Asia Manoa's cuisine would make ancestors proud

"Anything that walks, swims, crawls or flies with its back to heaven is edible."

By Matthew Gray
Advertiser Restaurant Critic

Wendy Pang of Asia Manoa shows off the seafood taro basket and taro kaoyuk casserole. The menu offers more than 200 dishes, including about 40 noodle preparations. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser Asia Manoa 2801 East Manoa Road Lunch and dinner, 10:30 a.m-9 p.m. daily 988-2828 Good

These immigrants faced challenges in reproducing their native cuisine. Most of the earliest immigrants were men and had no training in cooking. Faced with unfamiliar ingredients, they improvised as best they could. When the results were less than successful, they covered up with cornstarch for body, salt and sugar for flavor. Thus, "American-style" Chinese food was born.

A well-trained Cantonese chef, however, would consider it a culinary sin to produce a dish that was overcooked or too heavily seasoned. Emphasis on preserving the natural flavors of the food is a hallmark of Cantonese cuisine.

Chinese immigrants to Hawai'i had it a little better. Their large numbers and relative proximity to Asia guaranteed sources of familiar ingredients, and many were skilled cooks. So we are fortunate here to be able to recognize authentic dishes even if they have been altered somewhat, and to have many restaurants that serve them.

Asia Manoa is an example — a pleasant, clean neighborhood restaurant offering respectable Cantonese food at very affordable prices. The decor is contemporary, with an earthy Manoa green color scheme. For those who enjoy spicy flavors, they do offer a handful of northern Chinese dishes. Edmund Pang, the proprietor, is the son of restaurateurs Jenny and Howard Pang, owners of Duck Yun Chinese Restaurant in the Aina Haina Shopping Center.

We tried several dishes during two visits. First, my favorites, the spicy northern dishes. Asia Manoa's spicy pork eggplant ($6.75), spicy shredded beef ($7.25), and kung pao chicken ($7.50) all delivered on the heat index as they should. The meats were tender and flavorful, the vegetables were crisp and everything was right with the world.

One of this restaurant's specialties is honey walnut shrimp ($9.50), but we skipped this because it usually has globs of mayonnaise on it. However, many people like this combination of flavors, and this dish is available at many local Chinese restaurants.

Instead, we opted for beef with ginger and onion ($7.50), a dish with subtle and delicious flavors. Ditto the shrimp with lobster sauce ($8.75). Seabass fillet with black bean sauce ($8.50) was exceptional — the fish almost melts in your mouth and the black bean sauce is milder here than at most places. Another of my favorites was the string beans with minced pork ($6.75), which I saw at several tables.

The menu offers more than 200 dishes, about 40 of which are noodle preparations. We tried the house special noodle ($6.50) and it was packed with meats, shrimp and vegetables. The noodles here are thin and covered with a brown gravy. I'm more a fan of the wide, thick chewy chow fun noodles ($6) in any one of the several styles offered (black bean, fried beef, curry seafood, beef and vegetables and so on). They offer weekly chef's specials, too. In addition, there are weekday lunch specials for $5.75.

Asia Manoa is doing a good job of banishing memories of bad Chinese food and always seems to have a crowd, especially at dinner. Its secret is a friendly staff and fast, fresh Chinese food.

Reach Matthew Gray at mgray@honoluluadvertiser.com.