The people of the Big Island are resilient. We survived tsunamis, our two largest, one in 1946 and the other in 1960. We get shaken by earthquakes occasionally, some damaging, some not.
The people of the Big Island are resilient. We survived tsunamis, our two largest, one in 1946 and the other in 1960. We get shaken by earthquakes occasionally, some damaging, some not.
We pick up the Hawaii Tribune-Herald these days, and on the front page of the paper are maps or descriptions of where the June 27th lava flow could be heading and the timeline. In the Sunday, Sept. 14, paper the headline asked whether Mauna Loa will erupt.
After all, we do live on an active volcano and in the middle of the Ring of Fire, so it should not be a huge surprise to anyone living here that we have these natural disasters to face. It just seems like a lot for the people of the Big Island to handle. I surely don’t want to be either Mayor Billy Kenoi, Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira or a volcanologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory right now. Sleep and relaxation time must certainly be a luxury right now for them!
Our Rotary Club, headed up by member Cheyenne Kalawe, made nearly 600 Spam musubi to distribute to the victims of Iselle. It made me recall a book I read, “Kibo,” which means “brimming with hope.” This book was written after the double disasters in the Tohoku and Kanto regions of Japan on Friday, March 11, 2011. The people of Tokyo, who did not sustain much damage from the earthquake as other parts of Japan, put together “soup kitchens” made up of thousands of volunteers. They were troops, housewives, shopkeepers, members of various temples and total strangers who came together to produce thousands of onigiri or omusubi. Assembly lines were formed to cook, scoop, weigh (each was one cup), shape and wrap the omusubi. After making and packing the omusubi, they traveled 200 miles to deliver it to evacuation shelters. Much of the rice and nori, or seaweed, needed were donated by the merchants. Some called the onigiri or omusubi the quiet heroes of the 2011 Japan disasters.
When the omusubi was handed over to the children and the elderly, it always brought a smile to their faces as it was comforting as well as familiar. It was not unusual to see a mother dipping the omusubi in hot water to soften it and feed her infant child. To say that the meager omusubi brought much joy to empty stomachs is certainly an understatement.
Because of the large number of evacuees and survivors in shelters, many were given only one omusubi per day. While in Japan, son Reid heard of a story of a person in charge of a shelter. He was given only 500 omusubi to distribute. He had double that amount of people. He opted to throw the omusubi away instead of having to make a decision of who will eat and who will not. This, to him, was a sign of solidarity: We either all eat or we all go hungry.
Why omusubi you might ask. They are easy to pack up as well as easy to eat with your fingers. Shaped into triangles and then wrapped with nori or seaweed, the rice does not stick to your fingers. Salting the rice before shaping the omusubi helps preserve it. Adding some umeboshi, or salted pickled plum, gives your omusubi some added taste. Other items added in the middle of the rice ball are tuna and mayonnaise, salted salmon or chicken.
The seaport area of Tohoku fished for salmon for over 5,000 years. Minami Sanriju was the center of farmed salmon, bringing in over 15,000 tons for the domestic market. Six months later, in late September 2011, on a much smaller scale, the autumn harvest of salmon was resumed.
Salmon is served fresh or lightly cured and called “ama-jio shake” or “sweet-salted salmon. The chunks of salmon, nice and salty, can be used to stuff the omusubi.
Seasoned Salmon
Flakes
“Shake no oboro”
1 small slice of fresh salmon fillet with skin intact, 3 ounces
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 piece dashi-kombu, 2 inch square
2 tablespoons sake
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon light-colored soy sauce
Wash salmon, pat dry. Place 1/4 teaspoon salt on each side. Place salmon, skin side up, on a rack set over a plate to catch dripping. Let the fish “sweat” at cool room temperature for 30 minutes or in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours. Blot excess moisture with paper towels.
Place salmon and kombu in small saucepan and add cold water just to cover the salmon. Bring the water to a rolling boil and blanch the salmon for 2 minutes, or until just cooked through. The color will change from red to pink and the flesh will become opaque. Drain and discard the water and the kombu. Rinse the fish under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels. Remove skin and any bones, flake the meat into a small saucepan. Add the sake and mirin, cook over low heat until all liquid dissolves. Add soy sauce, stir and cook 4 minutes. Salmon will caramelize slightly. Cool, refrigerate and place about 1 teaspoon into each omusubi.
Small bites
Onigiri and omusubi are words for rice balls.
You might wonder why the “o” is placed in front of nigiri and musubi. “O” in front is to honor the rice ball.
Unrelated to food, but noteworthy, there was absolutely no looting in the aftermath of the Japan disaster. A gym was set up with tables and anything of value found in the recovery was placed on the tables, which included yen or their currency. People claimed their possessions on an honor system. Especially during disaster, the people of Japan could not think of taking from another countryman. It is too bad that same value system does not exist here.
Please feel free to email me at audreywilson808@gmail.com if you have questions.