Jennifer 8. Lee, author of the book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles which explores the odd origins of Chinese food in America (hint: it’s not very Chinese), has evidence that Crab Rangoon may have been invented by Trader Vic — although the tiki restaurant chain may have just popularized it.

I did uncover some research on the crab rangoon (essentially cream cheese fried wontons). But I was not able to drive this research home to a level of comfort. I think crab rangoon was popularized by Trader Vic’s, a restaurant out in California, during maybe the late 1950s/1960s (?). That is when I first noticed it appearing on menus when I slogged through hundreds of menus at many libraries across the country…

…Someone(sic) the crab rangoon has made the hop over to Chinese restaurants. Chinese restaurants are very good at adapting to their local palates. I see it a lot in the Midwest and South as well. In terms of local Chinese specialties, though I still adore the Philly cheesesteak roll, which looks like an egg roll on the outside but cheesesteak on the inside.

Read the interview at Boston.com | Buy The Fortune Cookie Chronicles at Amazon.com

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I’d always been hesitant to use fresh pineapple in my drinks because of the expense of sliced pineapple at the grocery store — a small package of chunks can run up to $5.00 in my area. I’d attempted to cut up a whole pineapple a couple of times with just a sharp knife: it worked OK, but after a good 15 minutes of effort I ended up with something that looked more like a science experiment than a garnish.

Recently, I came across a William & Sonoma-branded version of the Vacu Vin pineapple slicer in the clearance rack of their otherwise highbrow store. It’s deceptively easy to use: you slice off the top of the pineapple, then push the Vacu Vin down into the flesh of the open pineapple, twisting as you move deeper into it. When you get to the bottom, you pull the device up and out of the fruit and you end up with a length of 1/8″ high, perfectly spiraled pineapple.

Cutting the pineapple this way takes less than a minute, the fruit is ready to cut into rings or smaller slices, and you end up with a hollowed out pineapple — perfect for pouring drinks into!

There’s three models available: a plastic version with cutting wheels for three different sized pineapples, in plastic at a single-sized, and in stainless steel at single-size. My single-size plastic has been doing great — the stainless steel model would be a good choice if you cut a lot of pineapples, but is probably overkill for the average person.

$7.95 – $18.95

Buy Vacu Vin plastic plastic pineapple slicer at Amazon.com | Buy Vacu Vin stainless steel pineapple slicer at Amazon.com

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This post from last year has gotten an extraordinary amount of traffic this week, but the link was dead. Thanks to the Internet Archive, it lives again. Enjoy.

Mele Kalikimaka is Hawaii’s way to say “Merry Christmas,” but how does it say “Happy Thanksgiving?” Apparently, the answer is “Ho Ka ‘Ono!” Translation: “let’s eat.”

If you’re done nothing but consume the exact same thing every fourth Thursday of November your entire life (like me), maybe it’s time for a change. all recipies.com has a nice round up of recipes to put on a Hawaiian Thanksgiving—everything from poke to sweet potatoes to oven kalua pork.

Remember to ask, “please pass the poi.”

Link

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As a big fan of Beachbum Berry’s Grog Log and Intoxica drink recipie books, I had never seen the need to own Trader Vic’s Tiki Party, despite the obvious tie-in to one of the most famous tiki restaurant chains and the inventor of the Mai Tai and other classic cocktails. As fate would have it, my girlfriend and I received the book as a present, so I spent last weekend pouring through the pages (and pouring drinks made with the recipies inside).

Overall, the book was a pleasant surprise. Besides the drink recipies (many of which also appear in Berry’s books), Trader Vic’s Tiki Party includes home-kitchen versions of many of the Trader Vic’s restaurants’ appetizers and entrees and a section for newbies with suggestions on how to throw a proper tiki party (although I have to disagree with the author’s opinion that drinks should be served in clear glasses — half the fun of tiki drinks is receiving them in ceramic mugs). The book is thick with saturated-color photographs that glamorize the recipies, which is a nice addition for beginners who would have no idea whether the drink they were mixing looked right or not.

If you’re a hardcore tiki bartender that’s been mixing with Beachbum Berry’s recipies for years, this probably isn’t the book for you. However, if you’re a fan of the Trader Vic’s chain and their food or a newcomer to the tiki scene looking to get started, Trader Vic’s Tiki Party will fit the bill nicely.

The book retails for $19.99. Amazon sells it for $13.57 and used copies usually for for around $10.

Trader Vic’s Tiki Party at Amazon.com

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Every once and awhile I stop by the marinade section of the supermarket to see if there’s anything new to help spice up our evening meals. We’ve been eating a lot of chicken now that my girlfriend and I are training for our marathons this January, so interesting sauces go a long way in keeping dinner from getting boring. The best sauces usually come in the worst packaging — it’s a signal that the product is made by a small company that’s spent its resources making a decent product and not a large corporation throwing millions into marketing a so-so sauce. That’s how I stumbled upon Soy Vey Island Teriyaki sauce.

I’m not usually a big fan of teriyaki — I’d become sick of it after it became an overused ingredient at restaurants in the late ’80s/early ’90s — but this Island Teriyaki sauce also includes pineapple juice and ginger that gives the meat an outstanding tropical flavor perfect for a backyard luau.

We liked the Island Teriyaki so much that we picked up a bottle of their Wasabiyaki marinade at our next trip to the market and it’s excellent as well. If you like wasabi on your sushi, then you’ll love this. It’s strong enough that you taste the wasabi but not so strong that it’s overly hot or dominates the meat. Right now we’re really enjoying putting Wasabiyaki on tilapia fish fillets, which is inexpensive for fish but very good.

Soy Vey products may be available at your local supermarket and can also be ordered from the company’s website at $4.00 per bottle.

Link

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Doombuggy Productions specializes in producing guides for DIY homages to Disneyland—in particular The Haunted Mansion. But their Adventureland section has some nice things for Enchanted Tiki Room lovers too.

The site has recipes of simulations of the Tiki Room queue favorite Dole Whip, as well as reproductions of entries and beverages from the now defunct Tahitian Terrace and the soon to be closed (or so the rumor goes) Bengal Barbecue.

Link

UPDATE: Doombuggy Productions website is now offline, but some of the articles have been archived at JimHillMedia.com, including many of the Adventureland recipes.

Link

UPDATE 2: The recipe for the Dole Whip was conspicuously absent from the link above, so I grabbed it from a cached version of the site using the Internet Wayback Machine. Enjoy!

Ingredients
Ice Cream Maker
1 quart pineapple juice (Dole)
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups cream
3 cups sugar
milk

1. Mix the pineapple juice and sugar…make sure that the sugar is dissolved.
2. Next add the cream and vanilla.
3. Poor the whole mixture into the Ice Cream container.
4. Add milk to finish filling to the “fill line”

At this point simply follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.

When the ice cream is ready you can serve it as is or you can stick it in the freezer for a while and let it set up a bit.

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The Poi Company made a run at selling poi over the internet for 5 years before shutting its doors in 2003.

The company’s founder, Craig Walsh, still maintains a website about the mashed taro product, with facts, recipes, and information on where it’s still available for sale.

Link

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