honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, March 27, 2005

COVER STORY
Chef to bring in seasonal fish from Japan

Sumiko Obara and Shigeo Koike stand below the "bow," a popular feature of this Kaimuki restaurant.

Photos by Randy T. Fujimori


Maguro-Ya

Where: 3565 Waialae Ave., Kaimuki

Call: 732-3775

Hours: Lunch Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. (closed Sunday and Monday for lunch ); dinner Tuesday through Sunday from 5 to 9:30 p.m.

Note: Lunch and appetizer specials are featured daily.

First he pulled out the hirame (flounder). Then he held up the mirugai (giant king clam). And each time Maguro-Ya's manager and chef Goro Obara reached into a courier package he had just received from the Big Island, his eyes would light up with a child-like twinkle.

Carefully inspecting a wooden box that was tucked in with the flounder and the king clam, Obara lifted the lid and with a wide smile said, "Ummm, fresh uni (sea urchin)."

For the past five years, Obara and fellow sushi chef Garrett Wong have educated local foodies on all the different parts of an ahi, from the head to the the belly to even the tuna's big eyes. Yes, the eyes!

"Oishi (delicious)," said Obara of the eye. "I'll cook or grill it with teriyaki."

"It's the meat behind the eye and not the eye itself that's cooked," Wong said. "Look at the size of that eye. It would be like eating a jawbreaker."

Fatty and oily, this meat is considered a delicacy in Japan, according to Wong, who has worked side by side with Obara for the past five years.

Another delicacy that Obara will bring in from Japan this month is the shirouo, which is a miniscule fish that's almost transparent. This seasonal fish — usually caught between February and March — is often eaten alive.

Nodding her head in approval, spouse Sumiko Obara said she likes eating this fish ... uncooked, of course.

"It tastes good," smiled Sumiko, who helps manage the restaurant during the lunch hours. "It's certainly one of my favorites."

The less adventurous diner, however, does have non-"Fear- Factor-like" dishes from which to choose, including 15 different types of ahi preparation.

"That's why the name Maguro, which is big-eye tuna (ahi)," Goro Obara explained. "We specialize in this type of fish."

The most popular meal to get here is the "Maguro-zukushi" ($15.50 for dinner). Guests who don't read Japanese may make the mistake that this teishoku offers a choice of sashimi, yakimono or agemono. No, it comes with all three. It's a triple sampling of how to serve tuna — raw, broiled (yakimono) and katsu (agemono). The meal also includes kobachi, salad, owan, tsukemono and rice.

While skewering cubes of ahi, Obara said he'll simply put these on a yakiniku grill, lightly sear them and serve them with a ponzu dipping sauce.

Carefully and evenly slicing the hamachi (yellowtail), flounder, saba (mackerel), shrimp and baby squid, Wong looked up momentarily to say these slices of sashimi would be later used for the sushi specials.


Garrett Wong carefully slices the hamachi in thin, even sashimi strips.
Only ahi, though, is used when ordering the "Maguro Iroiro" ($16.50 for dinner), which features four different parts of the tuna that are each prepared in a different manner: marinated in shoyu; scraped and wrapped in nori; blanched in hot water with ponzu (a sauce made with lemon juice or rice vinegar, shoyu, mirin and/or sake, seaweed and dried bonito flakes); and seared with salt and lemon.

While dinner guests can choose dishes from an a la carte menu here, the lunch crowd will have to rely on pieces of paper with the week's specials scrawled on them.

Complete teishoku lunch specials — which change every week — start at $10.50. Sashimi can usually be added to the menu for an additional $2.50.

"We started offering these weekly specials during last year's tax season," said Sumiko Obara. "They offer a lot of value for the money, which is especially important during this time of the year."