Spirit of Aloha | Articles | Books | July/August 2002

Adventures in Dining
By Bob Dye

Creatures of Tradition

As she suggests in the title of her cookbook, Go Home, Cook Rice, Joan Namkoong is all for what is local

Go Home, Cook Rice, by Joan Namkoong, is an Island cookbook that is as unpretentious as its title.

For example, this "tip" on washing rice: "We are creatures of habit: we grew up washing rice, throwing out that white filmy liquid and repeating the process until the water is clear. Today we are told that washing rice removes the thiamine, niacin, iron and folic acid, with which almost all U.S. rice is enriched and fortified to make up for the loss of nutrients in the milling process. What to do? Your choice."

Lazy, my choice is not to wash the rice. My wife's choice is to wash it until the rinse water runs clear. So, we wash the rice cleaner than we did the babies. Now grown, they wash the rice. And so will their kids. That's local tradition, and Namkoong is all for what is local.

My favorite recipe from the book, and the one I made first, is for local-style macaroni salad. The secret to its success is the addition of one can of
tuna, drained, or 1 cup crab meat mixed in while the macaroni is still warm, along with about 3 cups of mayonnaise. Additional mayonnaise is added before serving to moisten and create a creamy texture.

The second recipe I tried was Perfect Pork Chops. The secret here is to marinate the chops in a baking dish of brine in the refrigerator for three to four hours before browning and baking them at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Mine came out of the oven tender and juicy.

The book is subtitled A Guide to Buying and Cooking the Fresh Foods of Hawai'i, so all of the ingredients are readily available at neighborhood markets. OK, not quite. Breadfruit comes from a neighbor's tree. Most mangoes do, too. Free is always best.

Namkoong, former food editor for The Honolulu Advertiser, writes good, straight-forward prose. And she is so smart. The book is handsomely illustrated and the food tastefully photographed.

Go Home, Cook Rice by Joan Namkoong
designed by Elsa Carl
photographs by Rae Huo
cover illustrations by Grant Kagimoto.
Namkoong Publishing, Honolulu, 2001.

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