Skip navigation

Have a luau with these Hawaiian recipes

Bring island flavors to your kitchen with chef Yamaguchi’s dishes

NBC News video
Serve up this Hawaiian luau
July 19: Chef Yamaguchi of Roy's restaurant shows TODAY's Al Roker delicious dishes full of tropical flavor.

Today Show Kitchen

TODAY
updated 10:44 a.m. ET July 19, 2007

Add tropical flavor to your grill with chef Roy Yamaguchi's delicious Hawaiian-inspired dishes! He shares flavorful entrées and dessert — including a Hawaiian fish stew and a sweet mango pineapple shortcake!

Hawaiin Fish Bake
Roy Yamaguchi

INGREDIENTS

2 each 1 1/2 lb. Kona Cold Lobster (or your favorite lobster)

Vegetables and starch

1 each Taro cubed into 2” squares or large slices (or use your favorite potato)
1 each head of mustard cabbage, quartered
2 each corn on the cob, cut in half

Lomi-lomi Tomato:

6 oz tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
1/4 cup Maui onion, minced (or other sweet onion)
2 tbsp minced fresh chives
1 tbsp Rayu (spicy sesame oil)
1 tsp white or red Hawaiian sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp sea asparagus, minced (optional)

Lobster stock

2 oz canola oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1/2 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
2 lobster shells and heads, split
1 gallon water
1 piece konbu (about 5-inch square)
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 tbsp dashi or to taste
1 tsp bonito flakes
4 stalks lemongrass
4 each kaffir lime leaves
3 each Roma tomatoes
1 each 4-inch piece of ginger sliced

Recipe continues below ↓
advertisement


DIRECTIONS

Lobster:
Bring a large enough pot to fit two lobsters with about 5 qts of water to a boil. Place the lobsters in the hot water and immediately turn off the heat. Let the lobsters steep in the hot water for 2 1/2 minutes and remove. Let the lobster cool down naturally at room temp. The lobsters will not be thoroughly cooked.

Once cooled, remove the tail meat from the shell and reserve. Also reserve the shells for stock. (Note: For presentation you can also leave the shell attached to the tail meat and cut each tail in half lengthwise.)

Vegetables and starch:
Cook the Taro until you can insert a toothpick into it easily. Blanch the mustard cabbage in salted boiling water for 30 seconds and shock in ice water. Boil the corn in boiling water till done. Reserve all till later.

Lomi-lomi Tomato:
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir gently to blend. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Lobster stock:
Heat the oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium heat until hot and simmering. Add the onion, celery and carrots, and cook for about 4 minutes. Add the lobster shells, water, kombu, shiitakes, dashi, bonito flakes, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, Roma tomatoes and ginger. Simmer over low to medium heat to extract the flavors out of the lobster shells and to concentrate the flavors by reducing the liquid for about 20 minutes or to about 4 cups.

Strain through a fine china cap and reserve.

*For bread, spicy mayo and fish portion of recipe see below

MANAGE YOUR RECIPES





Hawaiin Fish Bake
Roy Yamaguchi

INGREDIENTS

Bread

8 each large bias-cut French bread
3 oz extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp coarse-chopped basil

Spicy Mayo

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp grated garlic
1 tbsp coarse-chopped basil
1 tbsp of sriracha (or your preferred chili sauce)

Fish

4 each 2 oz Opaka-paka (snapper)
4 each 2 oz Kona Blue Kampachi (yellowtail)
4 each 2 oz Hapu
16 each large clams (left uncooked)

Garnish

10 each basil leaves
10 each mint leaves

DIRECTIONS

Bread:
Combine the garlic, basil and olive oil. Spoon the mixture over the bread. Bake the bread in a preheated 350-degree oven till golden brown and reserve.

Spicy Mayo:
Combine the mayonnaise, garlic, basil and sriracha. Use this sauce along with the lomi tomatoes to flavor the broth or to use as a condiment for the fish and shellfish.

Fish:
Heat the peanut oil in a large, heavy sauté pan or skillet over medium to high heat until hot and shimmering. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Sear each fish for about 20 seconds on each side to a golden-brown color. Transfer the fish into a large ovenproof platter or large ovenproof cookware that can accommodate all the ingredients. Arrange the platter or cookware with the fish, lobster, clams, Taro and vegetables. Add some of the lobster broth to the baking dish.

Precut a sheet of aluminum foil at least three times the size of your platter. Cover the platter or the cookware with the large sheet of aluminum foil to form a dome over the platter (as the platter starts to heat up and produce steam the foil will fill out like a balloon). Place the platter in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Place it on the table. With a fork carefully poke a hole near the top of the foil (be careful — the steam will escape!) and fold the foil down.

Garnish:
Sprinkle the platter with basil and mint. Serve with spicy mayo, bread and lomi tomatoes.

MANAGE YOUR RECIPES