Mac Salad - Top Chef Seldon Simeon Recipe

Serves 4 to 6 people 

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounces macaroni
• 1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 3 cups mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• Shredded iceberg lettuce, for serving

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the macaroni a minute or two longer than the package directions, until very tender. Drain and rinse under cold water. Place in the refrigerator to cool and further drain for a minimum of 2 hours.
2. In the same pot, combine the potatoes and fresh water to cover by 1 inch. Salt it well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain well.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, mayonnaise, garlic salt, pepper, and carrots. Fold in the potatoes and chilled macaroni. Refrigerate until ready to eat. 
4. Serving on a bed of shredded lettuce with a sprinkle of black pepper.

Spam Musubi - Top Chef Sheldon Simeon Recipe

Taken from Cook Real Hawai'i by Sheldon Simeon

TECHNIQUE TIPS: There are many differing techniques for preparing and wrapping Spam musubi. Without getting too technical up top, here are a few of my basic guidelines:

1. Cut your Spam thick so you can taste it (I prefer the reduced-sodium kind for its balanced taste).

2. Sear then glaze the Spam with shoyu and sugar before wrapping.

3. Make sure your rice is warm and your nori sheets are bone-dry (and a musubi mold makes this easy, but you can use a Spam can).

Musubi maker molds, which are rectangular plastic boxes open on the top and bottom, are available for a few bucks online. If you don't have one, you can use the empty Spam can as a mold: Shape the rice into a block inside the can by firmly pressing it down with your fingers, then shake it from the can. Place the packed block of rice perpendicular to the nori strip and carefully wrap with the nori as directed.

INGREDIENTS:

• natural oil, for the skillet
• 1 (12-ounce) can 25% lesson sodium Spam, cut into 6 slices (I personally like to cut into 8)
• 1/4 cup shoyu (soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 sheets sushi nori
• 4 cups cooked short-grain white rice, warm
• 2 teaspoons furikake (optional)

PREPARATION:

1. Lightly coat the bottom of a skillet with oil and heat over medium heat. Fry the Spam slices until browned and crispy, 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and set aside on paper towels to drain.
2. Wipe out any excess oil from the pan. Add the shoyu, sugar and mirin, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, return the cooked Spam slices to the pan and turn them to coat. Cook until a sticky glaze starts to form, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and let the Spam sit in the glaze until ready to use.
3. Toast the nori sheets by carefully waving them over a stove burner on low (this is easiest with gas; use tongs if needed) for 10-20 seconds until crisp and crackly, then cut each sheet into thirds lengthwise (you can also toast them briefly in a hot oven, a minute or two, just until crisp).
4. Prepare a bowl of warm water.
5. Lay a strip of nori on a clean surface. Moisten the lower half of the inside of a musubi mold and place the mold perpendicular to the nori strip on the bottom third of the strip. Fill the mold with about 1/2 cup rice and press down very firmly and evenly until the rice is packed 3/4 inch high. Sprinkle the rice with furikake (if using). Top with a slice of Spam, making sure a little of the glaze carries over from the pan onto the rice.
6. Pull off the mold and wrap the musubi tightly in the nori strip by rolling it away from you as you would a sushi roll. Seal the edge of the nori with a dab of warm water if necessary (the moisture in the warm rice should do most of the work). Wipe off the mold with warm water and repeat with the remaining Spam and rice. Serve immediately or wrap in plastic wrap and save for later.

Soy-glazed Spam Musubi

The kids favorite snack (meal by how many they can eat at a time) but it's always so expensive to buy at their favorite Hawaiian restaurant. When I'm not lazy, I like to make this version for them and we do it in bulk - the recipe doubles easy and I actually put less rice in each musubi for them.

SOURCE: From Alana Kysar’s Aloha Kitchen Cookbook
Makes 8 musubi

• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon mirin
• 1 to 2 teaspoons neutral oil (we just used extra virgin olive oil)
• One 12-ounce can Spam Less Sodium, cut horizontally into 8 slices (clean the can and set aside for use in this recipe if you don’t have a musubi mold!)
• 3 sheets roasted sushi nori, cut into thirds crosswise
• 2 teaspoons furikake
• 5-6 cups cooked short-grain rice (we used sushi rice)

Directions:

1. Whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, and mirin. Set aside.
2. Lightly coat the bottom of a large skillet with the oil and heat over medium heat until sizzling. Fry Spam slices until evenly browned and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes each side, bringing the heat to low for the last minute of cooking, then turn off the heat.
3. Pour soy mixture into skillet and turn Spam slices to evenly coat them. The mixture is going to cook down quickly, so don’t leave them unattended! Transfer immediately to a plate.
4. Place a strip of nori rough side up on a cutting board or clean work surface. Line the cleaned, empty Spam can with plastic wrap and press one slice of Spam all the way down to the bottom of the can.
5. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon furikake over the Spam slice. Take 1/2 cup (loosely packed) cooked sushi rice and pack it into the can as well, pressing with your fingers until the rice is evenly, firmly patted down and flat.
6. Pull the stack of rice and sliced Spam out of the can by pulling out the plastic wrap, then place the stack Spam-side down onto the strip of nori.
7. Bring both ends of nori up to meet in the middle of the rice. If needed, you can wet your finger and rub it along one end of the nori to help it stick to itself. Flip musubi over so the seam faces down, and go back to step 4 with all the remaining ingredients. Serve immediately or store wrapped in plastic wrap for later.

Thai Tea

Hong shared this recipe with us after making a batch and gifting it to us for Thi's birthday. It's delicious and we like to dilute it a little then use oat milk instead of creme or milk.

Ingredients

• 8 cups water
• 2 cups of Thai tea mix
• 1 1/4 cups sugar

Directions

1. Put all ingredients into a big pot and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
2. Boil for 4-5 minutes.
3. Turn off stove and let site for 30 minutes.
4. Pour through a fabric strainer.
5. Chill and serve on ice.
6. Optional: Add half and half, milk, or alternative milk to taste.

Hawaiian Banana Bread

I tend to prefer banana bread with white sugar versus brown sugar because the banana flavor comes out more. I noticed this is the key difference between banana recipes from Hawaii and the mainland so I made this recipe and it's delicious. The flavor reminds me of Vietnamese banana bread pudding I grew up eating.

Yields: 2 loaves
*I halved it since I made this during a pandemic and needed to limit valuable ingredients such as egg, flour and sugar and put the batter into 3 mini loaves because I can't find my regular loaf tin.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cup sugar
• 6-7 ripe bananas, mashed
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 2 1/2 cups, all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare 2 loaf pans, by greasing with butter. Set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
4. Add masked bananas and eggs. Mix well.
5. Whisk/sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
6. Slowly add to the creamed mixture.
7. Mix gently until just combined. Do not over mix.
8. Pour batter evenly into 2 prepared loaf pans.
9. Bake for 45-50 minutes. (About 35 minutes for the 3 mini pans)
10. Test doneness with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, it is done!

Chinese Braised Chicken with Mushrooms (Yang's Braised Chicken Copycat)

Prep Time 3-4 hours

Cook Time 35-40 minutes

Servings 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 lbs (about 6-8) chicken thighs, deboned, and cube into 2 in. pieces
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 1/2 oz thinly sliced Chinese black mushrooms, stems removed (About 8-10 mushrooms.  Rinse Chinese black mushrooms in cold water and place in bowl.  Add 2 1/2 cups cold water and rehydrate for 2-3 hours.  Reserve 2 cup of the soaking liquid.)
• 1 oz thinly sliced ginger
• 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
• Optional: 1 jalapeño, sliced

For Chicken Marinade

• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp shaoxing cooking wine
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

Instructions

1. Marinade the chicken.  In a bowl, mix together the chicken, 1/2 tsp shaoxing cooking wine, 2 tbsp light soy sauce.  Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
2. Add 2 tbsp canola oil to a 6 qt sauce pan (or dutch oven) and heat on medium high.  When oil is hot, add sliced ginger and cook until fragrant.  NOTE: If adding jalapeños, add them with the ginger.
3. Add chicken and lightly brown.
4. Add mushroom, dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, shaoxing cooking wine, salt, reserved mushroom soaking liquid. Stir until thorough mixed and bring to boil.
5. Once boiling, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Braise for 25 minutes.
6. Serve immediately over rice.

Overnight Coconut Chia Seed Pudding

Servings 8 - 3.25 oz cups

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 2 cups coconut milk beverage
• 2 tbsp sweetener (I like agave nectar)

Instructions

1. Add chia seeds to a mixing bowl.
2. Add coconut milk beverage to chia seeds and mix until all seeds are incorporated into the coconut milk.
3. Place mixture in the refrigerator overnight.
4. The next day, stir the mixture again and serve.

Notes

• Instead of coconut milk beverage, you can substitute almond milk.  You can even try adding in 2 tsp of vanilla extract or almond extract to change things up.