Dishing up tradition

BBQ Stick $2.40

For 85 years, Sekiya’s Restaurant & Delicatessen has served delicious okazu food and local fare to hungry Oahuans.

The family restaurant uses recipes created in the 1930s by Taisuke and Katsuko Sekiya. These days, Sekiya’s is staffed by members of the Hara family, all Sekiya descendants, as well as Leonard “Trey” Paresa, who’ll wed manager Deanna Hara this March.

Unchanged for decades, Sekiya’s Oxtail Soup ($17.99) contains four pieces of oxtail, two big and two small, cut by hand.

Saimin (Large) $8.79

“It’s garnished with ginger, Chinese parsley, and mustard cabbage, and served with rice, tsukemono, and tea,” Paresa adds.

The dish excludes star anise, a common ingredient in local oxtail soup. Paresa explains, “It’s because we use the same recipe from 1935 — and they didn’t include star anise.”

Shake Chazuke (Salmon) $11.55

Another dish based on an old recipe, the Large Saimin ($8.79) is wonderfully accompanied by one or two BBQ Sticks ($2.40 each). Each loaded bowl includes 5 ounces of noodles served with Sekiya’s housemade shrimp-based dashi.

Sekiya’s BBQ Sticks are made with beef cut in-house, brushed with housemade sauce, and grilled.

Oxtail Soup ($17.99)

“When we cut beef for teriyaki, we use the leftover meat for barbecue sticks,” Paresa says. “The old recipes don’t call for any waste.”

Served in a little black pot, the Nabeyaki Udon ($15.29) is loaded with noodles, chicken, shiitake mushroom, fish cake, makina (Chinese cabbage), watercress, poached egg and shrimp tempura.

“It’s nice and filling, with lots of flavors,” says Paresa. “So good for cold weather!”

Nabeyaki Udon ($15.29)

Shake Chazuke Salmon ($11.55), another perfect meal for a cold day, includes tsukemono such as pickled lima beans, plus green tea, rice, and salted salmon on the side. For the new year, this ochazuke also includes sweet black kuromame beans while supplies last.

Remember, Sekiya’s offers a generous 10 percent discount to guests 65 and older, for dine-in only, each Monday.  Best of all, the discount is applied to the bill for everybody in the senior’s party!