interesting food video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_QOzc79Uc

event at Kaka'ako: http://www.streetgrindz.com/eatthestreet/

News

The Otsuji farm is located at 459 Pakala St. and you can go there currently on Saturday mornings (7:30 - 11 am).

You can now get a box worth of veggies for $11 or purchase them ala carte.

You can also purchase your veggies (redeem your certificates) at the following places and times:

At the Kapiolani Community College (KCC) Farmers Market...Saturday mornings, (7:30 - 11:00). 

 We are also cooking ono tempura sliders (spicy ahi)  and blending our special kale smoothie.

Kakaako Farmers' Market...across Marukai at Ward Warehouse off Auahi Street.

SATURDAYS 8-12:00 noon

At Kaiser High School campus (511 Lunalilo Home Road)....Tuesday afternoon (4:00 - 7:00 pm).

At Kaneohe Windward Mall Wed. afternoon (2:30-6:00 pm) also Sundays.

At NBC 4-7:00 p.m. on Wednesday

At the Kailua Farmers Market...Thursday evenings, (5:00 - 7:30) next to Long's Drugs.

At Kaneohe Windward Mall Sundays (10 am - 2 pm).

Other information about us:

1. Our blog: http://otsujifarm.blogspot.com/

2. Robbie Dingman's Honolulu Advertiser article http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2010/Mar/11/bz/hawaii3110313.html


3. In the HMSA article by Marlene Nakamoto: http://islandscene.com/Article.aspx?id=3694

4. In the Honolulu Cooking Examiner by Ashley Brooks: http://www.examiner.com/x-15282-Honolulu-Cooking-Examiner~y2009m8d16-Otsuji-Family-Farm?cid=email-this-article

5. Karen Jones made an ono green soup recipe using some of our greens:
http://www.islandscene.com/Article.aspx?id=3749&sidebar=3

6.  A video of Farmer Ed http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2012/10/17/17388-focus-meet-edwin-otsuji-the-farmer/

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRw5fh7YB-s&feature=youtu.be

If you need any gift certificates or want to find out more about our fundraising ideas (selling veggie certificates)...give JoAnn a call at 383-1119.Thank you for sending your email.  We want to 
answer your questions right away, so you are getting this automatic response.  If this response email does not answer your questions, we will send you a personalized email as soon as we check our emails (usually once a day).

Arugula is a great leafy green veggie for your next green salad.  It has is a little peppery/bitter taste...so it must be good for you.  

Kale is doing fine. We have dinosaur kale and purple kale.  Our curly kale is still growing in the field.

The spinach is soooo tender.

Also available for sale: beets, choy sum, bok choy, mustard cabbage, daikon,  kabu, mizuna, chives, green onions and cilantro.

Share with us your favorite vegetable recipe!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRw5fh7YB-s&feature=youtu.be

Tell everybody you know that"Otsuji Farm" is now on Facebook.

Norrin,

I just came back from your farm and I am so delighted at your veggie selection. I came home to my family with gorgeous greens, and my husband was blown away at the quality and the prices. Our kids were very excited for the beets! Everyone was so nice and helpful this morning. Thank you so much for providing your wonderful veggies for our community! I even bought some extra choy sum and green onions for my parents and delivering them later today!

Mahalo,

Remle

RECIPES

We love to eat our daikon raw. We grate it with something like a cheese grater. The thinner/finer the ribbons of daikon the better. A favorite salad is a bed of green lettuce, topped with grated raw daikon, topped with raw red beets, topped with some Chinese parsley....great with an sesame seed dressing. We also grate the daikon rawit in something called a "suribachi" or use something called a daikon grater (Google "daikon grater"...I also use this tool to grate ginger). The daikon then looks like it is smashed in little pieces. We then add a dash of shoyu to use on our sashimi, on our tempura, steak....it is used on oily foods to cut down on the greasy taste. I cook daikon by putting it in stew (instead of potatoes) or in my sweet and sour pork (since it soaks up the sauce). My dad likes to stir fry sliced daikon with dried shrimp and green onions and a little fried pork. The daikon leaves should be cut off the diakon root quickly....otherwise the leaves will turn yellow. I wash the leaves and cut them up in smaller pieces. The leaves can be used in your saimin, stir fried...I even used them to make a laulau! Norrin

I came by today and picked up another box of veggies. Sort of inspired me to come up with a dish using some of the items in the box. So this is it...

Kombu braised radish served over sauteed choi sum with a light miso broth.

I am in no way a vegetarian but was inspired by the ingredients.

Colin

EGGPLANT WITH PORK
1 c. cut-up pork, either belly or shoulder
Cook in 1 T. olive oil till tender, lower heat to low about 10-15 min.
Add:
2 T. sake
¼ c. sugar
¼ c. less 2 T. shoyu
Cut 3 OTSUJI FARM eggplant ¾ inch thick, cut on a slant (Yin & Yang!)
Turn up heat, once the ingredients come to a boil, lower heat to low, cover and cook until the eggplant is tender. Do not overcook eggplant as they will fall apart.
Adjust seasonings to taste.
Optional: add 2 pieces of aburage cut into bite size and 2 konbu cut into 1 inch lengths. Soak konbu in water for ½ hr. before cooking, rinse and add to mixture. 
 


MUSTARD EGGPLANT
3 long eggplant (about 3 c. sliced)
1 T. Hawaiian salt
Mustard Sauce:
2 tsp. hot mustard (dry)
¼ c. shoyu
2 T. sugar
1 T. lemon juice
1 tsp. Japanese vinegar
Slice eggplant diagonally. Sprinkle salt and let stand for at least 30-60 minutes.
Add a few drops of water to mustard to make a paste. Combine with remaining ingredients.
Rinse salt from eggplant. Squeeze out excess liquid. Add sauce and mix well. Put in sterilized jars. Allow to stand overnight, then refrigerate.
Optional: Cut up shiso leaves


Dear small-kine farmers,

Thanks for your tasty and fresh veggies. Last week I used the bok choy (which is in the cabbage family) to make a tasty coleslaw. Just use your favorite recipe for coleslaw dressing and add the shredded bok choy. I added radish, daikon and green oniion. I think adding raisins, small pieces of fresh pineapple and even macnuts would be very tasty.

Aloha,
Jacky


Kale, swiss chard, and beet greens do not have to be boiled forever to eat. Just clean, trim (any brown spots), cut off the stems (I put the stems in a soup), roll the leaves then cut the halves in ribbons. Stir fry in olive oil with garlic, salt and pepper, and a dash of sugar to keep the color bright. At this point, you may or may not wish to finish with a toss of sesame oil just before serving.

Another thing to do is to toss these greens into many kinds of soups, prepared the same way. No need to saute first.

These greens are great tossed with whole grain pastas with a generous sprinkle of Romano or Parmesan cheeses. For a great Italian meal, saute Italian sausage links cut in chunks, chunks of bell peppers and onions, and throw in some chili pepper flakes if you like. As the sausage, onions and peppers brown and carmelize nicely, add the trimmed greens and quickly stir fry together until the greens are just wilted. Serve over whole-grain or multi-grain angel hair or linguine for a fantastic meal. Wine is optional!

The days of having to cook the heck out of fresh vegetables are over. The closer they are to being raw, the better the benefits.

Paula



Squid luau using sweet potato leaves

two bunches of sweet potato leaves
1 can coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
tako (octopus) or squid or chicken

1. boil the leaves (cut off most of the stem) till soft for a couple of hours.
2. drain out the water.
3. squeeze the leaves to get out more water.
4. add coconut milk (from the can) and boil the leaves in the coconut milk. You can add a little water if not enough liquid to boil all of the leaves.
5. cut the tako or chicken or squid in small chunks....then fry with a bit of butter or olive oil to slightly brown to get more flavor.
6. add the cooked tako or chicken or squid to the taro/coconut mixture and cook for another hour (bring everything to a boil....then simmer).
8. add salt to taste.

Norrin



This is a website that has a lot of vegetable recipes:

http://www.justvegetablerecipes.com/index.html

Some of our favorite recipes are........

Chicken Stir-fry With Bok Choy and Garlic Sauce

Ingredients:

3 medium chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

3 large bok choy stalks with leaves

Marinade:

1 TB Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

1 green onion, diced

2 tsp cornstarch

Sauce:

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 TB water

1 tsp white rice vinegar

1/2 tsp black rice vinegar

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt

Other:

1 teaspoon cornstarch

4 teaspoons water

4 to 5 TB oil for stir-frying, as needed

Preparation:

1.Cut the chicken into thin strips about 2-inches long. Add the rice wine or sherry, green onion and the cornstarch. Marinate the chicken for 30 minutes.

2.While the chicken is marinating, prepare the bok choy and the sauce. Separate the bok choy leaves and stalks, and cut both cross-wise into thin strips.

3.Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside. Combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and set aside.

4.Heat wok and add 2 TB oil. When oil is ready, add the chicken and HYPERLINK "http://chinesefood.about.com/library/blstirfrytips.htm"stir-fry until it turns white and is nearly cooked. (Stir-fry in two batches if necessary). Drain the stir-fried chicken on paper towels.

5.Clean out the wok and add 2 - 3 TB oil. When oil is ready, add the bok choy stalks. Stir-fry briefly and add the leaves.

6.Push the bok choy up to the sides of the wok and add the sauce in the middle. Turn up the heat to bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch/water mixture to the sauce and stir rapidly to thicken.

Add the chicken. Mix through and serve hot.

Serves 4.

TAKUWAN
Ingredients: daikon/turnip, rock salt, lemon juice or vinegar, sugar

1. Daikon skin to be scraped off. Slice the daikon into bite size pieces. You can use the leaves as well as the root.

2. Put Daikon into a plastic container with a lid.

3. Sprinkle a handful of rock salt on the daikon and mix.

4. Cover the container and shake to evenly distribute the salt. The salt will draw the liquid/water out of the daikon to make a brine liquid (salty water).

5. Shake the container every few hours. Leave the salt on for several hours. The more salt you use, the quicker the daikon will be ready to accept the pickling juice. I like to use a minimum amount of salt and let it sit a little longer (I like to leave it 24 hours).

6. The pickling juice is to be prepared in another container.

7. Mix one cup of lemon juice or vinegar with one cup of light brown sugar. You can use white sugar if you want. Stir till the sugar dissolves. It should taste like a good lemonade. If it’s too sour, add a bit more sugar. If it’s too sweet, add a bit more lemon juice or vinegar.

8. Optional - add a packet of dried chili pepper (like the packet from Pizza Hut).

9. Optional - the zest from the lemon might also be a good addition.

10. Now, wash the salt off the daikon with nice cold water. Rinse it several times and drain off all the water. You daikon should have shrunk in size by 30% - 40%.

11. Add the pickling juice to the daikon.

12. Put in the refrigerator for 24 hours – stirring occasionally

13. With your next pot of rice….top with your delicious takuwan.

VEGETABLE STIR FRY

Ingredients: Costco teriyaki meat balls, daikon, bok choy, green onions,

1. quarter the meat balls.

2. scrape skin off the daikon and slice into bite size pieces

3. wash bok choy, the cut into bite size pieces

4. wash green onions and cut into bite size pieces.

5. start by putting the meatballs in a frying pan (medium heat). No oil is required.

6. After the meatballs are browned, add the daikon and the bok choy.

7. Stir…add ¼ cup of water and cover the pan so that the veggies can steam.

8. Optional…if you can also add teriyaki sauce, shoyu or mirin.

9. After a few minutes, lift the cover to stir again.

10. Add the green onions as a garnish and serve.

Turnip/Daikon in Curry by Jacky

1. Peel the daikon. Then cube it (one inch cubes)

2. steam daikon until soft but not mushy.

3. add a package of S&B curry sauce (the boxed kind-also Vermont would work).

4. You could also add chopped green onion for more flavor.

It made a sizable batch, so I added to my soups for lunch and used it for a side dish for dinner.

I also made beef stew and added some to that for more flavor and interest.

For the vegetarians, it would be delicous served over white or brown rice.

To reserve your box of veggies, send us an email at otsujifarm@gmail.com or call Isaac at 395-4131. When you place your order, give us your name and phone number.

map

459 Pakala St, Honolulu, HI, 96825