Sam Choy's Island Flavors

Sam Choy's Island Flavors
Cook Your Way to Paradise with More Than
200 Delicious Recipes From Hawai'i's Master Chef

By Sam Choy

Sam Choy's Island Flavors
"Choy's passion for food...will inspire readers to fire up their hibachis and start cooking."...Publishers Weekly

Island cuisine goes to extremes-from little dishes to giant feasts-using the hottest chiles, sweetest fruits, and freshest ingredients to achieve the brightest flavors.

Sam Choy's Island Flavors by the larger-than-life Hawaiian chef has more than 200 recipes for "local-style Hawaiian food"-an ingenious blend of flavors inspired from cuisines all over the Pacific-which will be perfectly at home in any kitchen on the mainland, or the islands.

Sam's little dishes (pupus) pack big flavor in tiny bites and are the perfect hors d'oeuvres when entertaining. Or, combine them to make an untraditional, extraordinary meal. Spicy Chicken Wingettes marinated in a peppery mixture, fried to a crisp and tossed in a tangy sauce of pineapple juice and fiery red chiles will make Buffaloans jealous. Wok-Barbecued Shrimp with Pepper Papaya-Pineapple Chutney uses sweet, tropical fruits to balance the heat from the chiles in the shrimp's marinade. Sam bathes his Hot, I Mean Hot, Miniature Beef Kabobs, a spicy skewer of mushrooms, onions and flank steak, in a thick, sweet, teriyaki glaze for a Japanese twist on this barbecue favorite.

His show-stopping center-piece dishes are just right for the family's Sunday dinner or any dinner party. Chicken Hekka is a one-pot sensation that combines Chinese ingredients with Japanese seasonings and stir-fries up in a snap. Making a crust for pork with macadamia nuts and gooseberry jelly is just one of the many creative ways that Sam finds to use Hawai'i's famous nut in his Ka'u MacNut Crusted Roast Loin of Pork with Tropical Marmalade. Sam seasons fish in untraditional ways to achieve the maximum amount of flavor. The sake and miso paste marinated for mahimahi does the trick in his Baked Teriyaki Mahimahi. Sam Choy's Island Flavors is more than a collection of Sam's best recipes; it's an introduction to the vibrant culture and rich culinary traditions of Hawai'i-and a new way of cooking which is pure Sam Choy.

Sam Choy was raised on the island of Oahu. He learned to cook at his father's side preparing 800-person lu'aus for tourists. His professional training continued through stints in the kitchens of major Hawaiian hotels with a stop at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Choy grew tired of the limited scope in hotel menus and opened his flagship Sam Choy's restaurant in Kona on the Big Island of Hawai'i. He now operates seven restaurants in Hawaii, one in San Diego, and one in Tokyo and is opening one in Guam. He is the host of a weekly cooking show on his local NBC affiliate. This is his first national cookbook. He lives in Kona with his wife Carol and two sons.

Sam Choy's Island Flavors:
Cook Your Way to Paradise with More Than
200 Delicious Recipes From Hawai'i's Master Chef
By Sam Choy
Published by Hyperion
Hardback, $27.95
2-color throughout
16 pages of color photos
Publication date: April 1999
ISBN: 0-77868-6474-5
Information provided by the publisher.