Choy’s laulau tips will save you money and time

At $22.99 a pound, salted butterfish can wreak havoc with your laulau budget. Solution: Salt it yourself.

Allan Chun wrote for instructions in doing just that. A call to chef Sam Choy led to the simple formula. "Smother" the fish in salt, he said, "then just put it in a Ziploc and tumble a little, then into the fridge." Three days later you’ll have salted butterfish. Given that frozen butterfish steaks go for about $8 per pound, you’ll clearly be ahead.

OK, so that’s not much of a recipe and I still have space to fill, so Choy and I spent some time talking about salting salmon (same basic principle) and what to do with a block of either salted fish. 

Salted butterfish is a classic addition to laulau — tuck in a cube next to your pieces of pork or chicken and wrap it all in luau leaves. But laulau is a big project. All those meat-fish-luau bundles have to be wrapped in ti leaves, neatly tied and steamed for hours. Instead, try an express version: A little bit of butterfish and a little bit of chicken, wrapped in ti leaves and steamed for about 20 minutes. "Nice and moist and the flavor will go all through the chicken," Choy said. The technique is a cross between laulau and lawalu — the Hawaiian term for meat or fish wrapped in ti leaves and cooked over hot coals.

Salted salmon is the key ingredient in lomi salmon, a mix of fish, tomatoes and onions. Choy suggested trying his Lollipop Lomi Salmon, a miniature kebab of fish, cherry tomato and onion. Each stick makes one bite, perfect finger food for a party starter. Stick a bunch of lollipops into a pineapple and you’ve got your table centerpiece, too.

The instructions are simple, so I’m going to abandon the traditional recipe format and just explain:

>> To salt butterfish or salmon: For 8 ounces of fish use 1 to 2 tablespoons sea salt. This seems like a lot, but you will rinse off the fish before using it. Remove the skin from the fish and pull out as many bones as you can. Cover the fish evenly with salt and place in a sealed plastic bag. Refrigerate overnight for salmon and 2-3 days for butterfish. The flesh will cure, becoming firm and opaque.

A note on the fish: With salmon choose a thick fillet or steak. Butterfish is commonly found frozen, and you’re pretty much stuck with steaks. Thaw before salting.

>> Lollipop Lomi Salmon: Use a piece of salmon about 3/4-inch thick. An 8-ounce piece will make about 18 kebabs. Use a 1-to-1 mixture of salt and sugar instead of pure salt to cure the fish. To assemble, thread a 1-inch piece of green onion on a skewer, followed by a cherry tomato, a slice of red onion and a cube of salmon. (Taste the fish first and rinse if it’s too salty.)

>> Express laulau: Line a steamer basket with ti leaves. Cut skinless chicken thighs into chunks; cut salted butterfish into chunks of the same size and rinse. Salt chicken lightly. Arrange everything over ti leaves, then cover with more ti leaves. Place over simmering water and steam 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Optional: Add bits of diced ham and/or a layer of dark greens such as spinach, kale or chard; steam everything together.

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