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By Request
Betty Shimabukuro
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Help solve some recipe mysteries
It's my tradition to close out the year with a list of requests that leave me clueless. Many of these come from my Hope Springs Eternal file, the one that holds requests for recipes from places long gone.
Often, however, we get lucky, and a request printed here jogs the memory of someone out there, who sends in a good recipe. We all emerge victorious and hope does spring eternal.
A little grease for the wheels: Anyone who sends in a recipe that gets published will receive a cookbook from my stash of brand-new national publications. Get in touch -- the info's at the end of this column.
Now for the requests:
» Elaine Pomar used to frequent a deli called Honda's in Liliha that's long gone, and she still yearns for the spaghetti sold there. Others have asked for this recipe before, so it must be something special. It apparently was a baked spaghetti, and peppery.
» Bob Gonsalves wants to make the beef short ribs served at Island Mixed Plate in the Windward Mall food court until it closed last year. They were unique, he says. "I kept coming back for more."
» Jessica Ichinose wants the recipe for a chicken and mushroom dish once served at the old Bea's Drive-In. "Boy, that was a good meal."
» Kathy Stroup fondly remembers the "heavenly" coconut cream pie served at the Waikiki Pharmacy in the 1960s, when she was working at a beauty salon on Waikiki Beach.
» Kathie Young is looking for a brown rice salad served years ago at a small vegetarian restaurant on King Street near the old stadium. She thinks it had white cheese, sprouts and sunflower seeds, with a very good dressing.
» Sean Ross says the teriyaki chicken made by Mizutani's Coffee Shop on Cooke Street was the best anywhere, with a "glaze that made it so ono. ... I have not been able to find chicken cooked like this anywhere else."
» Yoshikazu Yoshimura hasn't been able to find the bake-it-yourself frozen apple pie that used to sell in supermarkets under the name Holly Bakery. "It hasn't been available in the markets for a number of years and I'm wondering if there is a possibility of somehow obtaining the recipe for it."
NOW FOR SOME general recipes that aren't tied to a particular restaurant:
» Barbara Leong wants to make Gai Dsai Biang, or Little Chicken Cookies, a Chinese sweet that's filled with red wet bean paste, sugar and sesame seeds. "It's a bit chewy, sweet, salty, and oh soooo yummy!"
» Karl Shimabuku is hungry for a fried won ton that includes a shrimp and mayonnaise filling, sometimes called Deep-Fried Shrimp Gow.
» Finally, if anyone is experienced with drying foods -- especially tako or akule -- in an old-fashioned dry box, I'd really like to talk to you. Eden Kaiulani Carney writes from Molokai that she's got a lot of sun and a box, but no clue how to use it. This would be a great technique to share. Anybody?
Send queries along with name and phone number to: "By Request," Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana, No. 7-210, Honolulu 96813. Or send e-mail to
bshimabukuro@starbulletin.com