JACL’s Top Chefs: food, family and chapter kitchens

Vol. 152, No. 10, June 3, 2011. 16 pages. View this issue

Food was the subject of this 16-page issue, which carried the cover line “JACL’s Top Chefs.” Nalea J. Ko profiled three well-known cooks: Alan Wong of Hawaii, food blogger Jaden Hair and Ming Tsai. The pages that followed turned to JACL members who cook for their chapters. Bob Komoto, Sus Ito, Susan Inahara and Kunio Yoneda each described how food connected them to community. Bill Tashima wrote about his family’s love of food and their long history of JACL leadership.

Elsewhere, JACL President David H. Kawamoto reflected on Memorial Day and Japanese American veterans, including his father’s service in the 100/442 Regimental Combat Team. Gil Asakawa wrote about the Pacific Citizen’s reach, and Harry K. Honda argued that “Evacuation” should be capitalized. A news item described the Bridging Communities program at the 42nd National JACL Convention in Los Angeles.

What’s in this issue

JACL

• The Pacific Citizen’s Impact Reaches Far and Runs Deep, by Gil Asakawa, page 2. Gil Asakawa reflects on a JANM panel discussion about the history of Nikkei newspapers and the enduring impact of the Pacific Citizen. He praises the P.C.’s small staff for producing quality journalism on a shrinking budget and urges readers to support the Spring Campaign.
• A Memorial Day Message, by David H. Kawamoto, page 2. JACL President David Kawamoto reflects on Memorial Day and the contributions of Japanese American veterans, including his father’s service in the 100/442 Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service. He calls for continued recognition of Nikkei military service before and after WWII, citing a verse from ‘America the Beautiful.’
• ‘Bridging Communities’ to be Featured at 42nd Nat’l JACL Convention, page 7. JACL’s Bridging Communities program, which fosters dialogue between Japanese American and Muslim American youth on civil rights and identity, will be featured as a workshop track at the 2011 Nikkei Conference. The conference, co-hosted with the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council, will take place alongside the 42nd JACL National Convention in Los Angeles.

Arts & Entertainment

• Chef Alan Wong Cooks Up a Plan to Nurture Hawaii’s Homegrown, by Nalea J. Ko, page 3. Award-winning chef Alan Wong discusses his rise from dishwasher to celebrated restaurateur and his mission to increase local food production and consumption in Hawaii. The article covers his culinary training, his role in founding Hawaii Regional Cuisine, his cookbook ‘The Blue Tomato,’ and his experience cooking for the White House.
• What’s Cooking With Jaden: Hair, the Asian American Rachel Ray, by Nalea J. Ko, page 4. Food blogger Jaden Hair describes how her Steamy Kitchen website grew from a small recipe archive for her mother’s dishes into a major blogging business with millions of page views. Hair discusses balancing motherhood with her career as an author, columnist and blogger, and shares advice for aspiring food bloggers.
• How Chef Ming Tsai Engineered a Career in Cooking, by Nalea J. Ko, page 4. Chef Ming Tsai discusses his path from a Yale mechanical engineering degree to becoming a celebrated chef, including his time on ‘The Next Iron Chef’ and his restaurant Blue Ginger. The article also covers his ninth season of ‘Simply Ming’ and his advocacy work on food allergy awareness following his son’s diagnosis.

Community

• The Scientific Art of Gourmet Cooking, page 5. Bob Komoto, a PhD chemist and Snake River JACL member, describes how his scientific background informs his approach to gourmet cooking and his volunteer culinary contributions to chapter fundraisers. He shares an anecdote about serving as a sous-chef for Food Network’s Tyler Florence and recounts memorable cooking mishaps.
• Retired Harvard Medical School Professor Turns to Spam Musubi, page 6. Sus Ito, a 442nd RCT veteran and retired Harvard Medical School professor, discusses learning to cook during his military service and later introducing Hawaiian spam musubi to New England. He also reflects on the role of Japanese food in JA culture and his admiration for a friend’s large annual Oshogatsu gathering.
• Love of Food Truly a Tashima Family Affair, page 8. Bill Tashima recounts his family’s deep-rooted love of food and their multicultural culinary influences growing up in Cleveland, as well as his family’s long history of JACL leadership. He discusses the significance of food in preserving Nikkei traditions and reflects on JACL’s ongoing mission to combat discrimination faced by other communities today.
• ‘Brownie Me’ Owner Brings Passion to Every Bite, page 9. Pastry chef Susan Inahara, trained in France and experienced cooking for celebrities like Julia Child and Steve Martin, discusses launching her brownie business, Brownie Me, in Oregon. She shares her philosophy on pastry perfection and her community fundraising efforts for organizations like O.N.E.
• Popularizing Japanese Cuisine in the United States, page 10. Master chef Kunio Yoneda discusses his decades-long career promoting Japanese cuisine in the U.S., including preparing a kaiseki dinner for then-Prince Akihito and receiving the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government. He reflects on the growing popularity of Japanese food in America and his gratitude to the Stockton JA community that supported his restaurant.
• ‘Mochi Master’ Teaches the Mochitsuki Tradition to JA Youth, page 10. Jun Fukushima, a 92-year-old MIS veteran, discusses leading SELANOCO JACL’s annual mochitsuki fundraiser, which produces about 200 pounds of mochi with the help of roughly 20 volunteers. He emphasizes passing on the tradition to younger generations to preserve Japanese culture.
• The Way to a Woman’s Heart Is Through Her Stomach, page 11. Steve Sato, executive director of Kiku Gardens retirement facility, is honored by San Diego JACL members for his extensive volunteer cooking for Japanese American seniors and community events. He discusses his love of cooking without formal training and his involvement with numerous San Diego JA organizations.
• Love of Baking and ‘Prancing Prunettes’, page 12. Gladys Konishi, 80, of Mile-Hi JACL, shares her lifelong passion for cooking and baking, recalling learning to cook for large family gatherings on a Colorado farm and later preparing meals for community fundraisers. She also reveals a lighthearted family tradition of performing as the ‘Prancing Prunettes’ with her sisters.
• The Potluck Guru, page 13. Kathy Inoshita of Arizona JACL is celebrated for her popular potluck dishes and self-taught cooking skills learned from her mother. She discusses the central role of food in bringing together her church and JACL community, including the annual mochitsuki event.
• D.C. JACLer Has Mad Sushi Skills, page 13. David Inoue of Washington, D.C. JACL discusses honing his sushi-making skills as a sushi chef during graduate school at Ohio State University, where he served Japanese executives. He also reflects on the centrality of food in Japanese culture and his hobby of home kitchen renovation.
• Cooking for the JACL Masses: I Have ‘Cast Ironitus’, by Larry Grant, page 14. Larry Grant of Wasatch Front North JACL humorously describes his lifelong love of cooking and his extensive collection of cast iron and Dutch oven cookware. He details cooking Dutch oven teriyaki chicken for the Utah JACL chapters’ annual picnic honoring visiting students from sister city Matsumoto, Japan.
• Bernice Kida’s Kitchen Legacy, page 14. Bernice Kida of Salt Lake City JACL describes learning to cook, sew and arrange flowers from her mother after her father’s early death, and her decades of helping prepare Japanese dishes for the chapter’s annual Issei Luncheon alongside her late husband Taka. She reflects on favorite dishes and teaching sushi-making classes.
• From Sendai to Indiana, page 15. Tae Carter, who moved from Sendai, Japan to Indiana in 1952 after marrying an American soldier, recalls the difficulty of finding Japanese food when she first arrived and her decades of cooking for Hoosier JACL’s shinnenkai and picnic events. She reflects on joining JACL and learning about the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans after moving to the U.S.

Commentary

• Capitalize ‘Evacuation’, by Harry K. Honda, page 15. Pacific Citizen editor emeritus Harry Honda examines the historical and political context behind the term ‘Evacuation’ as used to describe the forced removal of Japanese Americans during WWII, tracing congressional hearings, executive orders and the Roberts Commission report. He argues JACL’s ‘Power of Words Handbook’ faces the task of getting ‘Evacuation’ properly capitalized and recognized in dictionaries.

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