FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Soto Mission group shares its recipes

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

Here's another lineup of new cookbooks to consider for acquiring or giving:

"HAWAII SOTO MISSION: Our Tradition and Pride," Soto Mission Association & United Soto-Shu Women's Association, spiral-bound, $12.

This collection of more than 600 recipes celebrates the 100th anniversary of Hawai'i's nine units of the Buddhist organization. As you might expect, the book is heavy on homestyle Japanese cooking — the pickles and salted salads, for example, go far beyond the usual cucumber and cabbage tsukemono. Some of the East-West intersections are fascinating: wakame (seaweed) and corn (with butter and shoyu!), miso chicken made with beer, Portuguese sausage sushi roll, microwave macha (green tea) cake. An unusual feature — but one that makes sense in two-scoop Hawai'i — is a starches chapter of recipes for Asian noodle dishes, sushi, donburi and such; there's also a segment on manju and mochi. And the book is a testament to our island preference for sweets — lots of desserts are given. Format: Classic spiral-bound community cookbook with chapter dividers, index, glossary of ethnic food terms. Recipes not re-tested. Available from Soto-Shu members on all islands or at the Hawaii Soto Mission office, 1708 Nu'uanu Ave.

"CHEFS OF ALOHA," Island Heritage, hardback, $19.99.

The publisher's vision here was just to solicit recipes from island chefs and publish them for those visitors and kama'aina who want to reproduce — or at least remember — meals they've had in local restaurants. The dishes are typical of professional kitchens: Every recipe actually encompasses several sub-recipes, and most will make you long for a prep cook to help with the work. You'll find some familiar menu favorites here if you'd like to re-create them. Nicely packaged, with photos. Recipes not re-tested.

"COOK WITH ALOHA," Island Heritage, spiral-bound, $9.99.

Island Heritage sometimes purchases the rights to local cookbooks and repackages them without extra text. This is such a one: a version of a recent Le Jardin Academy benefit book.