Pig Ears and Haute Dogs
Wow, I can’t believe it’s been a whole month since my last post! Vacationing is hard work. And what did SOK do on summer autumn vacation? Why, eat New Things, of course.
Much of my time in Hawaii was spent fulfilling filial obligations like being my mom’s lunch date. (It’s a hard life.) My mom was keen on having xiao long bao, and has recently become hooked on the Yelp app, which is how we ended up having dim sum at a nearly empty Shanghainese restaurant at a strip mall in Kalihi. (Note for my non-Hawaii-resident readers: Kalihi is one of the quasi-industrial, non-gentrified parts of Honolulu. Let’s just say that this is the scene that Lost filmed in Kalihi, if you get my drift.) As I’ve written before, Shanghai dim sum is a bit different from the dim sum we’re familiar with in the US, so there were lots of unusual items on the menu, like . . .
. . . Pigs’ ears. I’ve actually had pig ear before, but in fried form. Here, the ears are boiled until tender and then sliced thinly, making them much more recognizably ear-like.The results were actually pretty tasty, with that crunchy-chewy-jelly texture that seems to be prized in Chinese cuisine. (I have to admit, though, we ended up taking a good bit of this home, and it tasted a lot better doctored up with more herbs and lemon juice.)
In the spirit of the occasion, I also introduced my mom simultaneously to durian and bubble tea. I’m not sure how my mom had managed to live in a state with the largest Asian population in the US for over a decade and avoided bubble tea, but there you go.