Category: Eat Well

Art and Agriculture are the parents of all cuisine.

Yes, it is all about chemistry, think about it. Before the Periodic Table was ever conceived, women have been creatively obsessing, analyzing and experimenting with food (plant and animal) since the first sweet potato was tentatively dropped into the fire pit.

Our Hog Wild Project started out as a way to help our remaining hog farmers recover by mobilizing support through community, chefs, and retailers. In these months, for a variety of reasons working on this project has impacted both Dan and I in unexpected ways. For Dan, it has launched a soulful exploration of his Okinawan roots. For me, it has reawakened a long held dream of invoking collaborations between artists and agriculturalists as part of an adventure in discovering ways to rebuild our food system.

With this in mind, we are very happy and grateful to be able to present to you this special feature. The Art of Pork is a collaboration with culinarian Noreen Lam, artist Tia Castro, designer/photographers Walter Sparks, Bryant Lagmay. This event was directed by Tia Castro.

Noreen Lam is my culinary hero. Locally-grown, CCA trained, Noreen worked alongside Jeremiah Tower and has been part of local food movement from early days. She’s a chef’s chef and likes to keep a low-profile so we are very fortunate to have had the opportunity to speak with her about our Hog Wild effort and were ecstatic when she wanted to lend her support.

Noreen offered to explore classic pork-centered Okinawan dishes and to create recipes inspired by the Hog Wild effort. She cites two main books featuring culture and cuisine of Okinawa, “Chimugukuru: the soul, the spirit, the heart: Okinawan Mixed Plate II” (by Hui O Laulima) and “Of Andagi and Sanshin” (edited by Ruth Adaniya, Alice Njus and Margaret Yamate) as entry points to her exploration.

These three recipes are her contributions to this effort. As this event took place Noreen’s kitchen, it was visually documented by Tia, Bryant and Walter.

Many thanks to Noreen, Tia, Walter and Bryant for shining their creative light on the Hog Wild project, freeing up the etheric beauty of such an earthly subject. Mahalo nui to Amy and Glen Shinsato for raising such beautiful animals and for gifting one of them for this project. Also thanks to Jaycee Higa of Higa Meats and Todd Low of Hawaii Department of Agriculture for their help too.

To see previous incarnations of collaborations between Tia Castro, Noreen Lam and Bryant Lagmay, visit the Blanc Catering website.

I hope you enjoy these recipes Noreen created – an homage to Uchinanchu classics – Glazed Miso Pork Belly with Vegetable Stew, Sparerib Soup with Okinawan Soba and Rafute with Bittermelon Tempura.

– Lisa

Ingredients: 4 cups long beans, cut into 1 1/2 in. pieces 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil 1 tablespoon of red curry paste mixed with 1/2 cup of water a teaspoon of sugar a tablespoon of fish sauce 15 to 20 basil leaves

Heat vegetable oil in a pan or wok at medium to high heat. Once hot, toss in long beans and stir continuously for about 60 seconds. Next stir in red curry paste + water mixture for about 60 seconds. Lastly, add the fish sauce and basil. The basil leaves will quickly soften and the long beans will appear lightly cooked.

From Lita Weidenbach

When my mother’s beloved rosebushes withered away after many years, she tenderly set into that hallowed ground another plant that she admired just as much—the tomato! Tomatoes, she would say to me with enthusiastic conviction as we watched the little seedlings grow, to add flavor and sweetness to any dish! And so she did, picking the red ripened fruit and tossing it into her salads, stews, and soups. Ah, the fish soup with those fragrant bits of tomato, onion, and ginger! No other dish would so clearly remind me of my parents’ nurturing comfort—the fresh fish caught by my patient father and lovingly prepared with my mother’s delicious tomatoes, sometimes right away over an open fire as we children played at the beach. Accompanied by a large pot of rice, fish soup went a long way towards feeding a growing family. It was a simple dish, but a difficult recipe to pin down precisely as my mom’s usual measurement was “just do it according to what you want it to taste like”. Despite the many fish dishes I have tried, I still like my mom’s basic fish soup best. How sweet is the broth and how much sweeter is the memory of the fisherman and the cook behind it! Is it no wonder that I married a fish farmer and grow tomatoes of my own?

2 lbs. of tilapia cut into large pieces
2 medium, ripe tomatoes cut into wedges
1 in. ginger root, peeled & sliced thin
½ teaspoon salt
½ medium onion sliced

Mash tomato wedges to release the juices and mix with ginger and salt. Spread onion slices in bottom of a large pan. Next, layer fish pieces. Add enough water to barely cover the fish. Pour tomato mixture evenly over the fish. Simmer, covered, for approximately 20 minutes. Add more salt (or pepper) to taste. Serves 3-5 people.

La’uya (Beef Shank Soup)
from Michelle Galimba

This is Filipino soul food. My grandfather made a stupendous la’uya, and my father also. It is very simple and very tasty, especially if you’ve spent a cold, wet day in the mountains.