’twas a bad ass day on this island. The sun was bright and hot this clear morning, just so when the clouds rolled in an extra layer of heat was trapped, weighing down on our hale. My roommate offered to drive us to the beach, one i’d never been to before. A ’secret beach,’ a couple miles down a dirt road, not far from where the tourists bask, however just ’secret’ enough to keep crowds away. i scold myself for not taking photos, but sometimes phone and camera and technology should be set aside.
(on our way back from secret beach)
i heard a commercial on the radio for a big bikini sale, so we ventured to the east side in search of bargains. First we found a health food store, Papaya, that was not so cheap, but worth every penny of deliciousness. There was a hot, all vegetarian buffet and i chose taro enchiladas, a delicious spicy tomato, squash and pineapple ratatouille of sorts, and a chickpea curry. The soup of the day caught my eye, and upon lifting the lid, aromas of exotic spices i could not place convinced me to spoon out a bowl. Luau Leaf Soup, read the menu board. i asked the cashier what was in the soup, she didn’t know. She asked the other cashier who also did not know. i popped my head in the window near the kitchen, where a woman also did not know the mystery soup’s contents, but told me i could come back in the morning to ask the chef. This is my only beef with Papaya, for Pete’s sake you’re a heathfood store and don’t know the ingredients of your food. Mystery soup it is. Hours later and back on the west side, my bartender DID know the main ingredient of the soup: taro leaf.
(mystery soup: looks like hell, tastes like heaven)
Much like a spinach or split pea consistency soup, it was undoubtedly rich from coconut milk, and the taro leaves were earthy and tea like in flavor. Besides those damn apple bananas i’ve been eating by the bushel, this could be the best thing to grace my palate in Kauai so far.
Driving through the countryside is a treat through and through. It’s hard not to expect a T-rex sighting, thanks to Jurassic Park.
(Headed to the east side, near Lihue)
Back home i dove into the fridge to prepare dinner and first selected my local purple yams. i threw ‘em in the oven on high and moved onto the Ahi we scored from a fish market, caught today, at $9.99 a pound. This has to be the best Ahi i’ve ever eaten. i didn’t want to cook it, but was out-voted.
i seasoned the steak simply with salt and a LOT of coarsely ground black pepper. A touch of oil in a super hot skillet did the trick for an effect pan-sear (at this point i’m scared shitless to go outside after dark, damn mosquitoes). i was nervous as i haven’t pan seared anything in ages, and was quite pleased with the outcome, although my knife skills could use some work.
(good first attempt, thank you endless hours of FoodTV)
The purple yams were utterly brilliant. After roasting, i split one open and shouted in excitement, taken by its vibrant color.
(not the greatest photo, but eh. Purple yam from the Hanapepe Farmer’s Market)
The consistency of this starch is quite different than the yams i buy on the mainland. Whereas orange yams are stringy and juicy, this indigo flesh was dense and velvety; truly a ’starch.’ Its flavor was much more root-like as well, sweet yes, but not as candysome as the other variety can be.
(i would like a dress the color of this yam flesh. If you come across one please email me @saysgranite.com Kthx)
September 6th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Hey lady! From the look of the pic, that color is Periwinkle- half blue, half purple. If you can’t find the fabric, it can easily be recreated using RIT Dye- their website has recipes for making custom colors.