Meet In Your Kitchen | Alana Kysar's Hawaiian Poke & her sunny life in LA
Driving up and down Hollywood's soft hills is like swinging in a cradle in one of those dreams that you never want to end. Seduced by the sweet city cocktail of warm asphalt and colorful blossoms popping up behind the iron gates of the elegant Spanish-style mansions along the endless streets and boulevards cutting through the city, I had to pinch myself to believe that I finally arrived at the first stop of my culinary trip around the world, an adventure I started together with Zwilling.
These trips will take me to different continents to meet the locals and dive into the secrets and excitements of their cuisines. The cooking of each country, region, or even village is unique, but despite the differences, we have one thing in common wherever we live: we meet in the kitchen, at the table, to eat, drink, and feast together with the ones we love. This has never changed and I don't believe that this will ever change.
LA wins me over in an instant, always, whenever I go there. There seems to be freedom in the air, no boundaries, but opportunities. Palm trees gracefully grow into the endless blue sky, and even the Pacific hitting the long beaches of Venice and Malibu with its wild waves seem to mellow down as it touches the city's golden sand. LA just puts a smile on your face, you can't help it, it makes you focus on what's possible rather than the obstacles. It's magical and this might be the reason why so many people from all over the country working in the food scene come together in this beautiful spot in California, to work together, to create, and to let their visions become alive.
This, and the fact that the state's unbelievably pleasing weather lets the produce grow so lusciously that it turns the land into a Garden of Eden. Whoever I met in LA, praised the gift of having the best fruits and vegetables at hand almost all year round. All the chefs, home cooks, and farmers who I met in California, who often came from far-flung places and left their home town or country behind, were pulled and inspired by the ingredients that California brings to their kitchens.
This woman has the sweetest smile and the cutest sausage dog and I don't remember what hit me first when I met Alana Kysar in the hall of her elegant home in LA. The blogger and soon to be cookbook author lights up a room with her positive attitude and aura and makes you want to just sit in her kitchen and chat – and that's what I did.
I had been following Alana's work on her food blog, Fix Feast Flair, and on Instagram for years and she successfully made me curious to learn more about the cuisine of her roots. Born and raised in Hawaii, she has an inspiring cooking heritage that shines through most of the creations that come out of the kitchen in her new hometown LA. Her poke recipe in particular roused my appetite just by the look of the pictures on her blog and to finally cook this dish together with her in her minimalist kitchen perfectly equipped with a knife collection that would make every chef jealous, felt just right. We stood at the long counter, attentively watched by her sausage dog, LA's skyline sparkling right behind us, cutting tender tuna fillets that felt like butter. I can honestly say that I considered moving to California in that moment and becoming my host's sous-chef.
According to Alana, it's best to enjoy a bowl of poke on the beach, with a six pack of beer and a bunch of friends after work. It's a Hawaiian classic, slightly similar to Peruvian ceviche, however, the fish stays raw, it's not cured in citrus juices as in the South-American version. It's a very minimal dish that impresses with its simplicity and ingredients of outstanding quality. The spotlight is on the ahi (yellowfin tuna), cut into cubes and tossed in sesame oil, soy sauce, and Hawaiian salt, then you add some onions, nuts, and seaweed, the result is unbelievably tender and tasty. It's usually served with rice, which points to the fact that the roots of Hawaiian cooking are versatile but strongly connected to Asia. Japan, Korea, the Philippines, all these countries left a mark on the cooking of America's 50th state, but the Hawaiians adapted it to the produce that their islands offer: mainly fish, fruit, and vegetables – and lots of sugar.
Alana was born in Kona and raised in Kula on the island of Maui, surrounded by a family of true food lovers who also brought a great portion of humor into her life. Her father often cooked with young Alana and established a judging system for her creations: she'd get points for ingredients, creativity, and presentation. Her mother introduced her to the local cuisine, laid back dishes, she's a master in the kitchen who Alana admiringly describes with the words: she's all that I want to be in the kitchen. One of her chicken recipes must be so good, that the daughter is still trying to beat it.
However, you shouldn't be deceived by a beautiful woman's smile, the soon to be author describes herself as a dictator at the cooker. She knows how she wants everything chopped and done and doesn't accept compromises, even when it comes to her mom who had the honor - and pleasure - to test all the recipes in Alana's new book. The feedback was content from both sides, so I guess Alana Kysar isn't that far away from fitting in her kitchen idol's footsteps.
In the next months, I'll share many new Meet In Your Kitchen features with you that took me to California, Italy, France, and Japan. Thanks to Zwilling for sponsoring these features for our culinary trip around the world!
Alana Kysar's Ahi Poke Bowl
Serves 2
1 pound fresh ahi steak (yellowfin tuna), sashimi grade, cut into cubed, bite size pieces
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce, plus more to taste
¼ cup thinly sliced sweet Maui onion (or sweet yellow onion)
¼ cup chopped green onions
½ teaspoon Hawaiian salt, plus more to taste
¼ teaspoon shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) or chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons finely chopped toasted macadamia nuts
1 teaspoon toasted white or black sesame seeds
1 handful fresh chopped ogo/ limu/ edible sea moss (optional)
Shredded nori (dried seaweed) or furikake (dried seaweed seasoning), for the topping
Cooked white rice (optional)
Place the ahi in a bowl.
Start by adding one tablespoon of sesame oil, soy sauce, the sweet onions, green onions, Hawaiian salt, shichimi togarashi or chili flakes, toasted macadamia nuts, sesame seeds, and the ogo/ limu (if using). Using your hands or wooden spoons, gently toss together and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
Divide the rice between 2 bowls. Arrange the poke on top of the rice and sprinkle with shredded nori or furikake, serve immediately.
Watch my interview with Alana in LA in September 2017:
Thank you, Alana!
Tuna Club Sandwich and the advantages of old fashioned traveling
When I visit my mother I usually take the train as I prefer to cross the country on the ground rather than in the air. I like this old fashioned, slow kind of traveling, when you see the different landscapes passing by, the busy train stations, cities and villages flying passed your window. You really feel the distance and enjoy the changes instead of just getting it done.
My choice of transportation has another advantage. Before I jump on my train back home, my mother and I follow one of our many traditions, this one started many years ago. We have a cappuccino, a glass of wine or champagne and a little snack at an elegant hotel right opposite the city's famous, nearly 800 year old cathedral. Most of the time we sit right next to the windows of the hotel's old fashioned bistro, always amazed by the sight of the imposing gothic building which seems to grow right into the sky. Sometimes we sit at the bar, on leather covered bar stools, surrounded by a couple strangers reading newspapers, served by waiters who are as elegant as the women and gentlemen sitting at the small tables quietly talking. It's as if time stops at this place and I always loved it for this reason!
We enjoy our drinks and our last hour together before we go separate ways again. To feed my constant hunger I usually eat a snack as old as the hotel, a club sandwich. The earliest written proof of this sandwich's existence is from 1899, the hotel opened in 1857 and the current building was completed in 1893. The classic recipe for a club sandwich is made with turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. Today I will share my club sandwich variation filled with a tuna dip mixed with gherkin, egg, capers, tomato paste and mustard, another one of my mother's recipes.
Unfortunately our favourite hotel is closed for renovations at the moment and we're still waiting impatiently for the reopening!
Tuna Club Sandwich
For 4 club sandwiches with 2 layers of tuna dip you need
white bread, toasted, cut in half, 12 slices
green lettuce 4 small leaves
For the tuna dip
tinned tuna in water, drained well (it's best to squeeze the water out), 185g / 6.5 ounces
organic egg, hardboiled and finely chopped, 1
gherkins, finely chopped, 2
capers, finely chopped, 7-10
yoghurt 7 tablespoons
olive oil 1 tablespoon
freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 teaspoon
liquid from the gherkins 1 teaspoon
mustard to taste
tomato paste to taste
salt and black pepper
Mix the ingredients for the dip with a fork and adjust the flavours to taste. Lay a leaf of lettuce on half a slice of toasted bread, spread with tuna dip, put another slice of bread on top covered with tuna dip and a final layer of bread, fix with a tooth pick.
