Made in Hawaii Recipe: Morimoto Waikiki

The 15th annual Made in Hawaii Festival takes place August 20-22 at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center. Festival-goers will enjoy shopping for a selection of ono food, books, unique gifts, arts & crafts, music, plants, jewelry and more. A highlight of the festival each year is the cooking demonstrations from some of Hawaii’s finest chefs.

Cooking demonstrations are made possible with the support of the participating restaurants and the Department of Agriculture’s Hawaii Seal of Quality program. Featured vendors: Wailea Agriculture Group Big Island Hearts of Palm Photo: courtesy of Dept of Agriculture

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto will present a special  cooking demonstration on Saturday, August 21 at 2 p.m.

Here is the recipe for his featured dish.

Monchong Nitsuke, Hearts of Palm Salad

Recipe serves 6

Ingredients
2 cups sake
6 slices fresh ginger
6 Monchong fillets with skin on and no bones, 6 ounces each
1 ½ cup sugar
1 cup soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons tamari
3 tablespoons mirin
Garnish of julienne of ginger, scallion and kinome sprigs

Preparation
Pour the sake into a large, deep skillet or flame-proof casserole. Add the ginger and fish fillets skin side up. Cover and cook over high heat for 3 minutes. Add the sugar and cook over medium-high heat for three more minutes.

Pour the soy sauce and tamari over the fish fillets. Cook over medium-high heat, covered, for five minutes. Add the mirin and cook for three minutes longer. Be careful not to burn the fish; glaze the fillets by repeatedly pouring the thickened sauce over them while cooking.

With a slotted spatula, carefully transfer the monchong to one side of a serving platter and keep warm.

Reduce braising liquid over high heat until it becomes caramelized and reserve.

For the salad

Ingredients
1 cup Wailea Agriculture Group Big Island hearts of palm, thinly sliced
½ cup carrots, julienne
½ cup green papaya, julienne
1 cup fresh pineapple juice
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
2 tbs Maui onion, minced
1 cup grape seed oil
Salt and white pepper to taste
Hawaiian sea salt

Preparation
In a sauce pot, add pineapple juice, bring to a simmer, reduce to ¼ cup and cool.
In a mixing bowl, whisk pineapple juice, vinegar, onion, oil and season with salt and pepper.

Combine hearts of palm, carrots, green papaya and lightly coat evenly with vinaigrette. Season with salt and pepper.

Plating
Drizzle reduced braising liquid over monchong fillets and garnish with julienned scallion, ginger and sprigs of kinome.

Arrange hearts of palm salad next to monchong and finish with Hawaiian sea salt.

 
For information on attending the festival, visit madeinhawaiifestival.com
 

About The Chef

Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, Morimoto Waikiki Chef Masaharu Morimoto—known to millions as the star of Iron Chef and Iron Chef America—has garnered critical and popular acclaim for his seamless integration of Western and Japanese ingredients. He has effectively created a signature cuisine that has gained worldwide appeal and positioned him as one of the foremost chefs today. Morimoto is executive chef at Morimoto Philadelphia, Morimoto New York, Wasabi by Morimoto (New Delhi), the Michelin-starred Morimoto-XEX (Tokyo) and Morimoto Sushi Bar (Boca Raton, Florida). In July 2010, chef Morimoto will open his first West Coast restaurant, Morimoto Napa, in downtown Napa’s new Riverfront development, followed by the fall 2010 debut of Morimoto Waikiki in Waikiki EDITION, the new luxury lifestyle hotel being developed by Ian Schrager and Marriott Hotels. (1775 Ala Moana Boulevard)   For more information, call 808-941-8500 or visit www.morimotowaikiki.com.

The Made in Hawaii Festival Cooking Demonstrations are coordinated by HONOLULU Magazine and are sponsored in part by the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture’s Hawaii Seal of Quality program. All of the recipes featured include farm fresh Made in Hawaii local produce or seafood resources.

The Hawaii Seal of Quality  represents the cream of the crop of Hawaii’s agricultural producers. It was established to protect the integrity and value of the marketing cachet for Hawaii branded farm and value-added products.  Products with this seal are genuine, Hawai’i-grown or Hawai’i-made premium products, a guarantee that is enforced by the State of Hawaii.

When choosing your ingredients, consider the Hawaii Seal of Quality. For more information, visit: http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/add/soq/