Cooking can be one of the greatest joys in life, and one isle family embodies that experience to perfection. They have fun in the kitchen, they make cooking look easy and they are sharing that love with the next generation.
The six Kodama siblings — Dennis, Scott, Dave, Hugh, Gregg and Diane — are known for their joy of cooking. This is one family who does things right.
It all started with Mom, Sunao "Sandy" Kodama. The late matriarch is still remembered as the friendly hostess at son Dave’s DK Restaurants.
When her family was young, however, it was she who was busy at the stove.
"She would cook fast and use fresh food, as she went to the supermarket every day," said Gregg. "My mom was very creative and never used a recipe, so her dishes were different each time."
Dave said, "With five boys and one girl, we fought over food.
"We didn’t want to learn to cook, we just wanted to eat, so that is why we were all in the kitchen."
Mom Kodama died in 2008, but she still lives on through the food her children prepare from her repertoire.
At a recent family gathering at Dave’s house in Manoa, the large brood gathered to cook up a menu of her classics. Though Dave’s kitchen was spacious, folks were elbow to elbow, cooking all at once. The family filled the room with joyful noise — a constant stream of joking, laughing and multiple conversations all at once. Some talk was even about the tasks at hand.
Scott’s son Ric asked Uncle Dennis to taste his pork gravy. "It’s good."
Dennis made the cabbage salad that he said his dad, Tamateru, must have when beef stew is on the menu. He asked Dad to taste it. "A bit too much mayo," Dad said, softening his critique with a smile.
Sammy, Hugh’s daughter, frowned when she overbaked the biscuits. Armed with her uncles’ advice to check on them frequently, she made a second batch. They were soft and as perfect as her grandmother would have made them.
The wonderful chaos extended through the house. Scott’s grandchildren, toddlers Kenzlie and Kingston, began ringing a bell. Dave laughed, saying, "That bell tells the dogs to go outside; now they’ll be doing their business in the house."
Meanwhile, a stealthy Tamateru walked around the kitchen without a word, picking up a butterflied shrimp here, leaving a shrimp Rockefeller without its top there. He wore a smile the whole time.
Gregg’s daughter Haley, away at college, watched the bedlam on a smartphone. Amid all the noise were greetings: "Hi, Haley, see what you are missing?"
The results: Dennis made beef stew, cabbage salad, fried gau gee, clam dip, fried noodles and peas with butter; Scott, macaroni salad with tuna; Dave, Filipino-style roast turkey and gorgeously plated sashimi; Gregg, sweet-and-sour spareribs and shrimp curry; and Diane, baked salmon, Buzz’s Shrimp Rockefeller and brownies.
From the third Kodama generation: Ric made roast pork, and Sammy, Grandma’s soft biscuits and a blueberry cream cheese dessert.
Clearly, Dave wasn’t exaggerating when he said his brothers and sisters love to eat. In fact, this has been going on since they were youngsters. The siblings discussed how Hugh holds the record for eating 10 hamburgers (with bread and lettuce, tomatoes and onions) in one sitting.
It’s hard to imagine just how much food Mom Kodama cooked to feed her husband, Tamateru, and her voracious children — then later, the grandchildren, children she baby-sat, and neighbors.
The amazing part was, she always delivered something great.
"She was an octopus with many hands, and she juggled everything effortlessly," said Gregg’s wife, Be-Jay. "Our children would stay with her while we worked, and they would get great food like Stew Moco: leftover stew, rice and a fried egg."
Said Scott’s wife, Terri, "When I started dating Scott, I would have dinner at the Kodama’s, and there would be five entrees on the table. I thought to myself, ‘What kind of family is this?’"
The in-laws say that while they cook meals at home, they don’t turn on the stove for family dinners.
"Instead, we wash dishes," said Wendy, Dennis’ wife.
"The Kodamas love to cook, it’s in their blood, they live to eat," said Terri.
"When I taste a cookie, I just say it’s hard or soft. The Kodamas can identify every ingredient. Diane has that gift; she can taste something once and then duplicate the dish. Dave’s daughter Brie also has that talent."
But perhaps the finest thing passed on to the Kodama kids has little to do with talent.
Said Dennis, "We learned from Mom to cook with all your heart."
Recipes
Mom Kodama’s works endure
Sunao “Sandy” Kodama instilled in her six children a love of cooking and left them a collection of recipes they still enjoy making together today.
The first, a roast turkey brined and then stuffed with fragrant items such as ginger and lemongrass, is a recipe she learned from the Esias family, who were the Kodamas’ neighbors.
A recipe for biscuits doesn’t produce your run-of-the-mill hard, dry biscuits. They are cooked only until lightly brown, almost the color of ladyfingers. These are soft and perfect alone or with butter or jam. The trick to achieving the proper delicate texture, says the family, is fresh baking powder.
MOM KODAMA’S BISCUITS
» 1-3/4 cups flour
» 1/2 teaspoon salt
» 1 tablespoon baking powder
» 1/2 cup sugar
» 6 tablespoons butter, melted
» 1/2 cup evaporated milk
» 1/2 cup water
Heat oven to 450 degrees.
Sift flour, salt, baking powder and sugar.
Place in mixing bowl, add butter and mix.
Mix in milk and water.
Place about 1/12th of batter on floured board and sprinkle with flour. Pass dough back and forth hand-to-hand until lightly coated in flour, and place rounded biscuit on an ungreased 9-by-13-inch pan.
Bake 8 to 12 minutes until tops are light brown. Makes 1 dozen.
Approximate nutritional analysis per biscuit: 160 calories, 7 g fat, 4 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol, 150 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 9 g fiber, 9 g sugar, 3 g protein
MOM KODAMA’S FILIPINO-STYLE ROAST TURKEY
» 1 (14- to 18- pound) turkey, defrosted
» 2 cups gin
» 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Brine:
» 1 gallon water
» 1/2 cup sugar
» 1/2 cup kosher salt
Flavoring:
» 1 entire celery, rough chopped
» 3 to 4 onions, rough chopped
» 2 cups ginger, rough chopped
» 1/2 cup garlic, peeled and rough chopped
» 3 stalks lemongrass, knotted and crushed
Mix brine ingredients and brine turkey overnight.
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In large bowl, mix celery, onions, ginger, garlic and lemongrass and stuff in cavity of turkey.
Put any extra flavoring in roaster and lay turkey, breast down, on mixture. Pour gin into cavity.
Cook 1 hour, then turn turkey over and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Roast another 1-1/2 hours or until cooked.
Strain juices and heat in sauce pan.
For about 6 cups of juice, make cornstarch slurry of 1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water; add more according to preference.
Cook on medium heat until thickened to desired consistency.
Carve turkey and serve with gravy. Serves 24.
Approximate nutrient analysis per serving (based on 18-pound turkey only): 450 calories, 18 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 155 mg cholesterol, 600 mg sodium, 9 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g sugar, 53 g protein
Approximate nutrient analysis per serving (based on 18-pound turkey with gravy): 480 calories, 19 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 155 mg cholesterol, 900 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 54 g protein
CABBAGE SALAD
» 3 cups head cabbage (about 1/4 head), chopped
» 2 teaspoons soy sauce (Kikkoman preferred)
» 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (Best Foods preferred)
Mix all ingredients together. Serves 6.
Note: The family’s preference for the mayonnaise-soy sauce mixture results in a light brown color. Adjust to your taste.
Nutritional information unavailable.
CLAM DIP
1 (8-ounce) block cream cheese
» 1 can Gorton’s chopped (not minced) clams, juice reserved
» 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
» Dash pepper
Combine ingredients and add most of clam juice.
Mix well with hands to remove all lumps.
Refrigerate uncovered for 2 days to allow flavors to meld and dip to thicken.
Nutritional information unavailable.
Lynette Lo Tom is fascinated by foods that were cooked "back in the day." Contact her at 275-3004 or lynette@brightlightcookery.com if you know a home cook who has a specialty.
