my thoughts & recipes | Clayton Arakawa

my thoughts & recipes

"anyone can make you enjoy the first bite, ONLY a CHEF can make you enjoy the last bite and you wanting more..." (unknown)

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Flavors Kimchee Smoked Pork Belly

clayton arakawa

Aug 12, 2020
2 min

Flavors Kimchee Smoked Pork Belly

This dish takes some time to make. But, it's worth the time and effort. When we make this, it doesn't last very long. We use it in stir fries, sandwiches and just snacking on it. After the smoking process, when you cook it over heat, it can burn. I use a good amount of oil and cook it until it's browned and put them on paper towels. Add bread, lettuce, tomatoes and mayo to this and you have an awesome BLT. Get ready to fire up your smoker, you'll be loving what you make.

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Hamburger "Curry" Gravy

Potato Crisps aka Potato Chips

clayton arakawa

Jul 17, 2020
1 min

Potato Crisps aka Potato Chips

Satisfaction comes from something you can make and it's GOOD!!! You could go to the store and pick up a bag of expensive potato chips. Homemade ones can taste just as good or better than the ones you buy from the store. All you really need is potatoes, oil, pot and salt. Making your own potato crisps/ chips is easy and fun. Something you can do with your kids. The flavoring is up to you. Some of my favorites are chicken salt, bbq seasoning or our all purpose seasoning. I

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Purple Sweet Potato & Tapioca Dumpling

clayton arakawa

May 13, 2020
2 min

Purple Sweet Potato & Tapioca Dumpling

This dumpling is sweet, dense & chewy. I shaped them to look like gnocchi, it's kind of deceiving. This is not the easiest or hardest thing to make. It's takes some time, but worth the effort you put into it. The flavor is neutral enough to go with a delicate fish and big enough to stand up to meats. I served this with a gochujaru (korean red chili flakes- the base of kimchee) & fish sauce marinated smoked pork belly and fried teriyaki chicken. I did not use the amounts I

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Home Style White Bread

clayton arakawa

May 8, 2020
2 min

Home Style White Bread

I like this bread. It's a mix between Japanese milk bread and American white bread. It makes a great sandwich and doesn't take too long to make. I didn't time it, but it was around 4 hours from start to finish. I used bread flour, you can substitute with AP Flour. The yeast I used was the Gold Label SAF Instant Yeast. It's used for high baked goods with a higher level of sugar. You can use regular yeast but it will take longer to rise. If you don't have malted milk powder

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Local Style Beef Stew

clayton arakawa

May 5, 2020
2 min

Local Style Beef Stew

When making this, it brings me back to my childhood. To be completely honest, I hated when we were having stew for dinner. That ment we would have stew for lunch and dinner again. Now being old it reminds me of simpler days and at home with my brother and sisters sitting around the dining table with mom and dad. Even though I didn't like it at the time, I enjoy making this and it brings back memories. This is very similar to American Beef Stew, but with a little different

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clayton arakawa

May 5, 2020
1 min

BBQ Seasoning

I love this seasoning. It has heat, smoke, sweetness and salt. This is a finishing salt. I like it on Potato Chips, Fried Pork Skins, Fermented Potatoes, French Fries, baked Salmon or wherever your culinary creativity takes you. E ai ka kou (let's eat). Ingredients: 4 oz Sea Salt 2 oz Granulated Onion 1 oz Granulated Garlic 2 oz Chipotle Morita Powder 10 oz Brown Sugar Procedures: Combine all and mix well. Store in an airtight container. When you make this, take a

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Fried Pork Skin

clayton arakawa

May 5, 2020
1 min

Fried Pork Skin

If you make the Fakin’ Bacon and remove the skin you can make this or buy pork skins. You can use this in many different ways. Eat it plain (flavored how you want) or use it as a condiment on a salad instead of croutons. Try it with our Chicken Salt, Big Island Seasoning Salt or BBQ Seasoning. E ai ka kou (let's eat)!!! Happy snacking. Ingredients Pork Skins- as much as you want to make. Procedures Clean the pork skin. Cut off as much fat as possible. Bring a pot of water

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Fried Shoyu Chicken

clayton arakawa

May 3, 2020
2 min

Fried Shoyu Chicken

Growing up, shoyu chicken was one of my favorite dishes. It was a staple in my house. This is not the exact way my mom showed me how to make it. I wanted to make it a little different and this is what I came up with. I sous vide the chicken so the end product would have the texture like fried chicken. You can cook this recipe on the stove, it will have a different texture. It’s good made in the pot, sous vide, and fried. I hope you try to recreate this and enjoy it as mu

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SPAM Musubi

clayton arakawa

May 3, 2020
2 min

SPAM Musubi

This is a staple in Hawaii. When I lived on the Mainland, this is something that I missed. My wife learned how to make it and has perfected making it, our kids love it. One year, we were married for a short while, she brought in a plate of these to the kitchen I was working at. One of my favorite chefs I have had the pleasure to work with, scoffed at me and said what is spam doing in the kitchen. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy to bring this into kitchen. THe chef

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Pseudo "Smoked" Brisket

clayton arakawa

May 1, 2020
2 min

Pseudo "Smoked" Brisket

I wanted to smoke a brisket. I spoke to a local rancher and he had 2 briskets in the freezer. He told me that it was small and not very fatty. After looking at it, I decided not to smoke it. I looked on the web and looked at different recipes for sous vide brisket. I customized a recipe and came up with this. After the water bath I smoked it. The flavor was good, texture was nice, but it did not fare well with the pull test (tender to the bite). The jus from the bag had

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Chicken Salt

clayton arakawa

May 1, 2020
1 min

Chicken Salt

I've been wanting to try this for a while. Thinking way back, early 2000's a chef I met talked to me about how they would roast chicken with chicken paste on it or season it with chicken bouillon at the end of cooking. I didn't pay attention to it. While reading something, chicken salt was mentioned. I researched it and saw some recipes. I based this recipe on the Big Island Seasoning Salt. Also, I like using granulated onion and garlic instead of powder (I think that it

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Fermented Baby Potatoes

clayton arakawa

Apr 30, 2020
2 min

Fermented Baby Potatoes

I've heard about fermenting potatoes and wanted to give it a try. It supposed to give you a final product (you will need to cook it after fermentation) that is crisp on the outside and creamy in the middle. You will need to ferment them in a dark area, I used the cabinet I store my pans in. I did a 3.6% brine for 4 and 10 days. The 4 days my family enjoyed better than the 10 days. At 10 days the potatoes tasted like it was brined with dill pickling liquid, it wasn't bad b

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Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water

clayton arakawa

Apr 28, 2020
1 min

Hawaiian Chili Pepper Water

A staple on many tables in Hawaii is Chili Pepper Water. Every family has their favorite recipe or has their favorite person to get it from. You couldn't find it in stores, but now you can. As with any type of recipe, there are many different variations. The original was most likely water, Hawaiian Chili Pepper and water. I have tasted some that has vinegar, sugar or thickening agents. There are times that I do add xantham gum to the recipe so it's a little thicker and wil

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Bread & Butter "Pickle" Grilled Chicken

clayton arakawa

Apr 28, 2020
1 min

Bread & Butter "Pickle" Grilled Chicken

Ok. This one sounds strange. A couple of years ago, I read about someone making fried chicken, he was brining the chicken in pickle juice. I tried it and it was good. I was making bread and butter pickles, and there was brine left over. I remembered about the pickle fried chicken. I didn't want to fry it this time so I decided to grill them. You can fry them if you want to. The pickling liquid has to be from after making the pickles or the brine will be too acidic for t

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Beef Bone Broth

clayton arakawa

Apr 28, 2020
2 min

Beef Bone Broth

Recently I noticed many articles about Beef Bone Broth, for heart health. It was quite interesting. This bone broth recipe is what I would use as a base for a consume or soups that contained beef. When I make broths and stocks, I normally make it plain (not flavorless) and add flavorings to have it taste how I want. Try it how it is or layer flavors to make a bowl of pho, a nice beef consume or down home beef stew. E ai ka kou (let's eat) Ingredients 4 lbs Beef Bones (p

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Creamy Potato Salad with Pickled Garlic

clayton arakawa

Apr 28, 2020
2 min

Creamy Potato Salad with Pickled Garlic

This potato salad is very rich and creamy. I don't like dry potato salad. This reminds me of a cool version of a country style mashed potatoes (chunks in it). With recipes for items like this, I think that it is important for you to use your taste buds to customize the flavors to your liking. As a chef I want my cooks to follow the recipe and adjust the seasoning. You may not be used to the flavors of miso and this is a simple introduction to it besides miso soup. E ai ka

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Red Miso Pickled Garlic

clayton arakawa

Apr 28, 2020
1 min

Red Miso Pickled Garlic

This one take about a month (no it takes a month) to be ready for consumption. The flavor of the garlic mellows over time. You can use the garlic or the miso to add flavors to a dish. You can eat the garlic by itself. You can reuse the miso for another batch of garlic, I tend not to have any of it at the end. You use other miso, I like the red (aka) miso for this. E ai ka kou (let's eat)! Ingredients 25 each Garlic Cloves 3 ounces Red Miso (aka miso) 2 ounces M

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Megan's Meatloaf

clayton arakawa

Apr 25, 2020
2 min

Megan's Meatloaf

I don't know of another person that asks for meatloaf for special occasions than my wife. This recipe is what I make for her. Make it for a special occasion or as a sunday dinner with the family. This meatloaf will sear up nicely the next day for a meatloaf sandwich or a meatloaf loco moco. I do not serve this with gravy, you can if you wish. The gravy over powers the flavor of the meatloaf and all the work you put into making this is lost. If you want a sauce, I would su

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Guava Jamin' Jelly

clayton arakawa

Apr 25, 2020
2 min

Guava Jamin' Jelly

Ok, why does it have Jam and Jelly in it's name? It's not clear like a jelly nor the properties of jam. It's kind of a mix of both. Whenever I got home sick, having a nice guava jam or jelly on a soda cracker (care packages from mom) would make me feel at home. I have never shared this recipe before, it's something that we give out as gifts or sell. Since we are all in quarantine right now, I thought I should share it so you too could have a taste of Hawaii wherever you are

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