As a vegan, it’s easy to eat A LOT of soy. Actually, these days, it’s easy to eat a lot of soy even if you’re an omnivore. It’s in so many things.

A popular source of protein for vegans and vegetarians is, of course, tofu. And while I love tofu and all varieties of it, I am trying to be very conscious of the amount of soy I take in. I know the topic of the health and environmental impacts of soy is controversial and people stand on opposite sides of the issue (and a lot depends on the form of soy in question). But I don't like to overdo anything, and I say, “better safe than sorry.” Plus, I love a culinary challenge and welcome as many ways to take in my protein as possible.

I have become kind of obsessed with hemp seeds lately. They contain all essential amino acids and fatty acids, and are therefore a complete source of protein. In addition, hemp is not a common allergen, like soy or nuts. And, most importantly, they are delicious. They have a nutty, creamy taste. I put spoonfuls on my coconut yogurt in the morning. I make fresh hemp milk. So, I figured, why not make some hemp tofu? Hey, the Italians already do it commercially!

hemp seeds

I got inspiration for this recipe from a few sources, mainly from a forum member on Post Punk Kitchen, named “vegimator” who makes tofu out of pumpkin and hemp seeds, and from a Finnish blog named Mammi who calls the finished product "hefu." I took their advice, combined it with my knowledge of tofu-making, and started experimenting.

This recipe yields a more crumbly tofu than soy tofu. Soy tofu is usually made after straining liquid from the pulp (or okara). I tried this technique with hemp and not enough solids were left in the strained out liquid to coagulate. Using the milk as is, straight from the blender, did work (and a Vitamix helps create a very smooth milk). Hemp tofu is great seared, for a scramble, or a stir-fry, if you don’t mind having rustic, non-cube chunks. Or do what I did: simply drizzle with some sweet soy sauce (equal parts soy sauce and sugar, simmered until thickened) and sprinkle with nori strips. The sweet soy sauce and nori goes great with the creaminess and earthiness of the hemp!

Hemp Tofu (or "hemp-fu" or "hefu")

Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: a few blocks, depending on size of tofu mold

Ingredients
2 cups shelled hemp seeds
4 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons powdered nigari (available at Rainbow Grocery), which will be dissolved in 1 additional cup of water (Note: I have seen recipes for hemp tofu where a coagulant is not even used, so feel free to skip this part. Although, you may get a more crumbly result.)

Instructions

1. Blend hemp seeds with water for one minute at high speed (I used a Vitamix) to make hemp milk.
2. Put hemp milk in a pot and, partially cover it and bring to a boil. You'll start to seeing curds forming.



3. When it reaches a low boil, turn the heat down to medium-low and boil the milk for four minutes, stirring constantly to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot.

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4. Meanwhile, dissolve the nigari in a cup of warm water.



5. Remove the pot from the stove, wait until the temperature reaches 155F. Add half the nigari solution and stir briskly for a few seconds. Wait until the liquid stops moving. Then add the rest of the nigari solution and gently stir a few times. Let sit 15 minutes.



6. Place a cheesecloth over a colander and strain the curds out.



7. Take an amount of curd that will fit in your press (this recipe makes a good bit of curd), place in another piece of cheesecloth and twist to get ALL of the liquid out. If it’s too hot to squeeze, you can try squeezing with tongs.



8. Place the ball of curd, still in the cloth, into a tofu press/mold, and press the curd down. Stack a few bottles or cans on top as a weight. [I bought a cheap wooden press for four dollars at Daiso in Japantown, but I think I’m going to invest in a TofuXpress so that I don’t have to worry about stacking cans on the press.]




9. Let the press stay for 30 minutes. Then unmold the hemp tofu and enjoy!

The Year of the Dragon roars into town today, with two weeks of celebrations capped by the famous Chinatown Parade on February 11. Saturday, I attended a New Year’s themed buffet lunch and wok cooking demonstration by acclaimed cookbook author and San Francisco native, Grace Young, in Louie’s restaurant, a Chinatown institution.

Young —wearing a lucky red-colored top, as are many other attendees— greets her audience by reminding us that New Year’s is “the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. It’s about renewal, rebirth and family togetherness.” Of all the animals in the Chinese horoscope, the mythical dragon is thought to embody power and success. Those born under its the sign are believed to be exceptionally intelligent, creative, charismatic, fearless, lucky, generous, confident, innovative, passionate but unpredictable. No wonder millions of Chinese people are waiting to get married, start businesses and have babies this year.

Grace Young. Photo courtesy of Steven Mark Neeham

The powerful dragon is a good symbol for Grace Young, a determined woman on a mission. Her goal: to rejuvenate authentic Chinese home cooking by keeping the wok tradition alive. “For 2000 years, the wok has been the iron thread that has bound Chinese culinary culture.” she says. “Now is the first time in his history that it’s at risk of being lost.” Non-stick woks are destroying Chinese home cooking,” declares Young passionately. “The food doesn’t taste right, because you can’t get it to sear and caramelize properly. It ends up braised and soggy. Non-stick cookware is not meant for the high heat necessary for stir-fries.” She prefers a flat-bottom, 14-inch carbon steel wok, with a long wooden handle, which can be seasoned to a warm burnished gold, like the one she is using today to make spicy long beans with sausage and mushrooms, a dish her mother taught her.

Besides coming to celebrate the new year with her family in San Francisco, Young is on a tour to promote and sign copies of her latest book, Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge, winner of the James Beard International Cookbook Award, which has taken her to Chinese diaspora communities around the world and steeled her resolve to share the secrets of the wok with as many home cooks as possible.

Young demonstrates how to judge when the preheated wok is hot enough (as soon as a drop of water evaporates on contact) then swirls in the oil and quickly adds her vegetables. One tip she imparts is to listen to your food cook, “That sizzle is the wok talking to you. If you don’t hear it, it’s not hot enough.” Her green beans turn out crunchy with a delicate, smoky wok flavor, which Young says sets it apart from stir-fries made in a skillet or non-stick cookware.

Meanwhile, upstairs, a Chinese calligrapher inks lucky characters on red paper, and the guests line up to fill their plates with lucky foods. Wilma Pang, one of the organizers of today’s event, under the auspices of A Better Chinatown Tomorrow, explains the symbolism of the foods arranged on the buffet table.

Many dishes are considered lucky because their Chinese names are homonyms for auspicious goals; others insure a good year because of their shapes or colors.

“The word for celery (choi) is a homonym for hard work,” Pang explains, and it portends the monetary result of all that effort. Green onions stand for intelligence; the turnip cake signifies that things will keep getting better. The apple means smooth sailing ahead and the tangerine is considered lucky because its orange color connects to gold. Its leaves represent growth and prosperity.

Although, many Chinese New Years foods vary by family and village, the one universal dish is crescent shaped dumplings. Traditionally, dumplings are made on New Years Eve by all the members of the family, working together. Their shape represents gold ingots and so symbolizes good fortune for the upcoming year. “The more you make, it’s like putting money in the bank,” says Pang. “And often, we hide a coin in one dumpling for a lucky diner to find.”

Pang points out the chicken with its head and feet still attached. “Very important to cook an entire chicken, for family togetherness.”

“See these cookies that open up with a smiling face, they represent happiness,” says Pang.

During the meal, there is one dish that has even the Chinese diners stumped. What are those roundish starchy vegetables? “Arrowroot,” Pang answers and holds up a fresh one, slyly smiling as she explains, “See this shape, with the little part that sticks out – that’s for having boy babies.”

After lunch, I have a chance to chat with Grace Young and ask her a few questions.

She grew up eating the traditional Cantonese foods her parents prepared. But at age 12, discovered Julia Child on TV and became fascinated with French cooking, and its entirely different culinary vocabulary. After apprenticing with French chef Josephine Araldo in San Francisco, Young moved to New York in 1979, and worked writing and testing recipes for General Foods. Then she ran the test kitchen at Time Life Books for 18 years, and produced more than 40 cookbooks that spanned the globe.

A chance comment from a cousin ignited the spark of Young’s passion to explore her own family’s culinary culture. Her cousin said, ”When it comes to Chinese cooking, I don’t even try because you can’t beat the Chinese take-out in San Francisco.” Young feared that if most second generation Chinese shared her cousin’s indifference towards learning to make the food of their ancestors, a wealth of authentic recipes and foodways might disappear.

For three years, she made numerous visits to San Francisco to learn her parents’ and family’s recipes. This led to her parents sharing stories about customs and traditions associated with the food, as well as tales from their lives in China that she had never heard before. Young’s first book, The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen, was published in 1999 and won the IACP Best International Cookbook. Young is proudest of this book because she feels it preserves traditional Chinese home cooking.

Is the dish you made today special for Chinese New Year's?
Not specifically, but it has mushrooms which grow quickly and so symbolize prosperity. I made this dish today because it’s one of my mother’s favorites. Now that she’s getting older and doesn’t cook, I’m so grateful I have recorded her recipes in my book. When I go back and reread them, it’s as if I can hear her still talking to me through the recipes. For all these years, she always made the New Year’s Eve meal and now in the last few years I am able, through my book, to make it for her. It’s ironic because I always thought that I was writing for the next generation. And in a million years I never dreamed I would give this back to my mother. When I make her a special New Year’s dish, like turnip cake, her face lights up, because food is memory.

Is there a certain dish you always have for New Year's eve dinner?
Fish is the standard dish at the end of the meal. The word for fish “yu” means wish and signifies abundance. It is essential to serve the complete fish, with the head and tail attached to ensure a good beginning and end to the year. Traditionally purchased live from a tank where one can pick out a strong swimmer, the poached fish with scallions and ginger is served as the last course of the New Year’s Eve feast, but not completely consumed. The leftovers are eaten the next day, so that its abundance will spill over into the New Year. Lobster, as the king of the ocean, represents the energy of the dragon. But any seafood is auspicious. Shrimp, whose name ha sounds like laughter, represents happiness; the shells of clams and scallops resemble old Chinese coins and therefore portend prosperity. Also, the clam shells open as you stir fry them, signifying a new beginning.

What's the difference between the Chinatowns in San Francisco and New York?
For me, San Francisco Chinatown has such sweet memories. My father was a liquor salesman and so the owners of every restaurant and shop knew him and gave us a special welcome. Plus, the produce in California is so much more abundant and pristine in quality, especially the Asian vegetables. I love the hustle bustle and energy of shopping on Stockton Street. When a grocer brings out a new box of baby bok choy or snow pea shoots and rips it open, all of a sudden everyone lunges towards it with frenzied excitement and all these hands try to grab the freshest greens.

As we finish our interview, I accompany Grace on a short walk to The Wok Shop, a bustling little warren, filled chock-a-block with woks, gadgets and cooking accessories, whose owner Tane Chan graciously provided the seasoned wok for today’s cooking demonstration.

“This is the best wok store in the whole country,” says Grace as she leads me right to the tower of carbonized steel flat bottom woks (only $24.95). And I gladly buy one. No use resisting the power of the dragon.

I love treasure hunts, especially if cultural adventure and sampling delectable goodies are involved, so I was eager to join Edible Excursions’ new Japantown tour. Although I consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to Japanese cuisine, epicurean concierge, Lisa Rogovin introduced me to a novel set of sweet and savory yummies hiding in plain sight.

The former ad exec for Gourmet Magazine, whose company provides tasting tours of the Mission, Ferry Building and Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto, was recently asked by Japantown’s Merchant Association to add a tour of the 4-block area centered on Post and Buchanan. After having done her cultural homework, Lisa ushered a half dozen of us through the warrens of a pair of concrete mall structures that anchor Japantown, as well as some surrounding streets in order to educate and tantalize our taste buds.

Surprisingly, our outing began with a non-Japanese beverage, a warm sweet potato latte at Yakiniq Café, where owner Christy Hwang serves the traditional Korean comfort drink, made with sweet potato, syrup and foamed milk. Lisa informed us that besides Japanese shops and restaurants, Japantown encompasses a few Korean dining spots and even a Danish Bakery.

As we sipped our hot drinks in the funky, art-lined café, Lisa issued a gentle warning, “This will be three and a half hours of eating; so pace yourselves.” That caveat was promptly forgotten as soon as we drained our cups of foamy liquid.

On our walk to our next stop, Lisa gave us a short rundown on the history of Japantown, which began to take shape just after the 1906 earthquake when Japanese San Franciscans needed a place to gather for community support. At its height, it stretched for 36 blocks until WWII internment orders emptied the thriving neighborhood, uprooting its residents and merchants. After the war, many came back to rebuild their lives. In 1968, an urban renewal project bulldozed old Victorians and erected the imposing concrete buildings still at its center, whose fortress-like exterior may seem daunting to uninitiated visitors.

One artifact from the original Japantown that is very much alive is Benkyodo, an unassuming little diner and bakery, that makes traditional fresh mochi confections.

This family business opened in 1906, and is now run by brothers Ricky and Robert Okamura, grandsons of the original owner. Entering their long narrow café, we discovered a split personality: the right side features a low orange Formica counter, matching leatherette bar stools and a Coca Cola menu board with changeable red and black plastic letters that dates from the 50s. Fare and prices also seem to be frozen in time (hot dog $3.15, hamburger $3.10)—just the thing to attract a cadre of regulars. The left side is dominated by the bakery case, which on this late December Friday attracted a crowd of shoppers, standing in line to buy special handmade mochi and manju pastries for the New Year. We sampled chubby, chewy rice flour orbs filled with sweet red beans or blueberries.

Sadly, our next stop was a piece of Japantown history that was just about to close after 105 years in business, Uoki K. Sakai market. There we tasted an earthy hijiki seaweed salad and crunchy burdock and carrot salad from their deli while Lisa clued us in on preparing sushi rice using rice vinegar powder sold at the store. There are two other markets still left in Japantown.

From the oldest businesses, we transitioned to visit the latest addition to Japantown, the New People complex, a narrow, stylish white edifice which houses the SF Film Society, a café and retail stores such as Sou-Sou for tabi (divided shoes and socks) with bold fabric designs and Baby the Stars Shine Bright for Lolita frilly pink dresses.

We stopped downstairs at Onigilly for an updated version of the ubiquitous Japanese finger food, onigiri, balls or triangles of white rice wrapped in seaweed, which may be stuffed with pickled plum or cooked salmon. In Japan, these portable meals are sold in train stations, convenience stores and are as much a part of bento lunchboxes as our PB&J sandwiches.

Onigilly (a play the American pronunciation of onigiri) is the creation of Koji Kanematsu, the first male to go through La Cocina’s food business incubator program. He updated the traditional snacks using brown rice and fillings such as eggplant, hijiki and spicy scallop, as well as the traditional pickled plum. Onigilly also operates a food cart in Justin Herman Plaza and other locations around town.

After this substantial snack and a quick tour of the trendy shops in New People, we headed across the street to the Japan Center. As we entered the busy mall, Lisa, an engaging and knowledgeable guide who was inspired by her own cultural curiosity, told us, “You’ll notice we won’t be having any sushi, tempura or teriyaki today. I want to introduce you to new things and demystify some Japanese dishes that might be unfamiliar to you.”

Our eating adventure continued at Mifune Don, where we sat down for another mainstay of real Japanese cooking that is not commonly known to foreigners. Okonomiyaki is called a “savory pancake” but the name literally means “what you like” and is a tasty way to use leftovers. These large grilled discs usually contain some combination of eggs, shredded yam, cabbage, meat, or seafood, topped with a special brown sauce and squiggles of Japanese mayonnaise. They are sprinkled with bonita shavings, whose eerie 3-D undulations seemed to be waving at me, inviting me to partake in this hearty, vegetable griddlecake. My first okonomiyaki was a satisfying discovery and definitely will not be my last.

Then our group of locals and out of state visitors shifted into an intense assault on sweetness, starting with a neon-hued, mini Geisha float—green tea ice cream topped with red beans, green tea syrup and red mochi cubes at Carol Murata’s Café Hana.

For our second dessert, we strolled over to May’s Coffee Shop, run by Carol’s mother May Murata since 1973, to sample taiyaki, a fish-shaped sweet with a long history. In Japanese culture, the sea bream is considered a symbol of good luck and these distinctively shaped pastries are made by pouring waffle-like batter into metal molded trays and topping with red beans, chocolate or other fillings. The two halves of the fish are then folded together and cooked until golden brown. They originated in Tokyo in 1909.

Full of lucky fish pastries, we ducked into Nippon-Ya, a stylish shop specializing in omiyage, the artfully wrapped regional specialties that Japanese visitors commonly bring back from their travels for friends and co-workers. Beautifully boxed mochi in fruit flavors, plus cookies, tea and other souvenirs from all over Japan are their most popular selections. We were offered tastes of creamy chocolate mochi.

On our way out of the building Lisa pointed out shops that carry stickers, stationery and fashion and then impossibly announced that it was time for lunch. A 3-course lunch at that, with wakame, a slippery green seaweed salad, a pair of mini gyozas and a big bowl of steaming nabeyaki noodle soup with vegetables, fish cake, chicken, shrimp tempura and udon or soba noodles. The key ingredient of the soup is the dashi flavored broth and Mifune Bistro’s dashi had a strong, clear taste.

As I waddled out after lunch, much wiser and definitely much fuller than before I started the tour, I made mental note of the dozen new tastes I’d sampled, and wondered if this is how sumo wrestlers begin to build their girth.

Edible Excursions' Japantown tour is offered every Friday and the second Saturday of the month, from 11-2:30, for $85. Itinerary may vary.

Chef Jacques Pépin demonstrates how to make haddock steaks in rice paper with a shallot and soy sauce. This video clip is a web-exclusive that was taped during the filming of Jacques' series Essential Pépin.

Chefs Chad Newton and Grace Nguyen. Photo: Eric Wolfinger

Chefs Grace Nguyen and Chad Newton may be the couple that seem to do everything together: work, live, cook, and create food-related businesses in the Bay Area. Chef Grace Nguyen has numerous years of experience working restaurants in Las Vegas and San Francisco including: Postrio, The Slanted Door and Out The Door, on Bush Street. She currently is a partner and Executive Chef of Asian Box, slated to open its first (of many) stores in Palo Alto next month. Grace likes to run, read, eat, drink wine and bake cupcakes for her friends’ kids, and is lovingly referred to as “snobby cupcake” by her business partners Frank Klein and new husband Chad Newton. The chef has adapted both Newton and Nguyen as her last name, explaining that: “I go by Grace Newton. But for Asian Box, I am known as Grace Nguyen.”

Chef Chad Newton was raised in Mountain View and recently moved with his wife Grace to Redwood City. He has worked at restaurants such as Postrio, Redd, Fish & Farm and Baraka. Chad is currently the Culinary Director and Partner of local restaurant group FK Restaurants & Hospitality and helps operate Café Discovery, American Box and Asian Box with CEO and founder, Frank Klein. Frank and Chad have diverse consulting clients like the JCCSF, District of Columbia Public Schools, Muir Woods Trading Company, and numerous independent restaurant owners. Chad likes to make cocktails, sleep, eat and follow local sports teams in his time away from the restaurants.

How did you meet?
Chad: We met in 2001 when we were working at Postrio.
Gracie: I left to cook in Vegas for 5 years and in 2008 we reconnected in SF at numerous chef events. Chad was the Chef at Baraka and I was at The Slanted Door.
Chad: And then we were pretty much inseparable. We moved in together and decided to get married. It all happened pretty fast and we knew that it was right.

Tell us about the wedding:
Chad: The wedding was great! It was very food/Chef driven. Scott Beattie on the cocktails, the amazing food photographer Eric Wolfinger there to capture it all; and Sandra and John from Estate cooking the food and hosting. Estate in Sonoma is so beautiful! Perfect for a wedding.
Gracie: Our honeymoon was pretty crazy. We went to New York City for a week to eat, and tried out about 10 restaurants a day and had amazing experiences at Eleven Madison Park, Robataya, Ippudo, Eataly, Lupa, and Roberta’s and Fette Sau in Brooklyn.
Chad: Gracie kept trying to find the Big Gay Ice Cream truck. We found it on the day before we left. That made the trip for her I think.

How are things going at Stow Lake?
Chad: Really well. Following our success at Muir Woods and Café Discovery we are helping our client, Ortega Family Enterprises, with providing healthy, sustainable, and affordable food at Stow Lake. It’s fun to be around the boats and lake, and feeds into what we do with the National Parks. My partner, Frank Klein, just spoke at the White House on providing sustainable foods to parks.

How are things going at Asian Box in Palo Alto?
Gracie: Moving right along. We will get through permitting this week, start construction right away and hopefully be up and running in the middle of December. In the meantime, we are just perfecting the recipes, cooking test dinners and making fun You Tube commercials. All I got to say is that our business partner Frank is a very creative and fun man, so watch out for these commercials. They will be very memorable to say the least.
Chad: I’m so excited for this project. There are so many times where we are driving around the Peninsula looking for good food, fast, that is actually fresh and executed well. It just makes me hungry thinking about it.

Any updates on Provision?
Chad: Provision has been a dream of mine as well as Frank's for quite some time and now we are very close to making it happen. We have wanted to bring a Big City caliber restaurant to Palo Alto together to celebrate why we are both in this business -- hospitality. Provision is all about hospitality. I can not talk yet about the actual details of the concept but we will hopefully get to share it soon. We do a monthly Provision pop-up in Palo Alto at Frank’s house. Word has gotten out about how fun they are -- people are doing some interesting things to try and get invited. Frank and I also have plans for a few more restaurants in the Palo Alto area.

What is it like working together?
Gracie: At times it can be a bit of a challenge, but for the most part it is really fun. We share resources, bounce ideas off of each other and team up to tackle large projects and dinners. I have to give Chad beat downs sometimes.
Chad: I have learned so much from Gracie. It has been very rewarding. We feel like such freaks sometimes. We work all day together, then come home and watch food shows on television and read cookbooks -- all together. But, this is our life together, and we love it.

What are your favorite spots to shop for food?
Gracie: New May Wah in the Richmond is always interesting and bustling. I can find anything I would ever need to cook traditional Vietnamese food.
Chad: Nijiya market, to buy different yuzu products, shishito peppers, tofus and shiso. We cook a lot of izakaya style dinners for friends and family at home and I can always find what I need from Nijiya.

Favorite date or off-night spots?
Chad: Tacolicious. Always fun -- and Joe and Telmo are some of the best restaurant people in this city. The chupitos are fun and Chef Telmo’s food is always so fresh and vibrant. We always get the queso and Gracie loves the frozen margaritas. We also enjoy Commonwealth, Mission Chinese Food, and brunch at Absinthe.
Gracie: flour + water for me. Most people don’t know that we got engaged there. Chad arranged it with Thomas and David behind my back and we ended up having a long tasting menu in their Dough Room. Chad proposed at the end and I was so shocked. flour + water will always have a spot in our hearts because of this but also from the amazing food that they do. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

What is your favorite meal to have with your family?
Chad: Now that we have the two families combined which actually is then four families combined there are a lot of dinners we that have been memorable. The Leg of Beast Dinner at Incanto is a great way to eat as a family. Chris Cosentino and Mark Pastore are great hosts. The family style dinner experience there is a great time, and nothing brings a group together like a large tender beef leg with all of the fixings!
Gracie: To get approval for our marriage from my family in Houston, Chad had to cook for my extended family, which turned out to be around 30 people that day. He was so nervous but did a great job. Crispy skin chicken thighs, artichokes, seared broccoli, etc. In addition, my family brought 80 lbs of steamed crawfish and very large platters of BBQ from Goode Co. We will all always remember that dinner.

Any news we should know about?
Gracie: Frank always has something interesting working. Frank and Chad do a lot of traveling so I am sure they will be on the road a lot in the new year.
Chad: We have a lot of projects going on but they are not ready to be announced. It was a big year for FK Restaurants in 2011 and we are ramping up for an even bigger, busier year ahead. Launching Asian Box as a national brand with numerous locations, our return to fine dining, multiple consulting jobs. Should be fun.

Do you have plans for the holidays?
Chad: I think I want to make Posole this year. I don’t know why, I just do.
Gracie: I will probably end up making a croquembouche. Also, my brother is moving up here and staying with us for a bit. He loves to cook, so we will probably have some sort of collaboration. Like last year, we will probably do a lot of canning, pickling and other fun things as gifts -- like Kimchi and Hot Box It, our incredibly super hot sauce from Asian Box.

Guiltiest food pleasure?
Gracie: Flaming Red Hot Cheetos!
Chad: Budweiser cans? I don’t know. Gracie eats everything with aioli though. We were at a nice restaurant in Palo Alto the other day and Gracie asked for ranch dressing with her onion rings. That’s the Houston in her I guess. It was pretty funny.

Chef Sunhui Chang showcases Fusebox beer + wine license notice. Photo: SunIm Chang

Asian cuisine in the Bay Area has a new crop of intensely passionate leaders with enough talent and culinary chops to lure Martha Stewart to the table. Anthony Myint and Danny Bowien stand behind big, bold Mission Chinese. Sylvan Mishima Brackett of PekoPeko Catering’s insanely articulate and authentic Japanese food will certainly land him on the map of grander things -- one hopes the rumors are true that he’s seeking his own location.  And scheduled to open in January, FuseBox, the West Oakland eatery of Korean-born Sunhui Chang, will add fuel to the Korean food fire with housemade gochuchang, exquisitely crafted pickles, bacon mochi, and well-honed culinary passion.

What’s pucker-worthy about Chang’s cuisine is its pickle-centric nature, many varieties of which he’s been sharing with the pickling community. He’s currently crafting several different varieties of kimchee, using the standard cabbage and daikon, and also rapini and turnip greens. He prides himself on making use of the “offal of vegetables” and thereby using ever part -- including radish greens, and reusing a vinegar pickle brine and the pickled garlic that flavors it. He dunks in the drink your standard vegetables such as cucumbers (see the recipe for Oiji below) and breakfast radish, but also more experimental concepts such as blueberries, summer squash, and fennel.  FuseBox is equipped with some vegetable boxes that will grow some of the produce, and Chang is currently working with the People’s Grocery to have them grow additional vegetables for him. Everything pickled and fermented from Chang’s kitchen will be as closely sourced as possible.

Of course, pickles aren’t the only things on the menu. Bacon-wrapped mochi are satisfyingly stretchy and smoky, and Chang will be grilling ko chu jang pork and chicken yakitori, and caking housemade tofu.

Chang takes regular trips to LA to procure quality, small-batch artisan soy sauce -- he says it’s the closest place to find it outside Korea.  But another of the most impressive aspects of Chang’s cooking is that he makes his own gochuchang, the hot, salty and sweet fermented red pepper paste that is the basis of Korean cooking (akin to what miso is to Japanese cuisine). Few are the Korean chefs who make their own. Most Korean markets offer several different varieties, and if you’ve ever eaten Korean food, you’ve tasted it.  It’s used in stir fries like bi bim bab, as a marinade for bulgogi, to flavor stews, as a condiment for crispy lettuce wraps, as the base for soups, and in many varieties of Korean pickles. I’d never tasted good gochuchang until I’d encountered Chang’s proprietary blend of glutinous rice, soybeans, red chili powder, and sugar. The sauce ferments for about 60-90 days.

“It took a while to learn the gochuchang. I went through so many batches where mold had developed. What I make is not as sweet as the store-bought stuff; more earthy.” Chang reports that in anticipation of the FuseBox opening, he’s experimenting with different varieties of gochuchang, including one for fish stews, and another to be eaten fresh.

Chang has kimchee and other Korean flavors flowing in his blood. As a child born in Korea, family friends gathered to play cards at his house and eat his mother’s well-loved kimchee chi gae. “There’s a Korean expression, ‘She just had her hands in the food,’ and that’s why it was so good. We didn’t have recipes or grow up with cooking books. Cooking was just innate to her.”

Eventually, after Chang’s family moved to Guam, his mother opened her own Korean restaurant when he was 13 years old, and he immediately began helping out by cleaning dishes, sweeping, and mopping. Later he was allowed to slice meat and occasionally pop into the kitchen. “I’m so grateful for everything she taught me, and I wish I’d followed her more. However, at the time, I didn’t think she was really, really cooking. It wasn’t as exciting as watching chefs on the cooking shows!” Growing up with Guam’s tiny and remote culinary culture, Chang laughs as he recalls that the PBS show Great Chefs, Great Cities was a huge influence on his career choice.

Just a few days after his 17th birthday, Chang moved to Berkeley by himself to begin qualifying for in-state tuition at UC Berkeley, where he later studied sociology. To fund his schooling, he worked in a bagel shop, then as a butcher and a fishmonger at a market. He soon became a cook at the now-defunct Hwang Won, a Korean restaurant in Oakland, before launching his own catering business for 14 years.

After two years of effort, FuseBox has secured over $17,000 via Kickstarter (where I invested $25); enough to finish construction and, hopefully, have the inside complete for an opening this January. Expansion plans are already underway to offer outdoor seating and possibly open a market next door selling fresh fish, local artisan goods, and of course Chang’s pickles by the jar.

Oiji—Korean Cucumber Pickle

Recipe by Sunhui Chang of FuseBox Oakland

5 small cucumbers—Either Pickling (Kirby), Persian, or Japanese
2 tablespoons kosher salt
3 cloves garlic
The whites of two green onions, cut into 1’ pieces
4-5 Korean chili pepper threads (available at Korean markets)
3/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water

Wash cucumbers, leaving them wet.  Sprinkle salt on cucumbers and let them sit in a flat dish for three hours, turning them occasionally.

Wash the salt from the cucumbers and trim the ends so that they’ll fit standing upright in a pint-sized jar.  Add them to the jar, along with the garlic, green onion, and pepper threads.

Meanwhile, make the brine.  In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar and water.  Bring to boil.  Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes.

Pour warm brine over cucumbers.  Cover, cool, and refrigerate.  Enjoy the pickles after two days, but they will last up to two weeks.

Makes one pint.

Photo of Bacon Mochi by SunIm Chang. Photo of Kimchee and Gochuchang by Sarah K. Khan.

Yams, red beans, creamed corn, white fungus, grass jelly, black glutinous rice. Perhaps these ingredients don’t immediately conjure up images of tempting sweet treats, but in steamy Singapore—with the addition of shaved ice, fresh fruit, palm sugar, colorful syrups, coconut milk and other goodies—they morph into a medley of exotic desserts.

I’m in Singapore for a week, tagging along with my husband, who is presenting at a conference. I couldn’t miss a trip to this unabashedly food-obsessed city, where you really can’t walk two steps without bumping into tantalizing aromas emanating from cafes, food stands and hawker centers (organized street food vendors). In this modern multi-cultural society, where impossibly high angular skyscrapers tower over warrens of ethnic neighborhood shops, Chinese, Indian, Malay residents and foreign visitors all join in a tireless search for the best grub the city has to offer—in local parlance: “die-die-must-try.”

Singaporean specialties abound, like chili-crab, fish-head curry, oyster omelet, chicken rice and a multitude of variations on spicy noodles. But for my few days here, I need a quest with a smaller focus, so why not a sweet one, sampling as many desserts as I can? (Actually “desserts” is somewhat of a misnomer, as these sweet treats are more often consumed as afternoon or late night snacks.)

Straddling the equator, with temperatures often in the 90s and the air thick with tropical humidity, icy treats offer natural refreshment in Singapore’s year-round heat wave. Although many have roots in neighboring cultures, the fantastical shapes and colors of these cooling combinations make them Singaporean classics.

Ice Kachang provides a refreshing pyramid of pleasure

Ice Kachang -- the quintessential Singaporean dessert takes a mountain of shaved ice, douses it with a rainbow of syrups and sprinkles on toppings such as soft red beans and creamed corn. I order mine with a dusting of chopped peanuts for an extra dimension of crunch.

creamy, chewy, icy Chendol

Chendol -- the key ingredient in this icy treat is the jelly-like green noodles flavored with pandan leaf, layered with cooked red beans, chewy palm seeds, coconut milk and a sweet brown syrup.

Every Singapore resident I ask offers encouragement and advice on my sweet-seeking journey. They also caution me not to eat too many treats with creamy, coconut milk. (“Not good for the tummy.”) Luckily, there is a profusion of more delicate sweet dishes to choose from.

Slippery sweet Ice Jelly

Ice Jelly -- utterly light and refreshing: shaved ice with cold translucent jelly globules. I have mine topped with mango.

Double steamed papaya in syrup

Steamed Papaya with Snow Fungus and Almond -- served in light syrup. The snow fungus adds the texture of a dainty, frilly sponge. I enjoy it cold, but it also comes hot, as do several other desserts with a hot/cold option.

When the sky turns black and hurls lighting bolts, thunderclaps and pounding rain, it’s an invitation to duck into a cheerful neon-bordered café for a warm bowl of comfort, such as sweet black glutinous rice cooked into a velvety pudding, drizzled with a swirl of coconut milk.

Other warming choices:

comforting and chewy Bubor Cha Cha

Bubor Cha Cha -- chunks of cooked yam and sweet potato with colored bits of chewy coconut jelly swimming in warm coconut milk.

Peanut soup or Black sesame soup – topped with almond cream.

Chinese culture often cites the health benefits of certain foods to balance one’s yin/yang, for specific ailments or populations (e.g. pregnant women). A sign in Food Republic’s Ice Shop proclaims Red Beans with Lotus seeds “great for getting rid of dark circles under the eyes,” so there is no way I can pass that up.

The places where I sample these treats vary as much as the flavors and forms they take. From fancy food courts in high-rise shopping meccas, like Wisma Atria’s Food Republic to beloved, old-fashioned, open-air Hawker Centres (Maxwell Road in Chinatown, Tekka Center in Little India and Lau Pa Sat in the financial district).

A visit to the National Museum of Singapore’s vibrant Living Gallery of Food provides the back-story to the city’s obsession with street food. Itinerant street vendors have always played an important role in this multi-cultural city. Since the 19th century, they traveled door-to-door preparing and peddling their wares or setting up carts and stands on the riverside. In the 1980s, as part of a project to clean up the river, Prime Minister Lee mandated that hawkers leave the riverside and take their places in designated hawker centers.

Scores of hawker centers, which are wildly popular with locals, are scattered around the city, each features vendors from various cultures, side by side, selling freshly made dishes at rock-bottom prices. You can have some Indian roti with your Malaysian beef rendang and finish off with sweet Chinese ah bolin (glutinous rice balls filled with yam, bean or sesame seed paste).

After spending an hour immersed in the museum’s videos, oral histories and food artifacts, I gain an appreciation for the context of Singapore’s food focus. As one hawker interviewed in a museum video explains, “Food makes us all equal, rich and poor, people of all races.”

Even though, I've tasted a dozen of Singapore’s sweet treats, there are many more to sample on my next visit…

I've never been to The French Laundry. Ever since my love for food evolved from outings to the Olive Garden to a lovely dinner at Oliveto, it has represented to me the pinnacle of haute cuisine in America. Several years ago, when I happened to be spending the day in Yountville with an ex-boyfriend, I asked him to slowly drive past the restaurant in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the chef (as we weren't able to get a reservation). And lo -- there he was, the celebrated Thomas Keller, standing in the bucolic backyard and chatting with one of his staff. I squealed loudly like a teenage groupie and my ex-boyfriend remarked, "Well, I can't compete with that."

I still haven't been to the restaurant. But after dining tonight at Benu, I almost feel that I have -- through one of its gifted progeny. Keller's former chef de cuisine of 4 1/2 years, Corey Lee, is the creative force behind this remarkable restaurant. He's been receiving loads of press, with renowned New York City chef David Chang recently declaring Benu, "the best restaurant in America." It's been open for a little over a year, and it's still possible to easily get a prime time reservation on a weeknight. (I'm sure that'll change as they were recently awarded with two Michelin stars.) With my friend Scott Spencer of Spencer's Pantry in tow, we headed to Hawthorne Lane in SOMA.

After you pass through the gate that leads to Benu's stone courtyard, you pass by a glass door on the right that offers you a glimpse of the spotless kitchen that emanates the same calm zen quality as the restaurant itself. The staff seems unhurried, working intently on their dishes at their stations.

The first thing I noticed about the spare, modernist interior after we sat down (designed by Richard Bloch) was the muted, gray tonality of the space that was gently illuminated with a neutral, balanced light. It reminded me of walking into an art museum at dusk or that first moment before a play is about to begin, with the house lights gradually dimmed before the performance. There's a cool stillness that evokes more of a contemplative mood -- rather than a romantic one -- in its atmosphere. With higher-end fine dining, I'm accustomed to walking into hushed, dark spaces lit only by candlelight and the other patrons shrouded in darkness.

Scott and I knew beforehand that we were going to order the 19-course tasting menu ($180 / person, which the whole table must order together). Yes, 19 courses -- and spoiler alert: each one was exquisite. I won't go through the entire tasting menu -- which you can see in the slideshow below -- so I'll just review some of the highlights.

The square black wooden tables, sans white tablecloths, offer an appealing backdrop that is both casual in its presentation yet still retains a formal quality. Each dish is served in a beautiful Korean ceramic vessel (made by KwangJuYo, seemingly crafted with each course in mind as they complemented the ingredients perfectly.) And most of the courses were eaten with a small silver spoon that lay on a stone rest. The service was impeccable; each dish was brought out by a rotation of different servers -- a nice touch that added a punctuation of freshness to each course -- who described the ingredients and the best way to indulge in the dish.

A single bite of oyster and pork belly that wonderfully melded together and was encapsulated in a sugar glass-like kimchi-infused wrapper was probably the most delightful thing I've ever eaten in my life. And to think that was only the second course; my mind was already blown by the combination of the crunchy kimchi glass giving way to the luscious oyster and pork belly in one rapturous, melt-in-your-mouth bite. Umami overload.

Do you know those colorful shrimp chips that sometimes accompany dishes at Asian restaurants? Benu reinvented this snack favorite with their "salt-and-pepper squid" dish by creating a large, peppery black chip topped with tender cubes of squid and jalapeno for a bit of a spicy kick.

And there were the soup dumplings. Not just any soup dumplings, but "foie gras xiao long bao." (I'll digress here for a moment and say that dumplings are one of the core elements of my being. I am obsessed with dumplings, to the point where I contemplated starting my own independent dumpling enterprise.) They arrived on an elegant white circular porcelain platter that's a nod to the steamed bamboo baskets commonly seen in Chinese restaurants. After taking a small bite to release the warm foie gras broth into the spoon, I slurped up the rich soup before eating the rest of the tender pork dumpling. I was rather forlorn that there were only two; it was over much too soon. (And I suppose, come next July, this dish will be off the menu.)

The "beef braised in pear, beech mushroom, sunflower seeds and leaves" -- like the kimchi glass earlier in the meal -- drew upon Chef Lee's Korean roots. One secret to creating tender Korean beef barbecue is to add pear to the traditional soy sauce, garlic, onions and scallions marinade to help tenderize the beef. And the succulent (and I'm guessing, sous vide-prepared) beef was heavenly.

The entire tasting menu unfolded like the four seasons, starting off with lighter bites and spring-like tastes, then ending with deeper, richer autumnal flavors towards the end. A gorgeous dessert of "fig, white chocolate, balsamic vinegar, sake lees (the sediment leftover after rice is pressed to make the alcohol)" resembled a delicate snowfall on a winter's day. It was accompanied with "malted rice tea, pine nut, pine needle honey"; you'd drink the sweet tea, then eat a soft custard at the bottom of the glass.

Three hours later, at the end of our feast -- concluded with fine chocolates from Napa-based La Forêt Chocolate & Confections -- Scott and I were in a state of serene bliss. The flawlessly executed dishes -- with several an homage to Asian home-cooking favorites -- inspired lively discussion between us about technique, ingredients, and our love of food. Benu is a temple to fine dining, and I will make another pilgrimage on another special occasion.

Benu
22 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco CA 94105 map
(415) 685-4860
For parties of seven or more, contact Kathryn Douglass at (415) 685-4860 x116
Dinner service only. Tuesday-Saturday, 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Benu on Facebook

As I walked up the stairs to Kitchen on Fire’s spacious Berkeley loft, an inviting aroma of toasting cumin laid out an olfactory welcome mat. Chefs Olivier Said and MikeC., co-owners and culinary over-achievers, have a book coming out and a second location opening behind Berkeley Bowl West (both in November). They keep their kitchen fires burning in daily classes ranging from globetrotting one-nighters to a 12-week series. Fun seems to be an essential ingredient in every recipe as the two irreverent pros blend nutrition tips, science facts and knife skills in their engaging, hands-on sessions.

The class I attended was entitled Moroccan Vegetarian Delights for Couples (though not all attendees came in couples and most were not vegetarians). The menu included couscous, sweet tomato salad and a pungent green leaf and herb jam that disappeared as soon as it was spooned into the serving bowl. After an introductory lecture and demo, students converged on various stations to chop and sauté elements of the 6-course meal we would enjoy together at evening’s end. Chef “Olive,” a wiry French charmer, scampered around the homey coral kitchen in a blur of motion, lending a hand with seeding tomatoes, modeling how to slice rather than slaughter the greens, and sprinkling nutritional tidbits along the way.

International evenings include menus from: Korea, Spain, France, Italy, Vietnam and more, some featuring guest instructors. (Upcoming: November 8 - North Indian, November 11 - Greek, December 3 - Thai Vegetarian).

The folks I've met at ethnic cooking classes come to recreate meals from their travels, enlarge their cooking repertoire or just spend a pleasurable couple of hours that culminate in digging into exotic dishes. If you are similarly inclined, here are 9 more places around the Bay to feed your passion:

Photo courtesy of Brundo

Brundo -- Ethiopian

Oakland’s Café Colucci is a consistent award winner for its authentic Ethiopian cuisine. Brundo, Café Colucci’s sister store, organizes traditional balemoyas (chefs) to share classic Ethiopian delights (both fiery and sublime) in three-hour Saturday classes that include a main dish and several salads. Meals may feature messer wot or kik alicha, (vegetarian stews with red lentils or yellow split peas), begue wot (spiced lamb stew) or doro wot (chicken stewed in red pepper paste). Brundo supplies the organic herbs, seeds, grains and spice mixtures (such as berbere, the essential red chili pepper blend), all imported from Ethiopia.

In early 2012, Brundo’s Ethiopian cooking classes move to a West Oakland warehouse, allowing for an expanded class size and schedule, including injera-making—those flat, spongy disks with a pleasantly sour-ish flavor that serve as plate, utensil, and sauce-mopping bread.

Photo courtesy of Culture Kitchen

Culture Kitchen

Ever wish you had an Indian auntie to teach you her chicken tikka masala? Or a Thai grandmother to tell tales about taking odiferous durian fruit on the bus while showing you how to whip up a tasty Thai lunch in a wok? That’s exactly the idea behind Culture Kitchen, a recently launched enterprise that realizes the rich potential in immigrant women who have been cooking authentic family meals from their native cuisines for years. Pair these self-taught cooks with eager students in various Peninsula and San Francisco locations for a warm, informal gathering that offers more than just new recipes. Small classes encourage an intimate experience—like being at someone’s home—and provide cultural understanding through shared stories.

Cuisines represented include Columbian, French, Mexican, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Peruvian, Ukrainian and Iraqi. (November 9 – Taiwanese)

Tante Marie’s

This venerable San Francisco cooking school offers two-hour Wednesday afternoon demos or daylong weekend participatory classes on ethnic themes, such as regional cooking of Italy, Mexican chili peppers, a tour of the Mediterranean and Southeast Asian street-food. Respected author and teacher Joyce Jue leads several Chinese and Southeast Asian sessions.

Azalina teaching Malaysian cooking at La Cocina. Photo courtesy of La Cocina

La Cocina

San Francisco’s celebrated and inspiring “food-business incubator” offers technical support and commercial kitchen space for low-income immigrant women to grow their businesses as food entrepreneurs. The light-filled Mission kitchen space is also home to a smorgasbord of classes, such as Russian piroshkis and borscht, Ethiopian and Nigerian foods and Malaysian cooking. On December 14, the popular tamales class will return, featuring three of La Cocina’s graduates guiding students in the traditional, labor-intensive process of filling the masa and wrapping with corn husks before steaming.

Chat Mingkwan of Unusual Touch -- Thai, Vietnamese

Born in Bangkok, this well-traveled author of a slew of cookbooks on regional Thai and Vietnamese cuisine teaches cooking classes all over the Bay Area (including Piedmont Adult School, Kitchen on Fire, Sausalito’s In the Kitchen) or at your private party.

A recent Vietnamese street food class I attended began with a demonstration of several uses for lemon grass, tips on choosing the best fish sauce, and a bit of historical explanation about why fresh herbs (including mint, cilantro, basil) are such an essential part of Vietnamese cuisine. After preparing all the ingredients, students rotated among four stations to assemble our own fresh bowls of chicken soup, plates of beef noodle salad, spring rolls and rice crepes, just like a street food vendor. Mingkwan also offers classes in dim sum, decorative fruit and vegetable carving, sushi and kaiseki, and leads culinary tours of Thailand.

Spain at Home

Seafood paella has always been my favorite edible treasure hunt. Each forkful uncovers a prize of mussels, shrimp, clams or vegetables amidst a bed of saffron-scented rice. With the help of a Spanish chef and a gang of friends equally smitten with this glorious dish, we turned my kitchen into a classroom and created our own feast. Chef Raquel Hermosilla, made her culinary house call wearing chef whites, rolling in a cart laden with all the ingredients we would need to make, as she put it, “Spain’s gift to the world.” First, she set a festive tone, passing out Flamenco-inspired red and black polka-dotted aprons. Then she got serious and erected the crucial piece of equipment in the middle of my kitchen: a paellera, the wide shallow pan with its own ringed-gas burner that ensures the essential socarrat or crusty rice shell at the bottom of the pan.

Hermosilla, who grew up in Madrid, efficiently doled out tasks, and while my friends and I sliced red peppers, de-veined shrimp and squeezed out squid’s innards, she shared the history of her national dish along with her mother’s cooking tips. Finally, she guided us in fashioning a massive mosaic of shellfish and red peppers, with lemon wedges artfully perched on the pan’s rim.

While Hermosilla’s home base is the South Bay, she is willing to travel. Her business, Spain at Home, now in its tenth year, also includes catering for small to large groups. Seafood paella is her most requested offering, but other paella variations and a score of tapas are also available.

Photo courtesy of Linda Tay Esposito

Flavor Explosions -- cuisines of the Pacific Rim

Linda Tay Esposito grew up in Malaysia and treasures her native cuisine with its use of fresh herbs, such as galangal, fresh turmeric and lemon grass. She even incorporates the kaffir lime leaves from a potted plant growing on her San Francisco balcony. This self-taught cook leads classes all over the Bay Area, offering an extensive choice of menus, which either focus on a specific dish interpreted into several Pacific Rim culinary accents (Pan-Asian Noodle Bar) or an in-depth exploration of a single cuisine (East Coast of Malaysia).

Esposito teaches regularly at The Cooking School at Cavallo Point in Sausalito as well as privately in Bay Area home kitchens and weaves in a discussion of spices, regional vegetables and cooking traditions. No matter what the focus of the lesson in her private classes—from dim sum to Malaysian desserts—she supplies everything needed (traveling woks, steamer baskets and professional knives).

Photo courtesy of Nalini Mehta

Route to India –– Ayurvedic Vegetarian Indian cooking

To Nalini Mehta, cooking is a spiritual journey that nurtures the mind, body and soul and a crucial element in the Ayurvedic tradition of creating balance. Mehta works as a cooking teacher and caterer and leads culinary tours to India.

In her San Francisco classes, she shares her wisdom as well as her recipes in an evening of mindful cooking and eating in accord with Ayurvedic principles. Her classes, single or 4-class series, focus on seasonings and techniques, always incorporating a palette of colorful spices.

One of Mehta’s most popular classes centers on dosas (fermented South Indian rice-flour and lentil crepes with savory fillings). Students make the batter and the filling (perhaps with potato, onions, cilantro and spices) and practice forming the dosa disks on a hot griddle. Other regional Indian cooking classes feature an entire menu with dal, pilaf, soup, vegetable and dessert.

The Cooking School at Cavallo Point

For the ultimate indulgence, combine an Italian or Asian cooking class with a relaxing stay at Sausalito’s Cavallo Point Lodge. The 3-year old luxury hotel, at the former Fort Baker military site, features spectacular views of the Golden Gate Bridge and offers a choice of historic or modern rooms. Several cooking classes are held each week on a range of topics and while most attendees drive up for the day, a room discount is available for cooking students.

Classes are held in an airy, light-filled kitchen, with hardwood floors and retro glass cabinets. Italian cooking is taught by Viola Buitoni (yes, that Buitoni—whose family has been in the food business for generations). The former caterer and Italian food expert was born in Umbria and shares her culinary heritage, aiming to highlight authenticity, translated for the local market. In “Bitter is Better,” on November 17, Buitoni will explore the preparation of traditional greens and make handmade orecchiette.

Other ethnic cooking classes at Cavallo Point include Mexican Sauces from Scratch and The Asian Melting Pot series. On November 26, Linda Tay Esposito will showcase a menu of Spicy Sichuanese specialties.

Taro Mochi Cake from Hanalei Roadside Truck

Taro. Isn’t that some kind of sweet potato that’s made into expensive chips? Or a purplish goop, called poi, served at Hawaiian luaus that no one really eats?

I admit those were my assumptions until a recent trip to Kauai where I stumbled upon a divine sweet: a moist, spongy taro mochi cake made with coconut milk and rice flour that I bought from a roadside truck in Hanalei.

So enamored was I with this enchanting taro treat, that I signed on for a tour of the nearby family-run taro farm which produced the purple-flecked delicacy.

Following our guide through lush, windswept green fields among waving heart-shaped taro fronds, I learned that Hawaiian taro farmers face a host of challenges, including hurricanes, flash floods, hungry wild boar and an infestation of apple snails. But they persevere because taro has been a revered food in the islands for over a thousand years.

In fact, Hawaiian folklore considers taro to be “the elder brother” of all Hawaiians and since it is disrespectful to fight in front of an elder, when a bowl of poi is uncovered, all argument must stop.

Taro also happens to be one of the world’s earliest cultivated plants. Easily digestible, a good source of fiber, Vitamin C, E, B6, calcium, potassium and iron, it is featured in the cuisines of more than two-dozen countries from Brazil to China. Every part of the plant is cooked and consumed: leaves are stir-fried, steamed or made into soup; stems sautéed, boiled or ground; and the roots (technically termed corms) are steamed, fried, mashed, and appear in everything from appetizers to desserts.

When I said a tearful goodbye to my sweet little Hawaiian taro mochi cake and returned stateside, I set myself a quest -- I love quests -- to unearth (pardon the pun) a range of international dishes made from this worldwide staple. Shouldn’t be too hard in the mini-United Nations we call the East Bay.

Fried Taro Roll

First stop: Berkeley’s Green Papaya Thai Vegetarian Cuisine, a pleasant café with a long menu, for their fried taro appetizer, a generous plate of warm sliced taro roll made with tapioca and rice flours and red beans. Deep-fried in a paper-thin sheet of bean curd, its crispy golden skin contrasts nicely with the creamy filling, in a typical lavender-taro-hue.

Taro plays a starring role in many Chinese dishes, including a taro cake traditionally eaten for Chinese New Years. Even McDonald’s has caught on; their restaurants in China sell taro pies.

Two dim sum classics highlight the taro root. Squat squares of pan-fried taro cake are made from rice flour and dried scallops, shrimp, mushrooms and Chinese bacon or sausage. But the more eye-catching morsels are taro dumplings. These pork-filled balls have a wispy, lacy shell that results from deep-frying the thick coating of boiled mashed taro.

I recently sampled some yummy dumplings at Peony in Oakland Chinatown; with their fluffy, crunchy coating, it was like biting into a crispy cloud. (Hint: for the best experience, ask for them to be brought piping hot).

Vietnamese cuisine includes taro in spring rolls, soups, and desserts. Piedmont Avenue’s stylish Xyclo offers appetizers in which taro plays a supporting role; in their Xyclo roll, it’s tucked inside crispy, cigar shaped tubes along with finely chopped chicken, shrimp, carrots, mushrooms and glass noodles.

Besides poi, the sacred mixture of pounded taro root and water, the taro plant is an essential part of another Hawaiian culinary tradition: laulau, which utilizes its leaves. Pork or chicken and salted butterfish are wrapped in taro leaves and then enfolded in inedible ti leaves. The chunky green packages are steamed for several hours, turning the taro leaves to a soft, smoky (and vitamin rich) mush.

Berkeley’s Wiki Wiki Hawaiian BBQ serves up hefty portions of island favorites to the starving-student crowd. My pork laulau actually wasn’t too bad. When I inquired how they prepare it, I was told that frozen pre-made laulaus are shipped from Hawaii. Have with scoop of rice and macaroni salad for the full island experience.

For an easy DIY luau, head to Berkeley’s Tokyo Fish Market. They carry frozen Hawaiian pork or chicken laulau with no added chemicals or preservatives. You steam them at home.

On the sweet side, taro turns up in a myriad of mauve incarnations:
The ubiquitous taro bubble tea drink originated in Taiwan. Taro powder provides a thickener, a nutty taste and the light purple color. I’m partial to the bubble tea at Albany’s Tay Tah Café on Solano Avenue.

A warming Chinese dessert for a cold evening: chunks of cooked taro in a bowl of hot sago (think tapioca) pudding. My go-to unassuming Chinese dessert spot: Oakland’s Yummy Guide.

My teen-age daughter turned me on to my favorite taro treat: Yogurtland’s taro frozen yogurt. One of the regular flavors in their two Berkeley locations, its tartness forms the perfect base for fruit and topping creations.

I am not done trekking the taro trail; there are many ethnic taro specialties yet to taste:

Toranguk, a Korean soup traditionally served at Chuseok, the harvest holiday.

Sinigang, the tamarind-based national stew of the Philippines.

And a range of Indian regional dishes including leaf pancake, stem saag and a spicy taro curry with prawn.

Anyone know a good Maldivian restaurant? I hear natives of the Maldives (stunning islands in the Indian Ocean) eat their cooked taro with grated coconut, chili paste and fish soup.