So, here we are in beautiful Hanalei, on the north shore of Kauai. We are just north of the wettest place on earth, Wai'ale'ale plateau, which gets a whopping 511 inches of rain a year. For comparison, Forks on the Olympic peninsula gets 120 inches of rain a year. But Hanalei itself only gets, on average, 78 inches a year. Alas, we are getting all 78 inches right now. The NWS is reporting 1.6 inches an hour. An hour! Honestly, until today I believed that there was a limit to how hard it could rain, that rain drops couldn't be bigger than drops, and that they couldn't fall faster than gravity would pull them. I have been schooled. It is raining so hard the eave line of the house is a solid sheet of water, like a water slide. It is raining so hard I actually got water in my lungs from breathing. It is raining so hard the rain drops are bouncing a good six inches after they hit the ground. There is flash flood warning. The bridge in and out of town is closed because the river crested at over nine feet (six feet is considered flood stage), which means that the entire town is closed. No one can get in to work, and god knows no one who works retail can afford to live in Hanalei. This is epic, tropical, we-better-placate-the-Tiki-Gods kind of rain. I would go prepare a sacrifice, but the supermarket is closed.
Our first full day was lovely: warmth, sunshine, lots of blue sky and bluer sea. We snorkeled in the morning and surfed in the afternoon. Friday wasn't bad, either. A little more rain, but still plenty fine for snorkeling and surfing. Jeremy has already mastered his ten foot hardtop, and is planning on trading it in for an eight footer tomorrow. I'm still working on timing my waves, but my balance seems fine. Yesterday was mostly rainy, although Jessica got in a surfing lesson, which she declared "the most fun ever in my life" even though she got pelted with rain for part of it. I think she was pretty close to getting asked out by her hot surf instructor, too. For the most part, what rain there has been has been typical, tropical rain: twenty seconds of intense downpour, and then the sun comes back. The word is that the system we are in will move by us sometime overnight, and we will return to our previously scheduled mostly sunshine.
Hanalei is a wonderful town for many, many things. I don't think there is a better place to learn to surf anywhere in the world. The beach has an enormous sand break, and there are almost always surfable waves that don't require too much paddling. There are amazing snorkeling beaches stretching in both directions, and the pristine Tunnels beach, with an easily accessible inner and out reef, is just minutes away (once you figure out which "No Parking -- Private Road" signs are lying and which will get you ticketed and towed). Hanalei town itself (all towns in Hawaii are referred to as town: Kapaa town, Puako town, etc. I don't know why) reminds me of a tropical version of Cannon Beach, but with more surf shops and bikinis. What Hanalei is not good for is restaurants. I suppose this is to be expected: none of the restaurants here depend on return customers, since very few people are in town for more than a week at a time. Plus, it is fairly isolated. So, the food tends to run from bad to edible, and all of it is expensive. I had a twelve dollar fish burger the other day that was a hamburger bun, a lot of mayo, and a very small piece of ono. The sausage that came with breakfast this morning was a cross between summer sausage and kielbasa -- very odd with french toast. But, hey, it was the only open cafe in town.) The one exception that I have found so far is the blissful Java Kai. Oh, how I love the Java Kai. They roast their own coffee. They know how to pull shots of espresso with beautiful, sweet crema. They have solid baked goods. They have efficient service. I want to buy the Java Kai and go native. Really rather a lot, actually.
Fortunately, since we are renting a house, I have both a kitchen and a Weber. We have already grilled chicken and pork with some success. Last night, however, was the first truly good meal here on the island. We feasted on local bounty. See, Saturday mornings feature the wonderful Hanalei Farmer's Market. It isn't as big as the Portland market, but it has many more pineapples. It has an amazing amount of local produce. Jess and I came home with mizuna, green onions, green beans, gorgeous long purple eggplant, mint and basil. We were sorely tempted by the eggs, and utterly seduced by the salsa and the "herb almond pate." We were less impressed by the slightly sour goat cheese. We were amused by the earnest lady who wanted to sell us very expensive crystals that would make our dreams more vivid and help us with our psychological work.
The best part of any farmer's market, for me at least, is having to figure out how to combine what I bought into a meal. Combine that with the Top Chef worthy challenge of cooking in a rental home kitchen, with the random spices and accompaniments left by previous renters, and with the wholly inadequate knives and cookware that one finds in such places. This house actually has a decent pantry; clearly, someone has been cooking asian. I inherited fish sauce, soy sauce, and sesame oil. It has particularly dreadful knives, some of which I am convinced started their lives in a child-safe pumpkin carving set. The rest are obviously courtesy of late night infomercials. Never dull! Can cut through this can! Please note that the "best" knife here has a bottle opener built into the blade. The pans are, basically, formed out of aluminum foil. I scorched one pan without managing to brown the butter in it. How is that possible according to the laws of physics? Shouldn't the melting point of cookware be above the melting point of butter?
Anyway, here is what I came up with: Eggplant with diced chicken thighs, stir fried with garlic, ginger, vinegar and sambal olek. Tofu marinated in fish sauce, soy, sesame oil, basil, mint, and green onions. Green beans, mizuna and green onions sauteed in butter with good, old fashioned salt and pepper. And you know what? My favorite was the tofu! The sauce was deep and nutty, and contrasted with the bright, fresh herbs beautifully. It came together in about a second, too. I heated the soy with a little garlic and ginger in the microwave (I didn't want to bite into a big chunk of raw garlic, and I couldn't do more than gnaw at it with the available knives) for about a minute. Then I tossed in everything else. Simple, low calorie, high flavor, high protein. Jeremy missed out by refusing to try it (he believes soy products cause a brief upsurge in estrogen production followed by a longer depletion, leaving you incapable of feeling happy. He may be right, but I can't say my mood is crashing at the moment, and I ate a lot of tofu last night).
Tuesday morning we leave for the hike, assuming the flash flood warning is lifted and we can make the river crossings safely. Fingers crossed! Should be some muddy, slippery fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment