It’s challenging to name anything George Kahumoku Jr. cannot do well. The Grammy and Na Hoku Hanohano awardwinning slack key guitarist is also a catering chef, painter, farmer and rancher. He and wife Nancy have raised 15 children, including adoptees.
For the past 17 years, Kahumoku has been the main attraction at the weekly Wednesday Napili Kai Resort concerts. In addition, it’s not unusual for him to play, cook or do both at least 10 times a week for weddings, funerals, birthday parties and other community gatherings.
Often he will perform outside of Hawaii to packed audiences. When he has the time, he paints colorful art of his surroundings.
Once a week, Kahumoku and friends prepare 25 to 100 CSA (Community Supporting Agriculture) boxes with produce from his Kahumoku Farm in Kahakuloa on Maui’s remote northwestern coast. In addition, they lead tours and the participants are fed. He raises chickens, sheep, miniature horses and other animals.
>> PHOTOS: Maui slack key master shares his homegrown recipes
When Kahumoku cooks, boy, does he cook. This Renaissance man and friends have catered meals for up to 2,000 people. He says it comes naturally from growing up in Kealia, South Kona, with 26 cousins. His great-grandparents were fishermen and farmers.
“The men in my family were the cooks, and all of us were expected to chip in,” Kahumoku said. He learned how to prepare various dishes, as each meal would have to feed about 50 family members.
In 1992 he moved to Maui to play music at the Westin Kaanapali. The slack key master also is an art teacher at Lahainaluna High School and teaches Hawaiian at the University of Hawaii Maui College in Kahului, where he also heads the Institute of Hawaiian Music. The institute provides mentoring and training to aspiring musicians in performing, singing, composition, repertoire development, recording techniques and marketing of Hawaiian music.
Kahumoku has been thriving at his farm for the past 17 years.
“When I was young, we never knew what basil was,” he says. “Now we grow all kinds of vegetables on the farm.”
His recipe for spinach salad with miso salmon and garlic bread displays his culinary talents. He touts the sustainability of eating spinach. After picking at least 8-inch stems, he removes the tender leaves and replants the stems. His tip: Make sure you don’t replant them upside down!
You’ll want to try his restaurant-quality spinach salad with homemade lilikoi-guava jam dressing and candied mac nuts, served with miso salmon and pan-fried garlic bread.
He wants everyone to try different varieties of spinach such as Okinawan (light green), Korean (purple) and New Zealand (dark green).
When fresh tangerine segments are added, it makes for a colorful salad. Macadamia nuts are candied with butter, brown sugar and salt. The dressing pairs tart, fresh lilikoi with sweet homemade guava jam. Balsamic vinegar and mac nut oil are added to the dressing for a refreshing flavor.
To complete the meal, Kahumoku broils or sautees salmon with a white miso sauce and pan-fries bread to make garlic toast. He makes it sound so easy to do so many different things.
His recipes serves 4. If you can’t find spinach varieties, substitute with any spinach leaves or greens.
Serve with the salmon resting atop the salad or on a separate side dish.
Kahumoku Farms Three Spinach Salad With Miso Salmon and Garlic Bread
Recipes by George Kahumoku Jr.
1/2 pound Okinawan spinach, including stems (about 5 cups)
1/2 pound Korean spinach, including stems
1/2 pound New Zealand spinach, including stems
4 tangerines
Wash spinach well and chill in the refrigerator at least 1 hour. Peel tangerines and break into segments. Chill in the refrigerator. Divide the leaves into 4 large salad bowls or plates. Pour salad dressing over greens and arrange tangerine segments on top. Generously sprinkle with candied mac nuts.
Lilikoi Balsamic Guava Jam Dressing
1/4 cup lilikoi puree
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup macadamia nut oil, substitute olive or avocado oil
1/4 cup guava jam
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut 1 to 2 fresh lilikoi fruits. Strain out seeds to make 1/4 cup puree. Mix puree with vinegar, oil, jam and add salt and pepper to taste.
Candied Macadamia Nuts
1 ounce salted butter (1/4 of a stick)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole or halved macadamia nuts
In a large saucepan, add butter, sugar and salt over medium-low heat until melted. Add nuts and stir until they are covered and caramelized. Cool separately so they do not stick together.
Broiled Salmon with Miso Sauce
1-1/3 pounds fresh salmon, cut into 4 pieces
1/3 cup white miso
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Optional garnish: chopped green onions
Mix miso with fresh ginger and brown sugar. Cut salmon into 4 equal pieces and place on a foil-covered baking pan skin-side down. Broil on high for 3 minutes, until fish is cooked 75% through. Spoon 1 tablespoon of miso mixture over fish and cook 1 more minute. (For stovetop cooking, add macadamia nut oil to a skillet and fry salmon skin-side down over high heat. Cover skillet, turn off heat and wait 1 minute.) Remove salmon and place atop spinach salad or on a separate plate. Garnish with green onions if desired.
Pan-fried Garlic Bread
4 3/4-inch-thick slices of sourdough bread
4 tablespoons soft salted butter
3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Spread butter on both sides of the bread. In a hot frying pan, add the minced garlic and place bread in the pan. Turn over when toasted, about 1-1/2 minutes. When both sides are toasted, serve with spinach salad and salmon.
Lynette Lo Tom offers recipes for the Maui home cook. She is the author of “A Chinese Kitchen” and “Back in the Day” cookbooks. Send your ideas to lynette@brightlightcookery. com or call 275-3004.
