BY LINDSEY MURAOKA / Special to the Star-Advertiser
On Thursday, Dec. 12, I attended the 12th annual Awamori Festival — now known as “Cultural Fusion” — at Harbor View Center, the event space above Nico’s at Pier 38. There was tons of delicious food made by Harbor View Center executive chef, live entertainment, a silent auction and, of course, alcohol.
The festival is hosted by Randy Kuba of Lotus Spirits and his wife, Frances Nakachi Ryubu, who owns Okinawan dance school Tamagusuku Ryu Senjukai Hawaii. Proceeds from the festival will benefit the dance school and help promote Okinawan culture in Hawaii.
Awamori is a distilled alcoholic beverage made with rice (similar to shochu) that is indigenous to Okinawa. The festival’s name change happened this year since Kuba decided to expand and serve other types of drinks, including sake, shochu, soju and wine.
This is Kuba Awamori, created by Kuba himself. Its main ingredients are Thai Indicia rice and black koji (yeast) from Okinawa. It’s smooth and has a sweet taste that I didn’t expect.
After awamori is distilled, it is aged in earthenware pots.
This awamori is made for Alan Wong and is served in cocktails at his restaurants.
These are various types of sake flown in from Los Angeles by Yoshi Murakami of Boutique Sake. My favorite was the Tenpou Ichi Tokubetsu Junami 55 (small brown bottle). It had a complex and creamy melon flavor.
Hwayo soju is a high-quality, premium soju that is very smooth, easy to drink and goes great with spicy food. For more information, check out my blog post on their launch party a few months ago.
Kuma shochu is made from rice and malted rice with groundwater from the Kuma River near Hitoyoshi, Japan. I tried the Ohishi Gold flavor, which has a light yellow color and is made in sherry and brandy casks.
The silent auction had a variety of items, from Okinawan style artwork and glass to alcohol.
The event started off with a traditional Okinawan lion dance.
Many of the guests wore Okinawan shirts, which have unique details such as a double pocket or collar.
Now, on to the food!
Chef Locquiao has worked as a chef all over the world, from New York to Chicago and most recently at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. He’s planning a bacon-themed event in the near future that I am really excited about!
This is blue crab cucumber topped with strawberry Pop Rocks! It sounds weird, but actually tasted great with its sweet and salty contrasting flavors. The candy continued to pop in my mouth while I sipped on shochu.
The poached asian pear salad was one of the most popular dishes of the night. It was topped with prosciutto, mozzarella and a savory black truffle oil vinaigrette.
This is crispy panko pork, pounded into thin strips and served with shiso, a mini fried musubi and a dab of kochujang for a slight spicy hint of flavor.
This is salmon crudo topped with minced apple, ginger, lemon oil, and a special basil salt Chef Locquiao said is one of his secret ingredients.
A trio of oyster shooters, from left to right: Ceviche style, with a light olive oil flavor; an interesting lavender ponzu flavor with quail egg; and tobiko (my favorite of the three) with a pomegranate ponzu/shoyu sauce.
This was one of my favorite dishes, a take on dukbokki, a spicy Korean rice cake dish. The flavor was toned down and used red curry instead of gochujang; the dish was also topped with tons of bacon, scallions and white cheddar. The dish paired nicely with the Hwayo Soju.
I also enjoyed the tender ribeye steak with crunchy pickled kabocha and topped with a black bean essence that gave this dish a rich and deep layer of flavor.
Overall, this was a fun and educational event. I learned a lot about awamori — and drank a lot of it, too!
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Lindsey Muraoka blogs about food and drink for the Pulse. Contact her on Twitter or via email at foodlalablog@gmail.com.