Hawaii’s culinary history is filled with comfort foods that were born during our plantation era, when the availability of ingredients and ethnic cooking mixed into a stew of tasty dishes.
Saimin, a beloved bowl of Chinese chewy noodles in a savory Japanese dashi-based broth, is topped with bits of Chinese roast pork, green onions and Spam. The classic loco moco of Asian sticky rice, topped with an American beef patty, fried egg and thick gravy, is a concoction unlikely in either an Asian or American cookbook. Even Portuguese bean soup, a hearty melange of beans, spicy sausage and vegetables, is a uniquely Hawaii dish, not found in the culinary repertoire of Portugal.
There are many dishes like this in Hawaii reflecting ethnic cuisines yet evolving into what we know as "local food." One such dish is hekka.
Hekka is a simple recipe of chicken, beef or pork, cooked with vegetables, tofu and noodles, and seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. It is perhaps the soy sauce-sugar combination that defines this dish since the ingredients can vary according to the cook’s pantry and whim.
It is assumed that hekka is based on the Japanese dish sukiyaki, one of many nabemono, or one-pot dishes, in Japanese cuisine. Sukiyaki was not part of the Japanese diet before the 1860s; it was about this time that beef was introduced to the Japanese table by Westerners. This was also the time when many Japanese migrated to Hawaii. By the end of the Meiji era in 1912, sukiyaki was highly popular.
Traditional sukiyaki calls for thin pieces of fatty beef cooked in a pot on the table, in a sauce of soy sauce, sugar, sake and water. Diners cook their own portions, adding to the simmering pot from the prepared ingredients: green onions, mushrooms, tofu, yam noodles and vegetables. Each diner takes a biteful from the pot, dips it into a beaten raw egg and enjoys it with rice.
Hekka is basically a quick version of sukiyaki. All the ingredients are cooked together in one pot by one person, over the stove top or, in days past, over an outdoor charcoal fire.
In Hawaii, chicken hekka is perhaps the most popular. Old-time butchers would hack up a whole chicken into small pieces for hekka, bones and all. Pork and beef hekka are just as tasty; even a vegetarian hekka with tofu is excellent.
So where did the name hekka come from? One theory: The word "heka" is the name for sukiyaki in Hiroshima, and many of Hawaii’s early Japanese immigrants came from that area. The spelling of the dish evolved over time.
What makes hekka a terrific one-bowl meal is its versatility and ease of preparation. Put on your pot of rice and by the time it’s cooked, dinner is ready.
Start with protein. Chicken, pork, beef or tofu work well. Use a hacked-up chicken (some supermarkets still cut chicken for hekka) or, for convenience, bite-size pieces of boneless chicken thigh or breast. Use lean cuts of pork or beef and cut into thin, bite-size pieces. Firm tofu is best in this dish, but you can also use deep-fried tofu blocks or aburage, the triangular tofu pieces used to make cone sushi.
The fun begins by assembling the vegetables. Hawaii immigrants used what was available, such as onion, green onion, carrots, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and watercress. Today, bok choy, cabbage, zucchini, bell peppers and snap peas could fit right in. Shiitake mushroom, fresh or dried, sliced thin, add great flavor. Shirataki, or yam noodles, are traditional, but many local cooks use mung bean noodles (long rice, or cellophane noodles).
As for the sauce, all that’s necessary is soy sauce and sugar, though mirin and/or sake are good additions.
The balance of salty and sweet flavors is what endears hekka to everyone.
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FRYING TOFU
Tofu, or soybean curd, is made from cooked, ground soybeans and water, made firm by a coagulant.
Tofu can be firm or soft, crumbly or silky, depending on how the soy milk is processed. Silky soft tofu is especially good eaten cold with a little seasoning; it’s also good in delicate soups and in dips and dessert preparations. Firmer tofu is good for stir fries and braised dishes.
Drain tofu well before using it. This helps keep its shape while cooking. Drain by placing between pieces of paper towel and pressing out liquid.
Aburage is tofu that is deep-fried, and a fried tofu block, called dau hu chien, is a specialty of the Vietnamese pantry.
To fry your own bite-size pieces of tofu, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan or wok over medium-high. Add well-drained tofu pieces, reduce heat to medium and cook 4 to 5 minutes, or until tofu has a golden brown crust.
Don’t touch pieces or crust will break off. Once nicely browned, gently turn using spatula.
Patience is required here, but the firm, chewy, crisp results are worth the care and time.
EAT A DEVIL’S TONGUE?
Konnyaku is gelatinous cake made from a starchy yamlike root known as Amorphophalus konjac, or devil’s tongue. The root is peeled, cooked, pounded and mixed with a coagulant to form it into cakes. When it is shredded, it is called shirataki.
Konnyaku and shirataki have little flavor but are prized for their chewy texture and ability to absorb seasonings.
Both are sold fresh, usually next to the tofu in the supermarket. Gray konnyaku and shirataki usually have added seaweed.
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