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Famous Kahuku Shrimp, a closer look
Aloha!
9/12/09 - Well, I did say that I'd be trying every single shrimp truck out on the North Shore eventually, so here's yet another one! But I hope you know, it's not just shrimp that makes a trip out there so enjoyable. Along the way, the coast drive is so beautiful, and you always seem to find something different each time. I mean, it could be something as simple as a freshly-mowed field attracting scores of ivory-white egrets, or giant tarps erected just off the road from groups of happy beach-goer's, or a different angle on that gorgeous mountain or valley you always pass-by, or maybe a new beach you've discovered up-close for the first time, if for even just a quick look - there's always something!
Today, it was beautiful Kualoa Ranch, sandwiched between the Koolau Mountain Range and the Pacific Ocean. These mountains are always sooo pretty, but today was a special treat I couldn't pass-up without stopping the car:
As any local knows, this scene is right alongside the road on busy Kamehameha Hwy., the main and only road passing through the entire length of the coast. The only difference today was that I've never seen this many horses out to pasture.
I don't know a person alive today who can walk-up to one of these majestic creatures and not be in total awe. Every time I see one, I think of the passage in the Bible, Job 39:19-25, NKJV:
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"Have you given the horse strength?
Have you clothed his neck with thunder?
Can you frighten him like a locust?
His majestic snorting strikes terror.
He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength;
He gallops into the clash of arms.
He mocks at fear, and is not frightened;
Nor does he turn back from the sword.
The quiver rattles against him,
The glittering spear and javelin.
He devours the distance with fierceness and rage;
Nor does he stand firm, because the trumpet has sounded.
At the blast of the trumpet he says, Aha!
He smells the battle from afar,
The thunder of captains and shouting." |
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Amazing and beautiful things, they are. And nuff said, cuz' the Book of the Ages always puts it best!
We usually travel along the Kailua/Kaneohe/Kahuku road, since it's much prettier than through town. By the time we get to Haleiwa, we can then decide if we wanna come home the quicker route, through town, to make it a circle tour, or return the same way in a more leisurely manner. Aaah, it all depends on the time.
Coming-up from the Kahuku side, you'll see a couple of individual shrimp trucks early-on, but the real action doesn't start getting heavy until you see the old Kahuku Sugar Mill, where, in the fields right next to it on either side, sits Giovanni's and Famous Kahuku Shrimp. Inside the Sugar Mill itself is another shrimp truck gone brick and mortar, while immediately past the Mill, you'll see the actual shrimp ponds themselves, along with many more trucks. When you see this scene, get ready!
Oh, and if you've been holding it in all the way from Kailua, fore-going all the beach park restrooms along the way, you may wanna know that there's one right there at the Mill (nothing nice or anything, though!). Just past the giant blue and yellow wheel, here's what you'll see from the road, with the shrimp ponds just beyond the bend:
Famous Kahuku Shrimp is another one who's been around for as long as I can remember, but I've never actually been here yet. Their truck is pretty much what you see everywhere, the standard graffiti all-over and a mix of mobile and semi-permanent structures alongside:
Sometimes it makes you wonder if they tried to keep everything clean at first, but after finding they couldn't beat the vandals, maybe just decided to join them? Just a passing guess in bemusing myself, is all...
But alas, let's get to the shrimp. After mom's delicious batter-fried shrimp at Fumi's the last time, she decided to give the same dish a go, once again.
Bad move.
Hey, I know this page is coming fresh-off the heels of another unusually bad experience at Pho 777, but I'll just let you know, once again, and right off the bat - judging by our initial visit, I don't know how this place can stay in business. Hey, who knows - maybe I'm the one who's changing; maybe I'm the one without the palate; or maybe I'm just pregnant, I don't know. It's just that I've seen quite a bit of folks raving about this place on Yelp, giving it 5-Stars our of 5, and for the life of me, I have no idea why! In consolation, there were a small minority of folks there giving it terrible reviews, along with both mom and wifey, with their comments a bit similiar to what I'll be writing here soon. And so, just as an advanced warning, I won't have much of anything good to say about this particular visit - except for the kind lady there, however, who was very nice and friendly. Dang, that just makes me feel even worse!
Getting back to what they call tempura shrimp here, it's actually not tempura at all, but katsu:
May look ok, but this was on-par with plate lunch stuff out of a dingy enclave somewhere deep in an industrial locale near the airport. The batter was thick, doughy, obviously pre-frozen, and something I'd imagine coming out of the chill box of a supermarket and done-up in the microwave, complete with aluminum-sided sleeves. As you can see from the pics, they don't use veggie salad but a plate lunch-style mac. That was all fine by me, though, as the mac wasn't too bad. The red sauce, on the other hand, was something akin to a modified salsa, which I dunno, just seemed really, really out of place.
The next plate, a chili garlic shrimp, was, unfortunately, even worse!
The size of these shrimps were ok, and nothing different from most anywhere else, but that sauce was just very, how can I say... unpleasant? It was like, not happy at all on either the salty nor sweet sides, with seemingly no refreshing citrus element to provide some tang. It was just kinda somewhere in-between world's, and not in the sense of a balanced rounding, but in a kind of muddied, dulled-down way, both taste-wise and texture-wise.
I think we nailed-down and isolated the biggest problem here at Famous Kahuku Shrimp, though. It was a problem that may not be seen with the eye, but definitely felt through taste and feel:
It may have looked pretty good, but they use either a flour or cornstarch coating that spoils the entire dish to no end. I love using both white powders for providing a crispy, deep-fried crunch, but for both the chili garlic and butter garlic shrimp dishes, the coatings clumped into mushy, soggy balls of starch that were simply horrendous. You tried taking off the shells so only meat was revealed, but that sticky paste got anywhere and everywhere, making things extremely difficult to enjoy. Usually, you love to bite or suck on the shells, which soak-in all those buttery flavors, but this time, that was not an option.
You know, I'm not looking for a sophisticated, super-clean plate out here, not by any means, as a butter garlic plate anywhere near the vicinity is always greasy and full of oil - that's what North Shore shrimp trucks are all about! But, this particular greasiness, this particular oiliness, caused by the sloppy use of flour, was just a tad bit much to handle.
Boy, I'm on a roll here, but perhaps not the kind of roll I was hoping for. Oh, well. Thing's happen, ya know...? Here's one last shot, of the park bench-and-tarp dining area, which is just about the same as you'll see with most shrimp trucks:
Next time, we'll check out a spot that's kinda like a few Closer Look's ago, at Yoshiya, in that it's not known much by locals at all. This time, however, it's much more casual, and a pretty darn fun place to hang-out for drinks and small Japanese dishes. At least it reverses the downward spiral we've been on the last two Look's - promise!
You all have a safe and happy weekend!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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