If you follow me and spent any time on Twitter yesterday, you probably saw a live-tweet or two from my “Hole-in-the-Wall” Hawaii Food Tour. As tour operator and CFG (Chief Food Guy) Matthew Gray explained after my group of three boarded his mini-bus, along with seven other tourists, the tour focused on food that actual Hawaiians eat, rather than simply foods of Hawaii. There was plenty of that too (poke — marinated cubed ahi, bananas, and pineapple), but we also sampled rice noodles in Chinatown, exotic fruits, and pork buns that tasted identical to those I’d find down the street from my apartment in New York.

I first discovered Hawaii Food Tours a few days ago  while browsing TripAdvisor for activities, and after seeing overwhelmingly positive feedback (the tour is rated #5 of 238 attractions in Honolulu), I signed my family up immediately. I’ve being wanting to try one of the many food tours offered in New York City, and while this tour was a bit pricier ($99 per person), it seemed like the perfect way to spend half a day in Hawaii.

Since I already covered most of the tour in my posts on Twitter yesterday, I’m going to repost some of them here, with updated (higher-quality) photos.

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10:19 AM: First stop on the Hawaii Food Tour: Royal Kitchen in Chinatown for manapua (steamed meat buns).

10:46 AM: Stop #2: Coco Puffs at Liliha Bakery (pic). WOW.

11:09 AM: The tour has moved to Chinatown. CFG (Chief Food Guy) and newspaper food critic Matthew Gray talks to the group. *Continued: Locals approach, assuming that Gray is holding a tray of free samples.

11:24 AM: Rice noodles at Look Funn noodle shop… one of the last of its kind. Time to eat!

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11:37 AM: Live bull frogs in Honolulu Chinatown… $6.99 per pound. Guessing they’re not being sold as pets.

(Not from Twitter) – A Honolulu police officer writes a ticket after using a ruler to determine that this food stall’s produce extended too far out onto the sidewalk. Slow crime day, I suppose.

12:00 PM: Eating some exotic fruit in Chinatown… This is called a rambutan.

12:04 PM: Here come the Hawaiian foods… Spam “sushi” and poke (raw, seasoned ahi cubes)!

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12:09 PM: Now: “apple” bananas and coconut tarts.

12:17 PM: Pineapple two ways: natural (and the best you can get – anywhere), and marinated in preserved plum powder.

12:25 PM: Dessert: A “Keira special” smoothie … Topped with plum-infused vodka and pineapple juice.

12:55 PM: at Sun Chong Grocery.

1:02 PM: The most awful smelling fruit in the world: durian. The taste is described as “custardy rotten onion.”

1:18 PM: A fresh-flower lei at Lin’s Lei Shop.

1:56 PM: Last stop before it’s back to Waikiki: malasadas (like an overstuffed donut) at Leonard’s Bakery. So full!

Kimchi, kimbap, bulgogi, banchan, bindaeddeok, bibimbap — somehow I managed to make it through 24 years of life without trying any of these Korean staples, or really any Korean food at all. This changed just a couple hours after landing in Seoul, when my friend Tobye took me for a lunch of kimbap — essentially a Korean sushi roll, made with pickled radish, carrots, and other non-fish ingredients that tend to vary from restaurant to restaurant. It was actually quite filling, and cost about $1, if I remember correctly. Including a bowl of miso soup. My second meal (above), was at a Korean BBQ restaurant and featured bulgogi, or marinated beef. Like nearly every Korean meal that followed, there were plenty of all-you-can-eat side dishes, or banchan.

That first dinner was followed by bindaeddeok (the scallion pancake in the photo above), and makkoli, a milky rice wine. Alcohol seems to play a large role in South Korean culture, with many locals drinking until morning, so it’s no surprise that alcohol is typically consumed with more food.

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Another photo of my first Korean BBQ dinner.

The following night, Tobye and I accidentally ordered an incredibly spicy seafood stew, instead of the BBQ pork we thought we were ordering. The waiter brought out an English menu only after our dish arrived.

That meal was one of the spiciest I’ve ever had, and I nearly depleted the restaurant’s supply of “tissues” (napkins).

Even cheap noodle dishes include unlimited side dishes.

Like nearly ever city I’ve visited, there are plenty of Starbucks on hand as well. The store in the photo above is one of few in the world that replaced the iconic Starbucks text with the coffee chain’s name in the local language.

There’s nothing overwhelmingly unique about the Noryangjin Fish Market, but if you like fresh seafood, you can’t do much better than the restaurants on the second floor of the market — customers haggle for fish at the market below, then head upstairs to one of dozens of restaurants eager to fry up your catch for a fee.

Click the “read more” link for more photos from the market, including some aggressive crabs and one of the best fried fish meals I’ve ever had.

You’ll find countless species of mollusks on the market floor, including a variety of octopuses.

There are plenty of baby octopuses available as well.

Sushi (sashimi, to be more precise) is also a big hit, though you won’t find any spicy tuna rolls here.

Several vendors sell stingray sashimi, bizarrely enough.

Crabs — packed live in cardboard boxes with sawdust — are a big hit at the market.

The crabs appeared agitated when removed from their boxes — not surprising, considering that crabs tend to feel more at home swimming in water than packed tightly in sawdust.

Yup, that’s blood.

This vendor set up her lunch in the middle of the market floor, chowing down on kimchi, not seafood.

I assumed that this cat would be eating raw fish, but nope — that’s kibble in its bowl.

A vendor prepares our fish, which we negotiated down to about 20 bucks.

The finished product … I think the preparation came to about $15 or so, including beers and typical Korean side dishes of tofu and quail eggs. I didn’t love the sides, but the fish was incredible!

The tasting featured a variety of appetizers and entrees, including Lobster Bisque and Caviar from The Russian Tea Room (definitely one of my favorites), Sunchoke Veloute Smoked Salmon from Gilt, Long Island Duck from Rouge Tomate, a Braised Pork Belly, Peanut Butter & Jalapeno Jelly Sandwich from Blue Smoke, and a Kanpachi Tiradito from Sushi Samba (its neutral flavors made for the perfect palette cleanser before moving on to dessert), just to name a few. Some of the desserts included a killer Peanut Butter & Jelly Bread Pudding from Dovetail, and Carrot Cake Macarons from Aureole (by far my favorite dessert), with many other petits fours available as well.

The mood at the event was generally upbeat, though some guests and former Gourmet editors appeared emotional during the “Golden Fork” presentation, as one of the food industry’s most recognized publications closed its doors. It was an honor to be able to attend tonight’s event honoring these colleagues; I wish the Gourmet staff the best of luck, and hope that they land on their feet, ready to take on a new challenge in our battered, yet still hopeful industry.

I’ve been making my own sushi since the age of 10, and it’s really much easier than you may think. While many professional sushi chefs spend years in school and apprenticeships before they’re trusted to select fish in a market, learning to cook sushi rice is a skill established early on in the career, with a perfect batch acting as a right of passage for some. Welcome to the first installment of “Make Your Own Sushi,” focused on creating the perfect batch of sushi rice.

You can’t simply use steamed rice from a local Chinese restaurant–I made this mistake before my first proper attempt, some 13 years ago–doing it right takes north of an hour, and a variety of ingredients. Before you begin, you’ll need to purchase the following ingredients and supplies:

• • Nishiki Medium Grain Rice (other sushi rice may work fine, but I’ve been using Nishiki for years)
• • Marukan Unseasoned Rice Vinegar (again, there are other brands, but Marukan has worked well for me)
• • Sugar
• • Salt
• • Rice cooker (I recommend the Zojirushi NHS-10)
• • Fan (for cooling the rice)

Measure 3 cups of rice into a large bowl, and wash the rice in cool water until the water runs clear, then drain. This first essential step removes some of the starch, and helps give the sushi rice its distinct taste. Pour the rice (and any leftover water) into the rice cooker, and add 3 cups of water (some recipes will call for a higher water to rice ratio, but there will be some water left over from washing the rice). As you’re cooking the rice, combine 1/3 cup of rice vinegar, 4 tablespoons sugar, and 1 tablespoon of salt in a small pan, stirring and heating until the sugar and salt dissolve. Allow the cooked rice to cool in the pot for 5 minutes, before transferring to a large bowl (wood is preferred). Slowly fold the vinegar mixture into the rice, making sure the mixture is spread evenly throughout the rice. Spread in a thin layer (2 inches or less) on several plates, allowing the rice to cool using a small fan until it reaches room temperature (20 minutes should be fine). Your rice is now ready to use.

Stay tuned to Tech, Travel & Tuna for future installments of “Make Your Own Sushi.” Enjoy!