Maui, Day 7: Samphire Salad with Papaya and Sesame

Sea asparagus. Because that is totally a thing. Look it up.

Ingredients
2 handfuls (about 3 oz) sea asparagus (a.k.a. samphire), chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp black sesame seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 ripe avocado, diced
1/4 ripe papaya, diced
Diced pineapple (about the same amount as the papaya)

Rinse the sea asparagus and then let soak in cold water for 1-2 hours to remove some of the saltiness. Drain, rinse, and dry in a salad spinner.

Meanwhile, toast the sesame seeds over medium heat until fragrant, then add the olive oil and swirl. Remove from the heat. (You could use sesame oil instead here for simplicity—we just didn't have any, and I like the look of the black sesame seeds anyway).

Toss the sea asparagus in the sesame seeds and enough of the oil to coat lightly. Add the avocado and fruit, toss well but gently, and then stick in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to chill before serving. (The acidity of the pineapple should keep the avocado from browning. If you're impatient, stick in the  freezer along with your bowls or plates for 5 minutes and then serve.)

Serves 2-4.

Hiking along the coast near Pa'iloa Beach

Star Fruit (the sort of thing you wonder how you've gone your whole life without)

Abiu (like a cross between a pear and a marshmallow. Kind of weird, but interesting.)

(...but mostly weird.)

Quinoa and braised kale with curry leaf, coconut, and lemongrass

Maui, Day 4: Tropical Fruit Salad and a Red Sand Beach

The thing about staying at the end of the road to Hana for a week is that you're at the end of the road to Hana. Meaning there's not much in the way of stores or restaurants. Fortunately, if you stock up with provisions ahead of time at Costco and Mana Foods, and if you happen to be staying in a little bungalow in the middle of the jungle with a well-stocked kitchen, and if you adore collecting fruit from roadside fruit stands as you wend your way from place to place during the day, you can cook up just about anything.

Say, for example:

Breakfast

Heavenly, just-baked macademia nut banana bread from Hana Farms (just before Hana, and just after the little stand that purports to sell "Maui's best banana bread" but in fact sells, as far as we can tell, banana-less banana bread, which is basically the opposite).

Tropical fruit salad, inspired by breakfast a few days ago at Hale Ho'okipa Inn (which is where you should stay if you're ever in Maui and want a beautiful, restful retreat nestled in a lovely garden near both Haleakala and delicious food).

Ingredients (Serves 2-3)

1/2 papaya, diced

About the same amount of pineapple, diced

1 large star fruit, sliced crosswise*

1 apple banana, sliced

(or sub whatever you find at a roadside fruit stand for any of this)

1 ripe passion fruit**

Toss everything together, chill if desired, then serve. Dipping the banana bread in the extra juice is highly, highly recommended. Possibly even required.

*To prepare the star fruit, wash and dry, then stand up on one end and slice off just the very outer browned edges that make the five points of the star. Then just trim the ends, slice crosswise into stars, and de-seed when necessary.

**To pick a ripe passion fruit, look for the wrinkled and ugly ones...pretty and smooth on the outside means you'll be puckering when you try to eat it. To use, cut in half crosswise, and spoon out the seeds and pulp over the other fruit like a sauce.

Lunch

Blue marlin and sea asparagus poke from Costco (that's right, the Maui Costco does poke, sashimi, you name it), seaweed salad (also from Costco), zucchini and kale salads from the (excellent) salad bar at Mana Foods in Paia, avocado from somewhere...possibly the tree outside.

Dinner

Blue marlin with lemongrass, ginger, bok choy, coconut milk, and sea asparagus over jungle rice, topped with local papaya and Maui gold pineapple.

Maui, Day 3: Blue Marlin with Ginger and Coconut

Found at the Maui Costco: Fresh, local blue marlin.
Found at Mana Foods: Curry leaves, red mustard frisee, ginger, and cilantro.

The result: A new take on an old favorite. Serve this over jungle rice.

Ingredients
2 thick blue marlin fillets (or one that you cut in half later; we used one .7 lb fillet for two hungry people)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 curry leaves (optional)
Olive oil
1 1/4 tsp minced ginger
Small handful cilantro, chopped
1/3 can coconut milk
1 bunch red mustard frisee, coarsely chopped (or sub spinach or another green*)
1/2 large papaya, diced

Sprinkle the fish on both sides with salt and pepper, and press a couple curry leaves into each side. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. When hot, add a little olive oil and swirl to coat. Add the fish, shake the pan to prevent it from sticking, and then pan fry until golden on both sides.

Add the mustard frisee and sauté around the fish, stirring a few times, for about a minute until it begins to wilt. Stir in the coconut milk, the ginger, a pinch of salt, and the cilantro. Turn the heat down a bit to simmer gently until the fish is just barely cooked through (if you use one fillet for two people: it gives you an excuse to cut the fish in half at this point and check whether it's almost done). Turn off the heat about a minute before the fish is cooked to your liking, because it will keep cooking a little once served over the rice.

Serve over jungle rice—fish, then greens and sauce over the top, then scatter papaya over everything.

Serves 2.

*If it's a veggie that takes a little while to cook, like bok choy or asparagus, sauté separately until almost tender first and then add back in with the fish at the end.

Wordless Wednesday: Maui Edition

 

 

Opah with Coconut, Ginger, and Cilantro

Consider the impeccable timing: just weeks before our long-awaited Kaua'i trip, I fall deeply, obsessively, madly in love with fish. The result? A delightfully fish-filled vacation, brimming with everything from fresh ahi poke to a panoply of new (for us) fish discoveries primarily involving the letter O—ono fish wraps from the Kilauea fish market, sauteed opakapaka with garlic and scallions; succulent opah simmered in a mouthwatering medley of coconut milk, ginger, and cilantro.

Speaking of which, if you can find opah (also called moonfish, and sometimes available at the Sacramento Co-op and no doubt other west coast fish markets at least), make this. If you can't, find a substitute fish (thick enough to be cooked for a little while, relatively firm, buttery flavor) and make it anyway. And if you can snag ripe mango or papaya, try combining a bite with the fish, closing your eyes, and enjoying your taste buds' tropical vacation.

Ingredients
2 thick opah fillets (or one that you cut in half later; we used one .6 lb fillet for two people)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 1/4 tsp grated ginger
Small handful cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/3 can light coconut milk
4 baby bok choy, sliced crosswise (or sub tatsoi)
1 ripe mango or papaya, sliced (optional)
Black Forbidden rice (or sub brown rice)
1 medium shallot, chopped

Rinse a cup of black rice and let drain. Saute the shallot in a little olive oil until soft, the add the rice and saute for another minute or so. Stir in 1 cup of water, cover, bring to a boil, and turn the heat down to low. Simmer 25 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the rice tender. (If substituting brown rice, adjust liquid and cooking time accordingly.)

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Stir-fry the bok choy with a pinch of salt and a pinch of grated ginger until just tender (we like it when some of the pieces brown a little, too). Set aside.

Sprinkle the fish on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. When hot, add a little olive oil and swirl to coat. Add the fish, shake the pan to prevent it from sticking, and then pan fry until golden on both sides. Add the coconut milk, the rest of the ginger, a pinch of salt, and the cilantro, and the bok choy. Turn the heat down a bit to simmer gently until the fish is just barely cooked through (here's why I like using one fillet for two people: it gives you an excuse to cut the fish in half at this point and check whether it's almost done). Turn off the heat just before the fish is cooked to your liking -- it will keep cooking a little on your plate, as well.

Serve the fish on a bed of black rice. Spoon the bok choy and coconut sauce over the top of both, and garnish with fresh mango or papaya and a sprig of cilantro.

Serves 2.

Wordless Wednesday: Kauai Edition