A few years ago, local chef extraordinaire and co-founder of Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine Sam Choy had an idea for a new television show: eschewing high-end restaurant kitchens, he would visit the houses of local residents, invade their refrigerators, and whip up delicious dishes from whatever leftovers and neglected ingredients he could find there. His motivation was to decrease food waste by showing ordinary home cooks new ways to put together ‘ono recipes from foods they might otherwise have been tempted to throw away. The takeaway: don’t discount what’s right in front of you—it’s got more possibilities than you can imagine.
The newest iteration of this show, Sam Choy’s in the Kitchen, takes that lesson to the next level by focusing on local ingredients, suggesting that instead of buying imported produce and proteins, cooks take another look at what’s in front of them, grown and produced right here in the Islands.
And to get the best of the fruits, veggies, and meats, as well as guidance on when they would be at the peak of their freshness and availability, his producers turned to CTAHR Extension. The first three shows with the college sponsoring the ingredients are set to run:
See them on KHON and let them help you to see that overflowing fruit tree or neglected garden patch a little differently—as places of possibility and allies in the fight against food waste!