‘Flying saucers,’ ‘UFOs’ help raise money for Kauai flood victims

Flying saucers and UFOs — two treats commonly known to Kauai residents — are flying into downtown Honolulu for a fundraiser May 24 to help Kauai flood victims.

The homestyle snack foods will join a menu of higher-end items from Oahu restaurants at Aloha Kauai, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot at the corner of Nuuanu Avenue and Nimitz Highway, across from Murphy’s Bar and Grill.

Kauai chef Mark Oyama will cook up the flying saucers: round, beef-filled grilled sandwiches; and Murphy’s owner Don Murphy will construct the UFOs, aka Goteborg musubi, made with Swedish sausage.

Murphy said he’d never even heard of the musubi before visiting the flood-damaged island in late April with his friend Kurt Ozaki, a graphic designer from the Garden Island.

“It’s very good!” he said.

Murphy decided, “We gotta do something to help these people … and we gotta make it fun!”

Other participants: Alan Wong’s, Moku Kitchen, MW Restaurant, Roy’s Restaurant, Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Senia, First Hawaiian Bankers Club and Superb Sushi. There will also be KC Waffle Dogs and a Kauai shave-ice booth.

Performing will be Josh Tatofi and Henry Kapono.

Tickets are $150 at alohakauaifloodrelief.com. Proceeds will be distributed by Grove Farm Co. Foundation in Lihue.

— Pat Gee, Star-Advertiser

LUNCH MARKS SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT

The menu was upscale casual: Kalua pork salad, bibimbap and okonomiyaki in miniature, sliders, crostini topped with chicken done in Greek souvlaki style.

The chefs had just earned culinary arts certificates last week from Kapiolani Community College. The setting was the Women’s Community Correctional Center, where the four graduates, inmates at the center, prepared lunch for the staff.

Under the KCC program, participants earn 14 University of Hawaii credits, taking beginning culinary classes. But their chef-instructor, Lee Shinsato, said the women learned more than kitchen skills.

“Their character has really, really, really grown,” Shinsato said in a video provided by the correctional center. “I’m actually more proud of that fact than the fact that they can make a hollandaise sauce.”

Jessica Hinebaugh, who spoke on behalf of the graduates, said the training taught life lessons.

“It was about maturing and being more connected with people,” Hinebaugh said. “It teaches you that you don’t really have to do anything alone, but that doesn’t mean you have to put all your responsibility on someone else.

“It’s a give-and-take kind of thing, and that’s not just in cooking, that’s in life.”

— Betty Shimabukuro, Star-Advertiser