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Fumis Shrimp Truck, a closer look
Aloha!
8/31/09 - Much thanks to Pomai over at Tasty Island for doing an entire page review of my Island Flavors book! He gave it a 4 musubi rating out of 5 - quite the honor! The loss of the last musubi was mostly because of technical design snafu's, as his line of work has to do with very detailed and technically-oriented stuff. Sorry Pomai, but I tend to be a words and ideas kind of guy all the way, the cosmic type that doesn't like details, as opposed to a numbers kind of guy - you know, those meticulous folk out there who love math, are natural engineers, and pull apart entire cars just to put them all back together! Me, I love the amazing ideas behind the math, and the incredible power of principles behind the engineering, but hate, hate, hate the tediousness of the actual math itself, or the pencils, rulers, drawing boards, and precise equations needed to bring the actual engineering into reality! In other words - just lazy, brah!
Anywayz, thanks Pomai - maybe we'll see a Tasty Island book soon, too?
But getting back on subject..... Here we go again, as the battle of the North Shore Shrimp Trucks continues! So far we've only just begun, hitting Giovanni's, Macky's, Romy's, and now - Fumi's. As far as location goes, it's hard to beat the few stands situated right there on the Kahuku shrimp/fish ponds and Kam Highway, Romy's, Fumi's, and Tony's (there may yet be others). The first two can also boast of permanent structures, instead of just serving from a van like everyone else. As you can see by the giant-sized dining area, these aspects do wonders for business. Of course, right now, we're not exactly looking at a stampede, as in true Aku Eats fashion I showed up even before the opening bell of 11am as to not bother customers as much as possible.
While waiting, wifey and I went snooping around back, hoping to catch a glimpse of the flighty creatures in the giant ponds. I say flighty because shrimp have to be one of the most excitable animals in the world. While participating in an aquaculture presentation at the Oceanic Institute, next to Sea Life Park, the Director said that when shrimp are housed in un-natural tanks like in the rows of long, narrow structures you so often see in aquaculture operations, even a single person walking by can cause the skiddish creatures to pump their tails in fear, prompting a chain reaction that can reach the entire population, which usually leads to lots and lots of shrimp dropping dead to the bottom right then and there in total panic!
Ponds like these shown next, however, are much more similiar to their natural habitats, so they grow much more comfortably. Now they just have to worry about those darn cattle egrets and blue herons!
Though their park bench dining area is pretty much the same as anyone else's (except larger), the kitchen facility is a virtual palace, comparatively speaking.
That little area on the left includes a separate line for shave ice, along with live shrimp displayed through a single-sided glass panel. No dice on either, though, as we weren't in the mood for shave ice and there were no shrimp at all, at least at opening time. Maybe later, though...?
By the time the Open sign lit-up, wifey, mom, and I were first in line, wallets open, plates already decided upon, and eagerly waiting to crack-open a few butter-laced shells. There's several different types of shrimp available here, all pictured on the wall - coconut, lemon butter, chili garlic, deep-fried, salt 'n pepper - the usual varieties. Wifey, fiery girl that she is, loves a good chili garlic, so without any further small talk - here we go:
Great way to start! Healthy, plump shrimp with a nice, crispy crust, and a really well-balanced sauce that tempers the almost always too-sweet chili sauce with chunks of garlic and a touch of savoriness. Like the best shrimp trucks out there, the sauce is key, and is not only generously provided by an oily layer on the bottom of the plate, but is also spooned-on to the rice directly! The side of salad was very small and simple, as was the slice of pineapple. Both were fine, but just of little consequence, was all.
Mom went with a crispy-fried shrimp, which came in katsu form, with an outer layer of panko flakes:
If these look mouth-watering and delicious, well... that's because they were!!! Wow - some of the best shrimp katsu I've had anywhere! You could tell they weren't pre-breaded and left overnight, resulting in a light, airy, crispy outer coating that would have made a tonkatsu chef proud! The shrimp underneath were also fresh, sweet, and perfectly done, just barely stepping into the realm of white and cooked, only a second or two past the jurisdiction of yet raw and transluscent. Add-in the sweet chili sauce, and here you have the makings of an unbeatable shrimp fry!
But what of the King of shrimp plates, the butter garlic, or scampi? No worries, as the Aku would never leave a shrimp truck without one. And how would Fumi's butter garlic plate be?
Hmmm... I'd say Fumi's is a worthy contender, a worthy contender, indeed! Great sauce, great flavor - lots of greasy, garlicky, super-messy oils and a healthy amount of pure salt, another necessary evil in this particular game. Yeah, I think I still gotta remain with Giovanni's and Macky's as top dogs, but this plate above could sure send a shot across the bow to either of 'em in the battle of North Shore shrimp trucks. Not enough to sink them, but definitely enough to send a clear message that Fumi's musn't be ignored! I know that these trucks sometimes change and adapt, and new ideas and taste sensations from one have a way of finding its way to others, but that's a good thing, really, as the healthy competition only makes everyone step it up even higher, which makes for a better end-product across the board.
Before leaving, I went back to the room housing the empty shrimp tank, and lo' and behold - it was empty no more!
Now, I know these little guys can't smile and tell us how happy they are, but if I've ever seen happy shrimp before, these guys had to have been it! Darting in and around the strong current of bubbles, they looked like a whole class of body surfer kids cutting school at Sandy Beach on a giant South Shore swell. I mean, gooood fun, boy!
Doesn't this guy look like he's enjoying himself? Some people pay big money for this kind of treatment at the spa.
We left this specialty shop out in Kahuku as happy as shrimp, and impressed with all three plates we ordered, especially the deep-fried version. Come to think of it, with the attention always going to butter garlic shrimp, I haven't even tasted fried, coconut, sweet-sour, salt and pepper, nor anything else at either Macky's or Giovanni's, so I'll have to return one day to find out. Truth is, however, that's probably gonna be a while because I'll surely use any trip out to the North Shore to taste and present other spots out there, as well, and besides, butter garlic is always the standard used in competition, while other varieties are mentioned only after the fact, if at all. Eventually, however, wifey and I will conquer them all, and, of course, take you all along for the ride in the process!
Hope you're all having a wonderful, fabulous, fantastic week!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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