Lox of Bagels

It's easy to overlook this place. I should also add that the exterior doesn't do Lox of Bagels justice.

In most cities, a post about bagels would seem downright silly. After all, a number of well-known bagel shops, especially chains such as Einstein Bros. and Bruegger’s, are ubiquitous almost everywhere now. Here in Hawaii, however, it’s surprisingly hard to find a good bagel shop (and good pizza, but that’s another post). Most people buy them at grocery stores, and one bite will tell you immediately that no love has gone into the baking process. There are a few locally run bagel shops, but in my experience there is only one worth going to. Unfortunately, it’s a little bit out of the way from where I live, but now and then it’s worth making the fifteen-minute drive to get a nice bagel sandwich and stock up on bagels for home.

The Manhattan was unreal good. I love the fact that they're generous with

the veggies and don't slather on the cream cheese.

If you’re anywhere near downtown Honolulu, Lox of Bagels is, in my opinion, the only place to go to satisfy a bagel craving. Generous with their help, and even more so with the ingredients they pile on to an order, I just don’t see how you can go wrong with anything here. They have more than twenty varieties of homemade bagels, and that doesn’t include seasonal bagels. Their bagel prices are reasonable – at least for Hawaii – and go for $1.09 each.

While their selection of bagel sandwiches is fairly standard, they take the idea of standard and make it special. You can make your own bagel sandwich from ham, salami, roast beef, smoked turkey, tuna, pastrami, or chicken salad, or you can order a veggie ($3.99), a BLT, a Club, or a Manhattan Delight (lox, cream cheese, and capers). All sandwiches come with “the works,” a piling-on of lettuce, tomato, sprouts, onions, mayo, and mustard. You might not notice it in the photo above, but that bagel sandwich, which I’ve squeezed down to make it easier to eat, has a veritable salad inside. It is absolutely worth the $8.49 price tag. If you arrive for breakfast, you have a choice between a bagel with eggs and butter ($2.79); eggs, cheese and butter ($3.29); or eggs, cheese and butter, and ham or bacon ($4.49).

Chocolate bagel puff -- great with coffee

Another thing I like about Lox of Bagels is their bagel-based desserts. For example, they have several pretty amazing “bagel Danish” options as well as “bagel puffs,” which are innocuous-looking, dinner roll-like concoctions that are much better than a glance might suggest. The first time I tried these I worried that they’d be too dry and bready and overwhelm their individual dessert aspects. But not to worry. Good lord, they were excellent – and perfect with a hot cup of strong Vietnamese coffee (yes, another Trung Nguyen victory). Cinnamon raisin puffs, which have cream cheese inside, are only 99¢, but you may want to splurge an extra 40¢ for a specialty puff whose center is filled either with chocolate and cream cheese, peanut butter and cream cheese, or adzuki beans. I went with chocolate and cream cheese, which is delicious eaten warm, and if I didn’t feel like such a pig ordering all this (along with four bagels I’ll be freezing) I would have also ordered the adzuki bagel puff. How's that for fusion?

As with the exterior of Lox of Bagels, the interior doesn't do the place justice either

Lox of Bagels also sells homemade cream cheese spreads: plain, chive, garden vegetable, honey, strawberry, jalapeño cheddar, guava, lox, cinnamon walnut, cucumber onion dill, and spinach herb. Two-ounce containers range from $1.29 to $1.99, and eight-ounce containers will run you between $3.99 and $5.99. They also carry salads, bagel pizzas and melts, bagel dogs, and sweet and savory bagel chips.

They were short on bagels when I arrived. But more were being made in the background.

They were short on bagel puffs and bagel Danishes. But for good reason.

In the two-and-a-half years I’ve lived in Hawaii it’s been difficult to find really good bagels. Well, suffice it to say that bagels are no longer on my list of hard-to-find eats in Hawaii. Lox of Bagels is the real deal. I just wish it were closer to where I live.

A colorful variety of spreads

Lox of Bagels

111 Sand Island Access Road

Honolulu, HI 96819

(808) 845-2855

www.bagelshawaii.com

Mon - Fri: 5 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Saturday: 6 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Sunday: Closed

Catering is available.

My First Newspaper Publication

Well, I finally got a piece of food writing published (not counting my short story about a guy who confused eating with love). For anyone who's interested, please have a look at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin website where it appears as a feature story.

And yes, there's no more anonymity for me, as my real name appears beneath the title of the story. (And if you're really curious, or just have a bunch of extra time on your hands, feel free to check my other blog for various photos as well as some stuff that overlaps with this website.) As far as my blogging life goes, however, I still prefer to go by Sapuche!

I intend to post the original article, which runs twice as long as this publication and has more photos to go with it, as soon as I'm sure the publication rights have reverted back to me.

I'm afraid I have to go back into my blogging cave again (i.e., dealing with the exigencies of my life) for a couple more weeks. After that, I hope to be back blogging fairly regularly again!

Fifty Foods for Fifty Years: Commemorating Hawaii’s Statehood

Hawaii, nearly three thousand miles from the West Coast of the United States, became our country’s fiftieth state on August 21, 1959. Despite the intervening fifty years, much of the Islands’ culture remains unknown to mainlanders. This is particularly true of the food of Hawaii, which has absorbed the varied culinary influences of its population perhaps more than any other U.S. state.

To commemorate Hawaii’s statehood I have compiled a list of fifty foods of Hawaii that will help the uninitiated learn what feeds this beautiful, far-off state.

Fish, of course, has always been a Hawaiian staple. Mahimahi (dolphin fish) is perhaps the most familiar fish to mainlanders. Real mahimahi has been overfished in recent years, however, and much of what appears on menus is a different variety of whitefish. Another local fish commonly found in markets and on menus is ono (wahoo), which is similar to king mackerel but more versatile in its pairings.

Fresh mahimahi (wearing the tail of another fish on its head) in Chinatown

While mainlanders have learned to love sushi, poke (cubed fish salad) remains little known. Traditional poke consists of raw fish, aleae (sea salt), inamona (kikui nuts), and limu (a seaweed and ancient seasoning). Today, poke can be made from almost anything. Ahi (yellowfin tuna) is the most popular poke, found in Island stores raw, dried, or salt-cured, and served in restaurants as a pupu (appetizer).

Poke selection at Tanioka's Seafood & Catering, in Waipahu

One of my favorite kinds of poke uses opihi (limpets), which can come from the ocean or a freshwater stream.

Opihi poke, from Tamashiro Market

Aku (skipjack tuna) is another popular poke fish, and its bones are used in stocks and can even be eaten fried.

Fresh aku in Chinatown

One also finds edible ocean plants in the local diet. Ogo, a type of limu harvested mainly on specialized farms on the island of Molokai, is the most common seaweed eaten in Hawaii, and local groceries carry it both dry and fresh.

Ogo sold in a Big Island Foodland

Sea asparagus, while not as popular as seaweed, is starting to catch on, partly due to its nutritional benefits.

Sea asparagus, from Kapiolani Farmer's Market

Shortly after Captain James Cook landed on the Islands in 1778, Hawaii served as a provisioning stop for European and American sailors. When the Hawaiians feted Cook at a luau (a traditional feast) at Kealakekua Bay, on the Big Island, he was served, among other dishes, kalua pig – salted pork slow-cooked in an imu (a pit filled with heated stones).

Kalua pork lunch plate from Keneke's in Waimanalo

But luau is also a dish made from coconut milk, long-stewed taro leaves – “luau” means “taro” in Hawaiian – and either squid, octopus, or chicken.

Luau squid from Helena's in Kalihi

Taro also features in poi, perhaps Hawaii’s best-known food. Poi is a buoyant, tangy dish in which the tube root of the taro is fermented, baked, and then pounded into a paste. If any food verges on the sacred in Hawaii, it is poi.

Another Hawaiian dish is laulau, which today is found frequently on plate lunch menus alongside rice and macaroni salad. Laulau consists of salted butterfish and either chicken, beef, or pork, all of it wrapped in taro tops and steamed in ti leaves.

And although salmon is not an endemic fish, lomilomi salmon is often served at luaus and in plate lunches. Lomi refers to an Island massage technique applied to salted salmon mixed with tomatoes.

Huli-huli is a sweetly pungent marinade used with rotisserie chicken. Huli-huli chicken is popular at large gatherings and is often sold on the weekends by streetside or parking lot vendors.

Hulihuli chicken in Haleiwa

Chili water is a common household seasoning in Hawaii. Made from hot red chili peppers, crushed garlic, salt, and vinegar, it goes well as a condiment on many dishes.

Although taro is by far the most important local tuber, the ‘uala (purple sweet potato) has long been significant to the Hawaiian diet. It also features in many ethnic recipes, particularly among Filipinos who often eat its leaves.

'uala, or purple sweet potatoes

Cook’s arrival paved the way for others, who inevitably brought with them their own foods and culinary predilections. The Chinese were the first migrant group to appear, arriving in the 1770s to work on local sugar plantations. The Japanese were next, also to become plantation workers, followed by Portuguese from the Azores islands, and then the Filipinos. These groups introduced many dishes that have long been incorporated into the local food landscape.

One of numerous Chinese contributions to local cuisine, but perhaps the most influenced by local tastes, is manapua. These baked, baseball-size Chinese buns are traditionally made with pork, but in Hawaii they come with various fillings. Long rice is another Chinese-inspired dish, though this, too, has been adapted to local tastes. Consisting of cellophane noodles, onions, and usually chicken, this is yet another luau staple.

Manapua stuffed with curried chicken, from Royal Kitchen

The Japanese, too, have contributed significantly to the local diet, and bento boxes, sushi restaurants, ramen shops, and even katsudon restaurants are easily found here. Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) is a seasoning that has grabbed a foothold in Hawaii. Hawaiian shoyu lacks the alcohol that Japanese shoyu contains, and is also slightly saltier. Shoyu chicken, shoyu pork, and shoyu-based dressings are all popular in Hawaii.

Portuguese food also holds great importance in Hawaii. Laborers from the Azores brought with them a European cuisine, but their most widely consumed contribution is the malasada (deep-fried doughnut).

Malasadas from Tex Drive In, Big Island

When the first Filipino immigrants arrived, in the decade preceding World War II, they introduced a unique cuisine that was different from anything the Islands had seen. Local people embraced it, and one commonly finds adobo (stewed chicken or pork) and pork guisantes (stewed pork with peas and tomatoes) at many food outlets.

More recently, Korean cuisine has made headway into the Hawaiian food scene, especially on Oahu. Kim chee (spicy pickled vegetables made with garlic and red chili pepper) is widely available, and kalbi (thin slices of grilled beef marinated in Korean soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil) is a popular plate lunch item.

Another local favorite is musubi. Wander into any convenience store, farmer’s market, or local grocery, and you’ll find musubi. Musubi is usually a slab of Spam atop a brick of salted rice, held together with dried seaweed. Spam, however, can be replaced by hot dogs halved lengthwise, or it can be dressed up, for example, with teriyaki sauce.

At the Hilo Farmer's Market, all the Spam musubi you could dream of

Spam is also eaten in saimin, a plantation-era noodle dish that typically includes omelet shreds, chopped green onions, fish cake (oden), and char siu (Chinese barbecued pork) in a savory fish broth. Nobody is sure whether the Chinese or Japanese in Hawaii developed the dish, but its popularity is indisputable: many local McDonald’s have it on their menu.

Char siu shop, Chinatown

Loco moco is another signature local dish. Hailing from Hilo, on the Big Island, this breakfast dish is not for the weak of heart (medically speaking). Loco moco is often made from two or more hamburger patties, two or more fried eggs, scoops of white rice, macaroni salad, and topped with thick gravy.

Loco moco from Nico's Pier 38

Snacking is big in Hawaii, and a world of small bites is easily found. Pipikaula (salted, dried beef often marinated in soy sauce) has been around since the mid-1800s, and was a common hip-companion of the pañiolas (Hawaiian cowboys). Another snack, although primarily consumed by tourists, is macadamia nuts. Native to Australia, and a relatively new commercial crop in Hawaii, they are also manufactured into healthy cooking and salad oils.

Helena's famous pipikaula

And Hawaii is a paradise for sweets. From andagi (Okinawan fried doughnuts) to shave ice (flavored syrup poured over finely shaved ice), sweets are ubiquitous. Mochi is a Japanese contribution. This short-grained, glutinous rice is cooked, pounded, and made into cakes that can be enjoyed plain, flavored, or filled with sweet pastes. Then there are desserts based on the Islands’ exotic fruits. Examples include haupia (a firm coconut milk pudding) and the various forms that lilikoi (passionfruit) takes: syrups, jams, sauces, drinks, fillings, frostings, cookies, and cakes. While crack seed is not a dessert per se, these colorful dried fruits are favorites among kids.

Another fruit is the Ohelo berry. Native to Hawaii, it grows particularly well in volcanic soil at high elevations. The Big Island is home to many Ohelo berry orchards, and also to the Poha berry, which is tarter. Both are used in jams and glazes, and the latter especially in ice creams.

With all this lip-smacking food, you’ll want something to wash it down with. Hawaii’s famous Kona coffee should do the trick. The high elevations in the north and south districts of Kona, on the Big Island, are best suited for growing Kona coffee beans, and its rarity in the marketplace results in a high price.

Ripening Kona coffee beans along a Big Island highway

More than almost any other U.S. state, Hawaii’s history can be read in its food. Like the geologist who studies the substance and history of the earth, along with the processes that shape it, an open-minded eater can learn much about Hawaii’s past and those who have helped make the Islands a paradise – of abundance, of flavors, and of diversity.

36 Hours in Vung Tau, Vietnam

After disappearing for a few weeks, I'm back. Well, sort of. I've been buried under various work- and writing-related commitments (i.e., teaching a new class, critiquing people's writing, freelance stuff, etc.), and I'm also trying to rewrite a 300-page novel before the first writing conference I've ever attended begins. I've really wanted to post something to my blog, but I just haven't been able to devote much time to it. I hope people understand!

I do have one piece of good news to share -- the Honolulu Star-Bulletin has told me it wants to publish a food reminiscence that I wrote about Vietnam, though they're not sure when it will fit into their publishing schedue. It's an 800-word essay with photos. Oh, and it includes a Vietnamese recipe one of my friends in Saigon gave me. Whenever it comes out, I'll post a link to it here. And maybe I'll even post the original version of the essay, which is about 1600 words, with a lot more photos thrown in.

What I'm posting now is a travel piece I wrote in the hope that the New York Times would be interested in it for their "36 Hours" series of travel articles. Not surprisingly, I never heard from them about my submission. But rather than let it gather "dust" on my hard drive, I thought I'd put it up here.

I hope to be back in full blogging mode one of these days. Unfortunately, it may not be for a while yet. Thanks for your patience, and I look forward to seeing what my blogging buddies have been cooking and eating recently!

****

36 Hours in Vung Tau

Vung Tau Bay at dusk

By hydrofoil, the southern coastal town of Vung Tau is hardly far enough from Ho Chi Minh City for travelers to grab a catnap. Arriving in Vung Tau after the 75-minute journey, the first thing you notice is the wide, curving bay filled with fishing boats so colorful you may wonder if a fleet of tankers carrying oil paints simultaneously ran aground there. Forested mountains hug the long coastline; French colonial mansions dot the foothills. A luxurious marble pathway greets visitors along Front Beach. In the mornings, sidewalks gleam with fresh catches of fish sold to passersby. On the rocks that the early tide has exposed, women scrape away at stubborn, clinging shellfish.

Freshly caught fish piled on a Front Beach sidewalk

Monday

1 p.m.

1) BEGIN AT BAI SAU

Bai Sau is the most popular beach in Vung Tau. If you look closely, you can see Vung Tau's Jesus statue atop the mountain.

Dump your luggage in your hotel room and head straight for some fun in the sun. Among the various beaches within reach of Vung Tau, Back Beach (Bai Sau) is by far the best option. Its wide beaches and sandy dunes stretch down the coast over six miles, and on the weekdays you needn’t go far to have the beach to yourself. Even on weekends, when multitudes of Saigonese descend on Vung Tau, stretches of Back Beach can remain serene and sparsely populated. The ocean here, clean but not azure, is usually calm enough for swimming, and Thuy Van Road, which fronts Back Beach, is dotted with restaurants that specialize in seafood.

5 p.m.

2) FAST TIMES ON FRONT BEACH

Front Beach seen from a distance in the early morning

Front Beach (Bai Truoc) is the most tourist-friendly section of the city, and also the most architecturally eclectic, to put it mildly. The area is built up with local shops, a variety of budget and mid-range hotels, and Vietnamese and international restaurants, bars, and cafes. Every night locals throng the seawall along Tran Phu Street to watch the sunset. Taxis scour Front Beach for tourists, particularly around the ferry terminal, making the area a good base for exploring Vung Tau’s environs. Front Beach itself is quite walkable, however, and from there to Tran Hung Dao Street, which is closer to the heart of the city and bustling with local activity, it only takes about fifteen minutes.

7:30 p.m.

3) DELICIOUS AMBIENCE

Eating under the wave at Ganh Hao

If you’re an exotic food gourmet, you can’t go wrong here. I’ll even go out on a limb to declare that Vung Tau offers some of the very best dining in Vietnam, and Ganh Hao (03 Tran Phu Street; 84-64-550909; www.ganhhao.com) is Vung Tau’s crown jewel of gustation. Ganh Hao easily ranks among the best seafood restaurants in Southeast Asia, both for its menu and its ambience. Luckily for visitors, Ganh Hao’s management hasn’t realized they have a world-class restaurant on their hands, and their menu remains startlingly affordable, even cheap. Their baby oyster spring rolls (cha gio ganh hao), as well as their house seafood salad (goi hai san ganh hao), will leave you swooning, wondering how the jade waters lapping at the restaurant’s seawall could produce anything that delicious.

Tuesday

9 a.m.

4) A LIGHTHOUSE AND A VIEW

Hai Dang Lighthouse

For a structure built nearly 150 years ago, Hai Dang Lighthouse is certainly aging well. (A much needed paint job in 2007 helped.) Rising fifty-nine feet from the top of Small Mountain, its powerful beacon, generated by a rotating Fresnel lens, sweeps out every twelve seconds almost thirty nautical miles. Ask the guards on duty for a quick peek inside and you can explore the lantern and gallery at your leisure. There’s also much to admire in the lighthouse’s cylindrical, rocket-shaped design as well as the panoramic views from its brick-tiled platform.

10 a.m.

5) I THOUGHT I WAS IN VUNG TAU

The Christ of Vung Tau statue. Notice the people peering down from the statue's left shoulder.

Familiar with Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue? Well, Vung Tau has one, too. Standing thirty-two meters high, with outstretched arms that span more than eighteen meters, the Christ of Vung Tau rises prominently from the back of Small Mountain, where it overlooks the South China Sea. Vietnam’s minority Catholic population makes pilgrimages here, but even on non-pilgrimage days it’s a popular destination. The climb to the statue is worth the toil and sweat, but don’t be disappointed when you reach it and see that more climbing – 133 winding, vertiginous steps up an interior staircase – is necessary to stand on the statue’s arms. Sunset is a lovely time to visit, but scores of other people will probably have the same idea.

12 p.m.

6) BUDDHIST INSPIRATION

Reclining Buddha at Thich Ca Phat Dai Pagoda

For an entrée into Theravada Buddhism in Vietnam – not to mention another good workout – make a stop at Thich Ca Phat Dai Pagoda (45 Tran Phu Road) on the north side of Small Mountain. Completed in 1963, Thich Ca Phat Dai has become a site of pilgrimage for its enshrinement of Buddhist relics, including a branch from the bodhi tree beneath which the Buddha attained enlightenment. A nineteen-meter high pagoda, white cement statue of Sakyamuni seated on a lotus flower, and a reclining Buddha are also big draws here.

2 p.m.

7) PRACTICE THAT SWING

If your idea of relaxation is swatting golf balls around well-manicured lawns and then chasing after them in motorized buggies, you’re in luck. Paradise Golf Club (1 Thuy Van Street; 84-64-823-366) is one of Vietnam’s higher rated golf courses and has 27 holes to play on. The 18-hole course is a 6830-yard, 72-par challenge, with distractingly beautiful seaside views. If whoever you’re traveling with doesn’t care for golf, Paradise offers plenty of diversions in the form of water sports, tennis, and a restaurant. Weekday green and caddie fees cost $70; add an additional $30 for weekend play.

7 p.m.

8) A FAVORITE FOR FRESH FISH

Seafood salad (goi cat bien) at Cat Bien Restaurant

Forget about your approach shot on the seventeenth hole that landed squarely in the ocean and let yourself refuel at Cat Bien Restaurant (38 Quang Trung Street; 84-64-512-421). Take advantage of Vung Tau’s always fresh seafood and order goi cat bien (a seafood salad with crushed peanuts, fresh herbs and veggies, and spicy fish sauce) or cua ghe nuong rang me (grilled flowercrab in tamarind sauce). This is an old favorite of local Vung Tauans, and tourists in the know smartly show up with hearty appetites. Dinner for two: $7-$10 before drinks.

9 p.m.

9) I’LL DRINK TO THAT

Coffee and complementary jasmine tea at O Cap 1 Cafe

If coffee is your thing, Vietnam will feel like coffee heaven. In Vung Tau, a gratifying number of open-air cafes, some three stories high and peeking through a jungle-like setting, offer an extensive menu of coffee, tea, beer, and wine, as well as views of Front Beach and the boat-filled harbor. O Cap 1 (90 Ha Long Street; 84-64-511-083) is a good choice, particularly when the sky and bay grow dusky and the café’s decorative lights wink on.

Friday

9 a.m.

10) BANH KHOT BREAKFAST

I can almost promise that if you try banh khot it will become an instant breakfast favorite

For those who find themselves on a budget after overspending in Ho Chi Minh City, you have nothing to fret about, especially where your stomach is concerned. One of the most delectable breakfasts you can have in Vung Tau is banh khot, a grilled rice pancake topped with fresh shrimp and chopped scallions, which you dip in fish sauce mixed with slivered green papaya, carrot, and assorted fresh herbs. The place to go is definitely Goc Vu Sua (14 Nguyen Truong To Street). They open at 6 a.m. and don’t close until their last customer leaves.

10 a.m.

11) VILLA FOR A KING

Villa Blanche overlooks Vung Tau and its colorful, curving bay

Call it what you like – Villa Blanche, White Palace, or Bach Dinh – this French colonial mansion and its sprawling grounds are worth the 5000 dong (29 cent) price of admission. Times have certainly changed since 1859, when the site was a military emplacement from which Vietnamese soldiers fired cannon shots at French warships passing through the bay. The French later built Villa Blanche here for the Governor General of Cochin-China. Look for the Hellenic statues on the outer walls of the villa and, beneath the wide terrace, old cannons aimed toward the sea and collecting rich green patinas beneath beautifully gnarled, tropical almond trees.

THE BASICS

Vung Tau easily makes for a doable day trip from Ho Chi Minh City, but it’s also a pleasant weekend retreat, with numerous beaches and sightseeing opportunities. Hydrofoils shuttle between Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau every half hour (160,000 dong each way).

Binh An Resort (1 Tran Phu Street; 84-64-510-016; www.binhanvillage.com) feels like a sumptuous European spa, but its true magnificence lies in its classic Vietnamese touches. The spacious grounds burst with bougainvillea and fruit trees, and all eight rooms overlook the ocean. On the resort’s north end, a charming lighthouse rises from a cliff; beneath this, a grotto has been transformed into a beautifully appointed seaside piano lounge. Doubles start at $89 a night.

The elegant piano lounge -- built into a grotto -- at Binh An Resort

Vung Tau’s resort scene has been kicked up a notch with the 2006 opening of the 63-room Ho Tram Beach Resort and Spa (Ho Tram village, Phuoc Thuan ward; 84-64-378-1525; www.hotramresort.com). Golf, clay-court tennis, pool swimming, and tropical spa treatments are just a few of the on-site activities. About 25 miles from Vung Tau, a double here runs $103 a night, including buffet breakfast.

For the historically curious, the Grand Hotel (2 Nguyen Du Street; 84-64-385-6888; www.grand.oscvn.com) is Vung Tau’s oldest hotel. Built by the French, popular with U.S. soldiers during the war, and recently renovated, the Grand Hotel manages to retain its old French charm. Standard doubles in this 80-room hotel go for $60 a night.