We landed on Oahu on August 31 on our way to our 1-week holidays on the big island of Hawaii.
YuYu has wanted to visit the big island for a long time, and here we are in Hilo, greeted by a full rainbow. Looking good ahead. A double typhoons were on the way but we didn’t believe that it would bother us.
A beautil tunnel of trees on Puna coast.
Snorkeling in the tide pool in Kapoho.
Warm pond where hot spring meets the ocean water.
We planned to stay in some vacation rentals. To be honest, we didn’t expect much from restaurants in Hawaii first. It’s a week vacation and we decided to cook local goodies ourselves.
A grocery store called Island Naturals became our premiere source of our food.
They have 3 locations in the big island, carrying a lot of organic materials. It’s pretty amazing that, compared to Okinawa, the big island is smaller in economy volume than Okinawa, but it can provide enough organic products to these local grocery stores.
A giant avocado. So rich and creamy.
The kitchen is open!!!
We brought some essential ingredients like soy sauce, sake, kombu, dried mushroom, and others.
And of course I brought my knife. Yogurt sauce with dill and lemon for steak.
Also brought my sous vide circulator. Call me crazy.
We brought organic lamb rack and grass fed beef at Whole Foods in Honolulu. That was a good decision since Island Natural doesn’t have much meat section.
Yuyu brought in the Japanese soba broth she made.
Perfect medium rare by sous vide. So easy.
Taking in lava energy.
Kilauea volcano national park.
There are some Thai restaurants around Volcano, but nothing much to worry about.
Amazing lava formations
How did it shape like this???
Lava flowing into the ocean. Just 4-mile ride on the bike will get you there.
A 8-second shot by F1.4 of my Fujifilm X-T10.
Ohelo Cafe
This is the best restaurant around Volcano.
Baby Back Ribs. Tender, flaky, and juicy. Not much smokey, and more similar to Japanese seasoning.
This was a day’s special. Goatfish. Goatfish is very popular in Okinawa too, but not so big as this!
Sooooo delicious. Sweet teri sauce, a hint of Chinese influence, with chive and coriander. It really hit our appetite.
Goatfish we know in Okinawa is not a fancy fish. Tends to be a little dry, firm and flaky. But this one almost tastes like a grouper. Very very good.
We don’t miss a bite. Gratitude. And applause to the chef.
A huge banyan tree in the city of Hilo.
Some trees are really old. It was very good to see in the heart of the city.
Hilo Farmer’s Market.
Pineapples
One of the local shop clerks told us about this place. Pineapples in Hilo.
Open air cafe, right across from Island Naturals in Hilo.
We didn’t expect much. We just dropped in for a light lunch.
This was a non-alcohol cocktail called “Monkey Lunch”. It’s banana, coconut and macadamia milk. It was so creamy and delicious.
Yuyu had avocado spinach salad.
She just melted on the rich creamy avocado.
I had one of the day’s specials. Grilled amberjack.
Lightly grilled, succulent and fluffy. Sharpened with balsamic vinegar sauce. It was gorgeous.
Wait a minute. I know amberjacks. I know this fish dries out fast on the grill. I know the fish can smell a bit unless prepared well. But this is perfect!!!
My goodness! The goatfish last night too.
This island really knows how to handle fish!!!
Actually, we came back to this place a few days later.
The food was so good here. We had to come back again for more.
Fish and Chips. It was gorgeous. This is definitely a recommend. The fish was swordfish.
I had Kalbi Ribs. Korean Style. This was not bad. But not as good as Fish and Chips.
suisan
The fish market, Suisan, in Hilo.
Tons of tunas. All yellowfin tuna as far as I can see.
Many kinds of good-looking Pokes.
Other fish looks good too. Tuna, sword fish, mahi mahi and green jobfish. So these are the popular fish here.
Swordfish looked good to me and I got a couple of slices. USD6.00 per pound.
It was right after our lunch, but that didn’t stop us from picking on it.
This was our first Poke. It was great! This would be so popular in Okinawa too. Okinawa people love tuna too. Not fatty meat of bluefin tuna but red meat of yellowfin tuna like this. Sesami oil really helps the low-fat fish to taste richier and tastier. It probably prevents unsaturated fatty acids from oxidation.
We continued up north to Kohala Coast for our next stay.
