Kauai Sunshine Markets

I'm totally obsessed with the Kauai sunshine market (it's what they call the farmer's market here) where every day of the week, there is a small gathering of local vendors selling their fruits. Everyone lines up right at the start time, as you are not allowed to start buying beforehand to give everyone equal opportunity to get the best piece of fruit or veggie. I'm now on my third market and I've convinced myself that I'm going to be eating fruit for the rest of the week on this island. I may turn into a mango by the end of the week, but I'm going to keep going to every sunshine market I can. Besides the 6 mangos and 1 coconut I've already eaten, for the next few days, I am going to tackle 26 mangos, 3 chermoyas, 2 pineapples (1 gold, 1 honeyloaf), 2 papayas, 2 avocados, and 6 limes.

Saucy's culinary adventures: Loco Moco and Banana Pancakes#links

Saucy's culinary adventures: Loco Moco and Banana Pancakes#links

Loco Moco and Banana Pancakes

It's our first day in Kauai and we asked someone where the locals might go for breakfast and they sent us to Tip Top in Lihue for banana pancakes. As with a lot of locals do, their directions are not easy to follow. We ended up stopping to ask for directions at a 7-11 and one lady offered to take us over so we followed her in our car. She told us that Tip Top's banana pancakes alone are worth the trip! If this lady had not driven here with us, I would have never even given this place even a first look. It's a restaurant inside the Tip Top motel (seems similar to a Motel 6 but I've never stayed at a motel 6).

We walked in and the first thing you see is a rather empty "bakery" area with plastic toys and a small cash register for motel check in. The restaurant was to the right of that. There was a sign that said for you to seat yourself and as we looked around, the place was buzzing with locals, so we happily sat down and perused the menu. Waitresses walk around with carts to fill your water and coffee cups. We decided on getting the loco moco and banana pancakes. The banana pancakes were definitely fantastic. I wish I had room for more. The loco moco was fun to eat for breakfast, but the burger patty itself wasn't really seasoned so I wish I had brough a jar of the Lan Chi Chili Paste with me. That definitely would have made it better. They even serve ox tail soup for breakfast, which I wanted to get but did not have room. I might have to go back later to try that.

Tip Top is located at 3173 Akahi StLihue, HI 96766. Phone (808) 245-2333

Hubert Keller is a genius

After watching a recent episode of "Top Chef Masters" where they had the burger challenge, I was inspired to go to Hubert Keller's Burger Bar inside Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. We sat at the bar to avoid the long wait (perhaps others were inspired to eat there based on the same episode). I got the slider trio with sweet potatoe fries and Saucy Burnaz ordered the Bison Burger with spinach and blue cheese (the topping was recommended by our waiter, who I think is the restaurant manager). The fries were amazing as they were flash fried, so it was crispy (but not hard) on the outside and soft on the inside. I wasn't a fan of the slider buns as it was much too hard so I ate the burger only. At least I saved on carb calories. Saucy's bison burger, however, was just amazing. Bison, in case you haven't tried it, is incredibly tender and lean. I would say it's leaner than ground chicken. It's also grass fed and since it's not terribly popular, isn't injected with hormones or antibiotics. I don't believe in mass produced food, so I guess the animals I eat shouldn't be treated as mass produced either.

We met Hubert's sous chef, Laurent, who runs both the Burger Bar and the Fleur de lys in vegas.

Although Hubert didn't win Top Chef Masters (I think he was robbed), I still want to go to Fleur de Lys the next time I'm in SF.

Exploring Thai Town

We have been on a roll eating out lately at a lot of local food places in Los Angeles. Tonight, we had a craving for Thai food and Saucy Burnaz picked me up after work and we went to Thai town. Saucy Burnaz was first introduced to Yai Restaurant by Chef Jet Tila, of Encore's Wazuzu Pan Asian restaurant a few months back and was excited to bring me. I would have never found it if someone did not bring me who knows of its existence. It's in a mini-mall located right next to a 7-11.

We ordered three items and I really wish that I either had a bigger appetite or that we had more people to share more dishes with. We started both got the chrysanthemum tea which was very refreshing but a bit sweet for my taste. We ordered the beef tendon soup, watercress with black bean sauce and the Crab meat fried rice. I really wanted to try the Pad Thai and the Red Curry, but we are just going to have to come back again soon!

Yai is located at 5757 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles, CA. 323-462-0292.

We are looking forward to going to Wazuzu this weekend with a group of girlfriends for a bachlorette party. We'll provide a full report after our weekend in Vegas.

In the meantime, Stay Saucy.

Taiwanese Street Food

If there was one type of food that reminds me of my childhood, it is street food from Taiwan. I never thought I'd taste it again until I discovered the little restaurants called Hsin Hsin by Hong Kong Supermarket in Rowland Heights. It's so close to what I remember from Taiwan that I don't mind driving 30 miles out to get a quick lunch for under $10 for two items.

Here are two of my favorites: a ground beef rice bowl with cabbage, another type of pickled lettuce, and a stewed hard boiled egg topped with cilantro; and a big bowl of shave ice, taiwanese style (complete with sugary syrup and condensed milk). You get to choose four items for your shave ice and mine includes mung bean, red bean, taro and tapioca. It's the closest thing to getting on a 12 hour flight to Taiwan.