More than a decade ago I got an email saying that a book I wrote about a broken hearted detective living in Los Angeles who runs into a sad-eyed Korean man with a bit of a bite to his words was accepted to be published.

It was a lot harder to get published then and I also kind of knew that the odds are stacked against me because of how I write and what I write. I didn’t think that what I poured out of my brain was some sacred text handed down to me for my ancestors or that I was going to set the world on fire.

That’s never my intent when I tell a story.

I just want to tell a story.

When I was a little kid… And to be honest, to this day still… Words and stories have always pulled me out of where I am and into other worlds and unimaginable situations. You have to remember, I was growing up in a rock… A very tiny Little Rock… Filled with people who look like me and sounded like me with only the occasional drive by a tourist who was there to see mountains and oceans and waterfalls.

But books took me to places that I never thought I would see. I dreamed of seeing these places. Or maybe not so much dream as hoped because for a long time I wasn’t sure I would make it out of childhood much less off of that rock.

But the stories took me there. And they took me to outer space and they took me to the past and they took me to places where dragons and unicorns and kitsune lived.

And somewhere in my heart began a little fire, a driving want, to do that for someone else.

And here I am many years later, still hoping to take people places but maybe they’ve never been or to open their hearts and minds to ideas and cultures and foods and experiences that are within their reach or sometimes maybe not but it’s a good place to go.

Thank you for coming with me on those journeys. Thank you to following me to those imaginary lands with those imaginary people and their sometimes stupid problems. But also thank you for sharing their joy and stopping to pet their cats and dogs… And for letting me be a part of your world.

I am very grateful to every single one of you. I am here being read and being seen and being heard because you picked up a book that I somehow wrote and sent off in the hopes that it would reach you.

Please know that you brought me joy and I cannot thank you enough for it. It is as incredible of a gift as a book that takes you everywhere that you want to go and places you never imagined to ever be.

The biggest problem with the exploitation and fetishization of our culture is that it becomes increasingly impossible to find authentic artisans and crafts people who produce Hawaiian things… and I’m going to leave that vague because it is a present for somebody.

So many companies are like yes this is authentic or yes this is the native wood when it isn’t and it’s definitely not handmade and you can tell that because everybody is carrying the exact same things and they are ugly and clunky.

There are sweatshops in Asia that are producing these items. Earrings which we don’t really wear but make use of our iconic symbols or pendants that are tied to our culture that definitely are not made by locals. I don’t even need somebody who is Hawaiian to go out into the rainforest and find koa woodfall (because you cannot chop down live koa… It is illegal… And even if you own the tree on your property, you need a lot of permission and permits).

It’s frustrating and everyone has been so helpful and you’re sending me links and then I feel bad because it’s like oh no these are all made out of that same shop somewhere in Asia. Even some of the bigger stores that you would think would carry authentic Hawaiian items, are buying from these places. Are they hand-carved? Maybe. But are they authentic? No.

My search continues. I have reached out to a couple of local businesses in the hopes that I can find what I’m looking for. Push comes to shove I might actually have to go get some koa and do it myself which is insane… But at least I know its origins and would have some actual connection to my culture. I’ll probably end up bleeding on it a couple of times but I will do my best. Hopefully I can avoid that. If not then we shall see!

Tourism fucking sucks. The tiki bar culture fucking sucks too. It’s one of the main reasons I’m having problems finding what I need to find.

Made beef gyodon with some purple rice in the rice cooker. Pretty much quick marinate the beef and then put it on top of rice and onions. Then add water and shoyu and let that all cook in the rice cooker. It’s not a pretty dish because I added the purple rice to it but it is tasty.

It probably could have been prettier but it’s dinner and I wanted something that was just good. I did have a couple of packets of mala tofu rolls that I got from Yami. And I put two of the enoki mushroom rolls and two of the bamboo shoots rolls on the side so that they could steam along with everything else. I did not add the chili oil sauce that was in the packet just the rolls.

They were very good. And honestly for $1.99 for a packet of I think six, it’s a really good deal. They had a nice little crunch to them they had good flavor but that mala numbing chili oil would definitely have kicked my ass if I had added all of it. As it is, the rules are saturated in it so just adding the rules and letting them steam didn’t necessarily add a lot of that flavor to the rice and the beef but I was okay with that. This was my first time using them so I wasn’t sure if they were going to be edible. They’re pretty decent. I would say on a spice level they are probably 8 out of 10 without the rest of the sauce. The numbing lingers but the heat wears off at about 5 to 8 minutes. I definitely would recommend using them for something like ramen or even in addition to a hot pot. They could even go into a jjigae if you wanted something that was spicy.

Again this is not a pretty dish and I wasn’t going for pretty. I was going for good and food. And it definitely hits the spot. Mind you, as you can see the tofu rules don’t look like the package does but that’s just what you get.

…

Tonight’s dinner: fried rice

I had a bunch of leftover stuff sort of floating around in the freezer. Lap Cheong. A couple of shrimp. Some peas and carrots. And of course rice from yesterday so I was planning on doing something with some chicken but the night got away from me and this is just easier.

My how to on fried rice: https://rhysford.com/2014/01/29/how-to-cook-fried-rice/

2 lb pork, cut into cubes.

One large can of pineapple chunks in juice. Drain the juice and keep at least one cup of it. This is optional. If you do not have pineapple, you can use a cup of water.

One small bag of baby carrots

One cup shoyu (soy sauce)

One cup sugar

1 cup white distilled vinegar

1 tbsp minced ginger, optional

1 tsp minced garlic, optional

Salt and pepper to taste. A couple of shakes will do.

You can also add chopped daikon to this if you have it available. Jicama also is a good substitute for daikon if you have that instead but it isn’t a must have.

Either toss all of this into a pot and let simmer for 45 minutes or throw it into the instapot on high for 15 minutes. If you want, thicken the liquid with a cornstarch slurry.

You can brown the meat before you throw everything else in there but I haven’t seen a significant difference. Still, optional. I was lazy. I didn’t do that.

Serve over rice. Meat should be tender.

A huge thank you to my mom who gave me the base recipe. She rocks.

FYI…The base simmer ratios are 1-1-1-1
    1 cup water or pineapple liquid
    1 cup sugar
    1 cup shoyu
    1 cup vinegar

Tonight’s dinner is rice cooker bulgogi and onions. On top of rice of course.

Shaved steak marinated in a bulgogi sauce which was shoyu, a little bit of oyster sauce, sweet chili sauce, garlic, ginger, and a little bit of water. And I just let that sit in a Ziploc bag until it’s nice and happy.

Wash two cups of rice, put in almost enough water so maybe a couple of milliliters below the index finger line. Slice and onion very thinly and put that on top of the rice with the water. Do not mix.

Then put the meat on top.

Then into the rice cooker and hit the cook button.

Finish with green onions and a drizzle or sesame seed oil. And salt and pepper if you still need it.

Late Lunch: Rabokki
tteokbokki, noodles, tempura gobo fish cake, quail eggs, green onions and gochujang sauce.

One of my favorite foods but it takes a while to assemble so I don’t need it as often as I like. I also need to get the right kind of fish cake because I love the fish cake that I’m eating today but the thinner fish cake that comes in sheets would be better for this kind of thing.