the parsley sprigs, oregano and garlic in cavities of hens. Truss hens and place on a rack in a roasting pan.
Basting frequently with melted butter, roast hens 30 to 45 minutes, or until done. Remove from pan.
To make gravy, add to pan drippings the giblets, carrots, celery, onion, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves and peppercorns. Cook for a few minutes.
Add butter and flour; cook until flour is golden brown. Add broth; bring to a boil; lower heat, and simmer for 20 minutes; strain.
Serve gravy over chickens, with roasted vegetables. Serves 6.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 870 calories, 70 g total fat, 35 g saturated fat, 290 mg cholesterol, 630 mg sodium, 45 g protein, 15 g carbohydrate .*
Easy Chicken Luau
Judy Thompson, dietitian, Queen's Medical Center5 pound chicken thighs
1 pound frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1 can cream of chicken soup (or reduced fat/sodium)Remove skin, bones, and visible fat from chicken; place in a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish. Spread spinach over chicken.
In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients; pour over spinach. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serves 10.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving: 210 calories, 7 g total fat, 2 g saturated fat, 110 mg cholesterol, 400 mg sodium, 29 g protein, 6 g carbohydrate.*
Deep-Fried Tempura Ice Cream
Harris Sukita, Simply Ono4 anpan (prepared bean-filled bun)
4 scoops vanilla ice cream
Salad oil for deep frying
2 cups buttermilk biscuit mix
1 cup water or milk
1 egg yolk
Flour
1/4 cup Grand Marnier
1/4 cup clarified butter
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamonCut anpan into halves. Place a scoop of ice cream between halves; freeze overnight.
To make sauce: Heat Grand Marnier in a skillet. Add butter and juices; cook until mixture reduces to 1/2 cup. Add sugars and cinnamon; cook until thickened.
In the meantime, in a wok or deep fryer, heat oil to 375 degrees. Combine biscuit mix, water and egg yolk to make a batter. Lightly dust frozen anpan with flour; dip into batter. Fry in hot oil until golden; drain. Drizzle with Grand Marnier sauce. Serve immediately. Serves 4.
Nutritional information unavailable.
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