I love Maui, Hawaii! It’s one of those places where you can
rent a car and explore every crevasse. There are hiking trails, fishing
excursions, whale watching, beaches, beaches and more beaches, and food. I have
found so many good restaurants over the years, it’s hard to choose where to eat
each time I visit the island. One of my favorites places to visit while there is Paia . 26 years ago it would have been considered Old Hawaii, occupied by locals
and hippies alike. My first visit was a day trip with a co-work of my husband. The
guy looked like a narc. We ate lunch at Charlie's Restaurant & Saloon. At
the time the saloon was in the back where we were greeted by biker looking dudes
with tattooed faces. As you can guess, my husband’s co-work wasn’t received too
well. About a week later, The CEO of the company my husband works for, took us
to Paia, for dinner at Mama's Fish House.
Both of these establishments have been around for a long time. Rightfully
so, as the food is superb. One is very casual with reasonable prices, and the
other, more fine dining with prices to match.
Not much has changed here over the years. Store fronts may
be occupied by other businesses, but the charm remains and the surfers still come
in droves as Jaws is just minutes away. Mama’s still hasTomato Ginger Bisque on
their menu and you still receive a complimentary cup. They used to have the
recipe on their website, but have since removed it. Lucky for me, I wrote it down.
Recently I made a pot and thought I would share it with you.
Ingredients:
¼ C. Butter
1 C. Sweet Onion, chopped
3 Tbsp. Garlic, minced
6 Tbsp. Ginger, peeled & minced
10 C. Tomatoes, diced (canned plum tomatoes work as well)
16 C. Chicken Stock
2 C. Heavy Cream
1 C. Roux (1 C. Flour blended with ½ C. Butter, melted)
In a fry pan, sauté the onions with the butter until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a few more minutes over medium heat. Do not burn the garlic!
Transfer the onion/garlic mixture to a stock pot and add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 8 to 10 minutes.
Make the roux in the same fry pan as the onion mixture. Melt the butter and stir in the flour over medium high heat until the mixture is brown.
Add the roux to the soup mixture and stir well. Puree the hot soup with a hand emulsifier, add the cream, them season with salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 28 cups. This recipe can be cut down in size.
