Writing is a gift
That’s given to few, so share
Let your voice be heard
Creating stories
Inspiring today’s children
To always dream big
Writing sets us free
Imagination unchained
Unknown worlds are born
Writing shows our heart
Passion reveals our true self
Our love knows no bounds
Words are our allies
Strings together emotions
Stirs up memories
I have never written anything food related in my life but decided that I wanted to do so now to give people a “taste” of life here in Honolulu, Hawaii. Rather than talking about some fancy dish, I’ll talk about this particular food that we all know and have tried once in our lives…”POPCORN”.
Most people when they hear the word popcorn, associate it with the movies. It’s a staple snack that we all like to munch on while we’re watching our favorite flick. Some are purists that like to eat it plain, while others sprinkle on that cheese or garlic flavored seasoning; the rest just mix it with their favorite candy snack.
Here in Hawaii, what we like to do is to mix MOCHI CRUNCH (KAKIMOCHI) and FURIKAKE or LI HING seasoning with our popcorn.
Mochi crunch, or kakimochi (kah-kee-moe-chee) as we commonly call it, is a snack originally created in Japan; it’s a type of bite-sized Japanese cracker made from rice and coated with soy sauce. In Japan it’s normally called arare (ah-rah-ray) or senbei (sen-bay) and it usually comes in different shapes. It was introduced to Hawaii in the 1900’s by the Japanese plantation workers and has been a staple snack amongst the locals since then.
Furikake (foo-ree-kah-kay) is seaweed diced into tiny flakes mixed with sesame seeds, salt, sugar and seafood flavoring. It’s usually sprinkled on top of cooked rice for flavoring.
Li Hing was brought over to Hawaii by the Chinese plantation workers. Li Hing is dried, pickled plums seasoned in food coloring, licorice, salt and sugar and has also been a life-long snack here in Hawaii. It’s truly an acquired taste; the best way to describe it is it’s a combination of salty, sweet, sour, tart and tangy.
The coating on the plums is what most of us like the best about eating this snack, so much so, someone had the bright idea to just sell it in powder form. We usually sprinkle it on fruits, candy and shaved ice to give it added zest; others even concocted drinks with it.
I don’t know who started the trend or when it originated but someone in our lovely state decided to mix the two ingredients with popcorn and voila…it deliciously worked! The soft crunch of the popcorn, the hard crunch of the kakimochi, the scintillating taste of the li hing powder and the earthy flavor of the furikake…mmm…delicious! We even have ready made packets so that we don’t have to buy the ingredients separately.
For those who have a sweet tooth, this might not be for you because it’s more on the salty side. When I say salty, I mean more like when you eat a regular potato chip kind of salty. But this way of eating popcorn is commonplace in Hawaii when we’re at the movies or even chillin’ on the couch at home watching our favorite TV show.
It might not look too appealing but if you’re ever in Hawaii, give it a try. I always say, “Try first, complain later.” You might like it, you might not, either way you can at least tell your friends and family members that you got a little taste of Hawaii.
I look back on my life and take stock in what I’ve done and who I’ve become. The one thing that I take most pride in is my ability to be a good listener.
I’ve always felt that if a person takes the time to tell you something of importance, then you should respect that and give your undivided attention to what he/she has to say. I try to listen without judgement and really hear the other person’s words.
Too many times we’ve had and “A & B” conversation with someone but somehow ended up with “B” starting another conversation with “C & D” who just happened to pass by. At that point, you kind of feel irrelevant and try to uncomfortably slink away without being noticed.
In my case, I stay there like a complete doofus because of some sort of self-responsibility to finish what was started. AND when “B” returns back to the original conversation, the whole vibe is gone.
In my mind’s eye, I felt as if I was not important enough to hold your attention when I was unloading my feelings, advice and thoughts.
It is for that reason, in any conversation, that I look the other person in the eye and soak in what they’re telling me even if an outside party acknowledges me. My focus on the person is steadfast. This art of listening is something that I’m trying to instill in my children.
As the days and months go by, life seems to tick away as if it were mere seconds on a clock. Time is precious. So when someone needs to talk to you, be there for them…and listen as if they’re the only person left on this planet.
We wish good times would last,
that feeling of no tomorrow,
but we know that’s not the case
How does one stay strong
in the midst of the dark
When your life is riddled with
change,
crisis,
death,
tragedy,
pain,
heartache
We try to summon every ounce of
faith,
hope,
love,
courage,
support,
even false bravado
to overcome our trials and tribulations
We will never know how strong we are
until strong is the only choice we have
In the end if we do this, we’ll be
resilient in hard times,
fearless of the unknown,
eternally optimistic,
steadfast in our mind’s eye,
and
forever strong.
