Posted on: Wednesday, June 8, 2005
QUICK BITES
Shirokiya spotlights Japanese cuisine
Advertiser Staff
ASIAN EATS
Shirokiya is deep into a series of summer food events, many focusing on a particular food or region of Japan with demonstrators, sampling and imported lines of products for sale. Now through Sunday, gyoza and shumai, prepared bean products, crab and seafood bento, seasoned seafood appetizers, pickled vegetables, and Japanese pastries and sweets, such as mochi cakes, are being offered.
From Tuesday through June 26, Shirohato-brand takoyaki (an octopus specialty) and fresh-baked La Poppo sweet potato-apple pies — both from Osaka — will be featured. And June 28 through July 10, the store is focusing on the flavors of Niigata, the largest prefecture on Japan's west coast, famous for seafood. (Also during this period, Koike Rosokuten of Niigata will be on hand to repair and restring juzu, or Japanese prayer beads.)
'Got plenty lychee'
Big Island yields abundant crop of fruit; shop around for special prices
Lychee prices begin at about $2.99 a pound for off-grade, about $4 a pound at farmers' markets and as high as $6.99 a pound in supermarkets (but look for lower-priced specials because of the abundant crop). One place where lychee are available is the new Mililani farmers' market, open from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays at Mililani High School; not a lot of people have discovered this one yet. In contrast, the Saturday market at Kapi'olani Community College and the Thursday evening market in Kailua are bustling.
A bumper crop of lychee from the Big Island is at area farmers' markets, in Chinatown and at Made in Hawaii Foods in Pearl City, according to Don Akiyama of Made in Hawaii. The ones pictured here are the Kaimana variety, plentiful through this month. Other varieties, such as Bozworth 3 and the Kwimi Pink, will begin to come in during the summer. The larger fruit are Extra Fancy Kings — 1ý inches across or larger. About half of Kaimana have a small seed, colorfully termed a "chicken tongue" seed, so you get more fragrant meat.
