Kalei-Tei curry chef cooks home-style, from scratch

By Kaui Philpotts

Mayumi Lozano, the owner and chef of Kalei-Tei, features eight varieties of curry at her restaurant at 808 Kapahulu Ave. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

But whenever her mother felt something was missing, she would call Mayumi. "I've always been able to tell right away what it needed just by tasting," she says. Mayumi's palate was a gift that could identify subtle spices and tell if the dish would be improved by a little more salt or a touch more sugar.

Soon she was making her own style of the curry so popular with the Japanese. "Even my cousin who didn't even like curry loved mine," she says softly.

Mayumi studied classical piano, hoping to make it a career, but things didn't work out, and she eventually found herself in Hono-lulu giving piano lessons.

Then, when a business partnership soured, she found herself looking at an empty rental space at 808 Kapahulu Ave. that had once been a restaurant. It was then that she decided to open a curry house called Kalei-Tei (kalei means curry, and tei is "house" in Japanese).

With the help of her sister, Mayumi painted the walls a fresh white, finished the old concrete floors with a grouted design and paint ("It was a nightmare!" she laughs), added track lighting and an old upright piano in one corner.

The two even made the simple, but stylish, wooden tables themselves. To these, they added colonial-style Indonesian chairs, and a large floral arrangement sophisticated enough for the finest restaurants in New York.

They opened last summer with just two of Mayumi's curries: chicken and beef. But two varieties weren't nearly enough, she realized shortly, smiling at her own naivete. The menu has since expanded to eight kinds.

Japanese-style curry is thicker and more "gravy based" than other Asian varieties. The most popular one has proven to be the Kinoko Kalei (mushroom curry), a vegetarian concoction of porcini and shiitake mushrooms made with mushroom stock and enhanced with truffles. There is a seafood curry, as well as one made with tropical fruits such as mango, papaya and raisins. They are all served with Japanese-style steamed white rice.

But you can also order the curry over somen noodles (her mom's personal favorite).

Instead of the usual Japanese condiments, such as pickled onions, she makes her own homemade-style pickles from cucumbers, carrots, celery, apples and jicama.

Mayumi, like her mother, makes all of her own broths from scratch. She also uses only olive oil and natural sea salt in preparing the curry. And she tries to cut back on fat and calories: "I skim as much of the fat as I can," she says. "It tastes better and doesn't feel as heavy."

The real secret to good curry, she says, is using plenty of onion chopped very fine by hand. She once tried using a food processor for the onion, but found it didn't work as well: the blade of the food processor pulverized the onion and the liquid that escaped.

Her curries are very labor-intensive, and Mayumi, who has never been to culinary school, is sometimes overwhelmed by the 14-hour days. She has learned how difficult cooking in small quantities and in the home style can be when you are running a restaurant.

Recently, she broadened the menu with her mother's versions of Western dishes, including Crab au Gratin and Baked Rolled Cabbage filled with ground beef and vegetables. A popular dessert is coffee jelly with ice cream, popular in Japan, but rarely served here.

In a nod to local tastes, she's created her own version of the Loco Moco ("It's really good because I make my own hamburger mix and gravy") and fried rice. Here is Mayumi's version of fried rice.

Kalei-Tei Fried Rice

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, finely minced
• 1/2 carrot, minced
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 24 small shrimp (or leftover meat, chopped)
• 6 cups cooked rice (one rice bowl per person)
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons or less shoyu
• 2-3 tablespoons curry powder (or to taste)

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and saute the garlic until you release the aroma. Add the onions and carrot, saute another 2 minutes, but do not brown. Add the shrimp and egg and quickly scramble. Then add the cold rice.

Fry it well and break up any chunks. Add the seasonings one at a time and continue to stir the rice. Serve immediately. Serves 6.