Hit up any Chinese or Indian buffet and you’ll notice that a fixture of the line is fried rice — the kind that you can pile on your plate time after time and still enjoy with each new helping. It’s both delicious and addictive.

So wouldn’t it be great if you could make that rice in your own kitchen and avoid shelling out $8 for an all-you-can-eat meal of regret?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Here’s the good news: you can, and it’s easy. In fact, if you ever have stray vegetables or leftovers lying around (like I do almost… oh, let’s see, EVERY DAY), it’s even easier. Fried rice is incredibly forgiving—you can toss whatever you want in there, and it will still taste great.

So here’s a basic recipe, but feel free to play around with it! Read More »

I once wrote an acrostic poem about my love of spam that went something like this:

Salty slab of not quite bacon —
Pig flesh so curiously pink,
Are you ever not on my mind,
Mocking my every taste bud?

I take comfort in the fact that I can buy a spam musubi from any 7-Eleven in Honolulu. If I need a pick-me-up or just something to fill my tummy, I head to the local convenience store and purchase this Hawaiian staple for just $1.09.

Spam is good prepared in other foods too, like next to scrambled eggs for breakfast or in fried rice for dinner. It really is the other white meat — except it’s pink.

And there is a reason why we Hawaiians love spam to such a degree that we consume more of it than any other locale in the world. (Almost 5 million cans of Spam are purchased per year). As the major Pacific port during World War II, spam was brought to the islands by the boatload mainly because it didn’t require refrigeration and it provided protein and sustenance for military personnel. For nearly 60 years now, numerous spam dishes have been invented and several continue to be special local recipes.

To be honest, though, I am only partial to spam musubi, which is really just a warm sushi. If you’re brave enough, here is my personal recipe to try it for yourself. Read More »

I studied abroad for five months in China, and let me tell you, the food there is the best in the world. Ever since I got back, I’ve been trying to replicate it. So far I haven’t had much luck, but this recipe is closer than many.

I like chow mein (which isn’t an actual Chinese dish), but I’ve never liked the crunchy noodles that go along with it. They don’t exist in China, and I prefer rice. You can serve this yummy chicken dish with either.

To make enough chicken stirfy for one person, you’ll need half an onion (chopped), about ¼ pound of diced chicken, 2-3 scallions (chopped), two stalks of celery (chopped), a tablespoon of oil, about a teaspoon of soy sauce, some pepper, and any combination of flavored sauces (here I used garlic-ginger stirfry sauce and black bean sauce). Read More »