In a bowl, combine soy sauce, sugar, liquor, ginger and garlic. Stir and set aside.

Heat a little oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat. Stir-fry beef until it turns color and begins to release juices. Push the beef to one side and stir-fry sweet onions until limp and slightly caramelized. (Reduce heat to medium-high if onions begin to brown too fast.) Add green onions, shirataki, mushrooms and bamboo shoots. Stir-fry briefly. Add sauce and cook 2 to 3 minutes, until flavors have permeated the ingredients. Serve immediately over hot rice.

Makes 4 servings.

* Gotta be Hawai'i-style shoyu for this — Aloha brand, li'dat.

EGGS GOLDENROD

I made this for Mom on Mother's Day many years ago.

Separate the whites and yolks and set the yolks aside. Chop the whites and place them in the hot sauce. Place the toast points on four plates. Pour the white sauce over. Press the egg yolks through a sieve over the top and serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

To make white sauce: Bring 1 cup milk to room temperature or warm it slightly in the microwave. In a frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons butter and whisk in 2 tablespoons flour. Let this cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for at least 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the warm milk, stirring constantly. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and white pepper to taste. Allow this to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes (stir occasionally to prevent scorching or sticking), until thickened. Taste, correct seasonings. White sauce may be kept warm in the top of a double boiler, but it tends to develop a skin and get overly thick.

'EXOTIC' CHICKEN CURRY

People asked Mom (Addie Rowland, of Wailuku) for this recipe so often that she typed up the recipe and copied it. I've revised it a bit to accommodate contemporary ingredients (such as boned chicken, so you don't need to do the tedious boning anymore) and tastes (such as a preference for using fresh vegetables instead of the frozen broccoli originally called for). You can lighten this recipe a bit by using a lower-fat margarine, lower-fat mayonnaise and 2 percent milk — but it's not diet food.

I like to use hotter Madras curry and double the amount below. I add a little more lemon, too, to cut the richness. The original recipe suggests cooking the broccoli, but I just slice it thin and use it raw; it emerges from the baking fully cooked, but not overcooked.

In a frying pan with a little water, lightly poach the chicken pieces, just until they turn color. Drain and set aside.

In the same frying pan, make a white sauce: Melt butter, whisk in flour and cook for 1 minute; whisk in chicken broth and half-and-half or milk and cook over medium heat, stirring, until thickened. Add mayonnaise, lemon juice and curry powder, stirring between additions. Beat well and set aside.

Slice broccoli stems very thin, cut florets into bite-size pieces; steam or not, as preferred.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a deep 3-quart casserole*, arrange ingredients in two layers in this order: broccoli, chicken, white sauce. Top with bread crumbs and slivered almonds and bake 45 minutes, until bubbly and slightly browned and puffy.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

*Or make one layer in a shallow casserole dish.

BLACK MAGIC CAKE

When I called my godmother, Cyrilla Medeiros of Wailuku, for her recipe for chocolate cake, she was, as usual, both generous and hilarious. She said she doesn't cook much anymore, then told me she'd just made 20 loaves of mango bread (from my grandmother's recipe, which she says is the best). As she searched for the recipe card, she also told how, whenever she made this cake for dessert, the next day her two sons would vie to beat each other home from St. Anthony School to be first at the leftovers. With the help of a cake-baking friend, I've modernized the technique slightly, but the cake is as I remember it — a bit crisp on the outside, almost like a brownie, and tender within.

Line two 8-inch metal cake pans with kitchen parchment or waxed paper; grease or spray with oil-flour spray. Set aside. Place Crisco and chocolate in a microwave oven-proof bowl; microwave on 50 percent power 1 minute, stir, then continue to microwave, stopping at 30-second intervals to stir, until chocolate is melted and Crisco is incorporated. Add vanilla and set aside to cool to room temperature. In a bowl, mix together sugar and salt. In another bowl, mix together yolks and milk. Sift together cake flour, baking soda and baking powder and place in another bowl. With an electric mixer, or in the bowl of a standing mixer, blend and mix chocolate mixture and sugar/salt mixture. In three batches, alternately add flour mixture and egg mixture. Work quickly and do not overmix. Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees on the middle rack of the oven for 28 to 30 minutes. Sides of the cake will separate very slightly from the pans. Cool on a rack, fill with Mrs. Pombo's Vanilla Filling (below) and frost with 7-Minute Icing (variations of the recipe can be found online).

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

* Feel free to use an even higher quality of unsweetened chocolate, such as Scharffenberger.

Variation: Add 1/4 cup Valrhona or other dark cocoa and 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder for even deeper chocolate flavor.

MRS. POMBO'S VANILLA FILLING

This is my godmother's mother's recipe for old-fashioned cooked cake filling. You need a double boiler for this; if you don't own one, use a metal or other heat-proof bowl perched atop a saucepan. It's very important that the bottom of the top pan not touch the water below, and that the water be gently simmering, not boiling.

Heat water in bottom of double boiler just to simmering. In the top pan, off the heat, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar and salt. In a small bowl or measuring cup, beat together the egg and milk. Gradually add these to the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Place the top pan over the simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens, scraping the bottom and keeping the mixture moving at all times. This takes a few minutes but when the thickening happens, it will be very rapid, and this is when lumps can form. When thickened, remove mixture from heat and whisk in vanilla. Allow to cool.

Fills 1 (8-inch) cake.