My New Favorite Salad

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

I wasn't expecting Sunny to contribute a dish to our annual potluck. In recent times, with both sons grown, our New Year celebration has evolved from my cooking the traditional Japanese dishes by myself, to everyone pitching in with an Asian dish -- no longer just Japanese -- and cooking together in the Special Fork kitchen.

Sunny, my daughter-in-law's mother, was visiting from Thailand and as a guest, wasn't expected to participate in the cooking. But when she arrived with a bag of groceries and began making a salad, it was a welcome bonus!

I knew from the ingredients she unpacked -- mint, lemongrass, chiles -- that I would love this salad. Actually, it was so good, I had several helpings.

Click to read more ...

Super-simple Sushi for the New Year!

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Years ago, my English lit professor, who had lived in Japan, observed with amusement that the Japanese in Hawaii were more "Japanese" than they were in Japan. That puzzled me because we all felt as American as anybody else.

It's through the years that I've learned to make sense of Dr. Hurley's remark -- especially during the start of the New Year, and around our food practices. The Japanese like my grandparents, who immigrated to Hawaii in the early 1900s, brought with them their food traditions. Those traditions got stuck in time.

While the Japanese in the land of their birth may have evolved or changed, the isolated Japanese in Hawaii were still embracing the customs they remembered from childhood, with adaptations based on the availability of Japanese ingredients in their new homeland. And my grandparents passed those food traditions on to my parents, who passed them on to me.

Click to read more ...

Easy Christmas Centerpiece

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Truth be told, what I like most about hosting a party is not the cooking, but the decorating. And every year, for my Christmas Eve table, I plan a special table setting to delight my family.

Last year, I made moss tabletop Christmas trees. This year I’m creating a woodland theme with a table “runner” made of Noble Fir sprigs – free scraps of greenery I rescued from my Christmas tree lot, destined for the compost bin. I’ll add snowballs made from Styrofoam, tea lights and partridges bought years ago from my favorite florist.

As the years go by, I’m getting more practical about china, using my white everyday dishes that can go into the dishwasher, so we’re not cleaning up until all hours, hand-washing plates after dinner. But I’ll use good crystal and silverware to make the table sparkle. And I always set the table with cloth napkins, which go directly into the washer when the table is cleared, to prevent stains.

Click to read more ...

Holiday Recipe Helpers

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

By the time my leftovers have been bagged and my turkey carcass simmered for broth, I’m on to the next holiday. Our Christmas tree (a real beauty this year) is half decorated, with ornament boxes still scattered throughout the living room. But by the end of this week, the tree will be dressed, the wreath hung, the house made holiday-ready, and my recipes gathered for upcoming December events.

I must have about 500 cookbooks that I can turn to for culinary inspiration and I save December issues of national magazines from year to year, for further ideas. But of course, when it comes to timesaving, my go-to source is our Special Fork recipe database with its 30-minute prep requirement (cooking time may be extra).

Click to read more ...

After the Feast: 13 Terrific Turkey Sandwiches

By Sandy Hu
The latest from Inside Special Fork

Growing up, did you family do this at Thanksgiving? We would all sit down to dinner and after the pumpkin pie, we’d leave the table, do the dishes and keep the food out for second and third helpings to enjoy as the night wore on.

Returning to the feast was part of the special ritual of the Thanksgiving meal.

No more! We’ve learned since that we were courting foodborne illnesses. And while no one ever got sick, we know better than to take chances.

The rule: USDA says that you should cut up the turkey, separate stuffing and refrigerate in shallow containers within two hours of cooking. Use leftovers within three to four days.

Click to read more ...