I was really thrilled this past Saturday; I received a package from Reid of 'Ono Kine Grindz. In that little box were gel packs and 3 wonderful Laulau from Young's Fishmarket:
For those who don't know what Lau Lau is, it is cubes of pork, usually shoulder and a cube of fat, sometimes a small piece of salt fish wrapped in lu'au (young taro leaves), finally wrapped in Ti leaves, in sort of a neat bundle. The Laulau are then steamed for 4 hours or more. After heating them up this is what they look like when you open them up:
The aroma of Laulau is amazing! The leaves are moist and have a slightly "al dente" texture, the taste is close to say, collard greens without the bitterness. The pork is moist, and has absorbed the taste of the lu'au leaf – delici-yoso! This taste of home really made my weekend!
Reid you are an amazing guy, thanks so much!
I'm so amazed at how Reid managed to send this to me through the mail. And that's how Reid's become a sort of legend in our household. The Mother of a good friend of ours is also pretty much a Legend in our home. For the sake of this story let's call her "Lola". When visiting "home" we'd have a meal with our good friends, their two wonderful Boys, all made by Lola. 
Lola absolutely adored the Missus, basically because the Missus adored Lola's cooking. Whether it was Kare Kare (Filipino Ox Tail Stew), Lumpia, or Her Adobo, Lola would watch my little 100lb Chinese Wife chow like a Longshoreman. Lola, like most "Lola's" are consumed with a desire to give and provide. So we'd be back home in Los Angeles, and receive one of those flat "shirt boxes" in the mail, and be totally amazed when there would be a pristine Bibingka(Sweet Rice Cake) all wrapped up in the box. Or the most amazing thing of all, we once received a small box. When we opened the box amid the crumpled up newspapers was a round ball of tape(???), after several minutes of unwrapping the tape, there was a little bottle of home made Bagoong Alamang(Shrimp Paste), Lola had remembered how much the Missus enjoyed her Bagoong in the Kare Kare, and sent us some! We always considered Lola to be the "Legend of Postal Dexterity"; but now with Reid's feat of sending me the Park's Brand Kim Chee Sauce, and now Laulau from Young's Fishmarket, he's joined Lola as a "Legend"…..
Since I had some chicken thawing I made a little Chicken Katsu, Laulau, mixed plate:
I even made my own Tonkatsu Sauce for the Chicken:
1/2C Worcestershire Sauce
1/4C Sugar
1/4C Soy Sauce
1/3C Ketchup
Dash of 5 Spice Powder
1Tb Dijon Mustard mixed with 1Tb Water
Pepper
In a small pot combine first 5 ingredients. Reduce over low-medium heat, until reduced by 1/3. After reduced add mustard and pepper, mix well. Remove from heat, and let sauce cool. Will keep up to 2 weeks in a well sealed bottle.
Makes about 1 cup.
Wow that looks great!!!!
Reid that certainly is HUGE!
Hi Kirk,
How funny is that. You post the laulau from Young’s and I post a laulau I made from scratch. =)
Mine obviously didn’t taste as good as the one from Young’s, but there aren’t really very many that do. I’m glad you enjoyed the laulau. =)
Once again, the mixed plate reigns supreme!
Hi Clare – Reid is a great Guy, huh?
Hi Reid – I thought that was really funny, makes me really take those statements about Food Blogging Biorhythms a bit more seriously. I guess I just can’t get away from those mixed plates! Thanks so much for those laulau’s, man they were good!
Aw man! Nothing like a good, thoughtful friend to make any day a billion times better. That looks like my type of mixed plate!
wow that was so cool of Reid again. Thanks to him we have the benefit of reading this cool post.
That mixed plate looks absolutely great! I’m glad i now know more about laulaus π It sounds very much like my kind of food!!! Let me know if you guys ever open a restaurant. I’ll make sure I fly out to support you π
Hi Kathy – Yep, Ried really made my day!
Hi Rachel – I’m sure if that situation came up Reid would be the Exec Chef, and I’d probably be head Bottle Washer, or somethin’….
Kirk, that looks delici-yoso!!! And thanks for the tonkatsu sauce recipe…I never thought of making it myself!
Kirk/Reid: Awesome lau laus! Love it, love it, love it! Now I’m craving Hawaiian food. I’ll have to try out some recipes in my Hawaiian cookbook. π
Mmm…katsu is one of my favorites. I love it with Thai curry. Reminds me of the Katsu Curry dish I had at Wagamama’s in London. Yum!
Hi Pam – I made the sauce, because I’d run out of the bottled stuff, and was to lazy to run to the Market – it’s alot more tangy than the stuff in a bottle, really easy to make.
Hi Kristy – Laulau is one of my favorites. Happy B-Day BTW!
Kirk, that lau lau looks perfect! How nice of Reid π
Now I just finished breakfast and I’m hungry again. Thanks a lot π
Hey Kirk: Thanks for the tanjoubi wishes! π I love having newfound friends from our little food blogging community. π
Hi James – Serves you right! I always have to check out all those Loco Mocos you have over there, not to mention the Teri Burgers. :o) Call it payback…..
Hi Kristy – It’s always great to be “21 again”!
What can I say…very cool of Reid to do this. Looks great.
Hi Jack – Reid is truly a “Prince”.
wow, laulau!! that looks so fantastic! i never had young’s laulau before. where is young’s fishmarket?? have i been away from home too long??
thanks for sharing the recipe for the tonkatsu sauce!
p.s. i love your story of lola and the missus!
Hi Annie – I think it’s in the Kapalama area, if I remember. Tonkatsu sauce is easy, but local style katsu sauce is even more easy – but believe it or not, I didn’t have any ketchup in the house!