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The breakdown on braising

Columns What's Cooking?

August 10, 2014

Story By: Rachel Breit | Photos by: Rachel Breit

Sliced thin and cured, you call it bacon. Cut thick and braised, it’s melt-in-your-mouth juicy. Pair it with eggs, serve it over rice and smother it in cooking juices, chef David Yamamoto at Kahai Street Kitchen calls it a loco moco.

It’s the fork-tender slabs of pork belly that steal the show in Okinawan-Style Shoyu Pork Belly Loco Moco ($8.95). The hero?

Braising. Simmering for hours in a soy ginger sauce transforms the lowly pork belly into an unctuous delicacy.

For a novel twist on traditional poke, Yamamoto quickly heats his house-made mix and tops it with lomi lomi salmon. He completes Pan-Seared Ahi Poke Plate (market price) with sauteed Chinese cabbage, wasabi aioli and kabayaki.

Ever eaten a California-style sushi roll and wondered what it would taste like as a sandwich? If so, you’re in good company. Yamamoto translates the combo of flavors through his Deluxe Crab Bacon Panini Melt ($10.25), which features a sweet, creamy blend of real crab and guacamole surrounded by bacon, sliced tomatoes and melted provolone pressed between hefty slices of focaccia bread.

During August, look out for these new menu items, as well as other traditional-turned-different dishes at Kahai Street Kitchen. Yamamoto, who scours the Internet for new dish inspiration, is always coming up with fresh recipes for his ever-changing menu.

Kahai Street Kitchen

237 Kalihi St., Honolulu
845-0320 (fax orders for 10 people or more to 842-4273)
Tuesday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Fridays, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
KahaiStreet-Kitchen.com

Honolulu, HI 96819

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