Though many forms of work feed a community, few do so as broadly or literally as Frank Chun’s work does. Chun, food-service manager of Lanakila Kitchen, oversees production of some 2,500 meals each day.
Chun and his crew of 14, including trainees, prepare and pack daily meals for preschools, adult day care centers, senior groups and homebound seniors participating in Lanakila’s Meals on Wheels program. They also make weekly frozen meals for Meals on Wheels, cater custom menus, make and package sandwiches sold wholesale and even bottle foodstuff such as gourmet salts and sauces. During Thanksgiving and Christmas, Chun’s kitchen whips up special turkey dinners for his Meals on Wheels clients.
CHICKEN PAPAYA
Courtesy Frank Chun
1 gallon (16 cups) water
» 3 pounds chicken thighs, deboned, with skin and gristle removed, then cut into 1-inch cubes
» 5 pounds green cooking papaya, peeled and seeds removed, then cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes
» 1-1/2 yellow onions, cut in half and sliced
» 6 cloves garlic, minced
» 1 medium ginger root, thinly sliced
» 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
» 3 tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
» Salt, to taste (optional)
» 4 stalks green onion, sliced "saimin style"
In large pot on high, boil water. Add chicken, papaya, onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and patis. Bring pot back to a boil, then lower heat and simmer about 45 minutes or until papaya turns translucent. Add salt to taste, if desired.
Just before serving, add green onion. Serves 6 or more.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (not including salt to taste): 250 calories, 6 g fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 130 mg cholesterol, 1,100 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 7 g sugar, 30 g protein
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"We do anything you could imagine," he said.
After a long day of dealing with food — he begins work at 3 a.m. and continues through the midafternoon — Chun, 56, says he isn’t particularly fond of cooking. But there’s one favorite dish he doesn’t mind preparing at his Kaneohe home: chicken papaya.
"It’s very simple. There’s meat, vegetables and soup," he said. "During the recent cold weather, it’s been good to eat."
Chun’s version of the classic Filipino dish comprises green onion and "lots of ginger" that go into the pot with green papaya and boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
"I like cooking papaya better than squash because it holds up a lot better," Chun said. (Cooked green papaya resembles cooked squash.)
"When you heat it up again the next day, it’s still firm, unlike squash, which turns really soft."
His recipe takes inspiration from the pork-squash dishes he ate as a child with Filipino friends. He swapped out fattier pork for chicken because "we’re getting up there in age, so I try to go a little bit healthier."
Chun’s attitude reflects the philosophy at Lanakila Pacific, where they keep an eye toward healthfulness.
"We’ve been serving exclusively brown rice for about five years now. It set us apart for the longest time," Chun said. "We’ve tried to be ahead of the curve."
Lanakila encourages clients to watch sugar, sodium and fat intake, and the organization even sends a nutritionist to clients’ homes to provide education about healthful eating.
It hasn’t always been easy to change minds.
"When we first started serving brown rice, it took about a year for seniors to accept it," said Chun. "Do you know, at one of the senior group dining sites, we sent a pan of brown rice every day, and they just wouldn’t eat it. They’d send the entire pan back, every day. We encouraged them to eat it and keep trying. We told them, ‘Put sauce on top, put stew on top.’ It’s not an issue anymore."
Before managing Oahu’s largest meal-delivery program, Chun spent most of his food-service career cooking for the Marines.
He was hired to cook in a club on Marine Corps Base Hawaii in 1977 and was sent to a military cooking school. Promotions to head cook and then to chef followed. For 12 years he served in club management and ran the enlisted club in Kaneohe.
But feeling he needed a dose of the "real world," Chun left the military behind in the mid-1990s and managed a couple of fast-food restaurants for six years. That’s when friend Pat Morioka, then director of Lanakila’s food service, told Chun he needed help.
Morioka hired Chun part time. He enjoyed working at Lanakila so much, he applied for the food-service manager position.
That was 13 years ago.
Chun oversees three cooks and, as part of Lanakila’s mission, trains adults with disabilities in a range of kitchen duties. The nine-month training includes everything from skills at the stove, oven and grill to cleaning and sanitizing the kitchen pre- and post-cooking.
"Not too many places have a full working business and training program all at the same time," he said.
The operative word in the Lanakila kitchen is prep. Chun’s crew starts at 4 a.m. and begins prepping vegetables and entree items, and cooking rice.
"The food must be on the road by 8:30 a.m.," he said.
"We prep the frozen meals and prep for the next day. We do catering prep — we can have up to 10 catering orders a day. Prep is very important when you do the volume we do."
Chun’s cooking roots did not necessarily prepare him for such a job — few things could — but his parents definitely left their mark.
Chun’s mother cooked a lot, and his father was a meat cutter.
"If you’re a meat cutter, you know all the cuts and how to cook them," Chun said.
"My father instilled in me from a young age that everybody’s gotta eat, so if you work in the kitchen, you’ll always have a job."
Today, Chun finds reward in his kitchen job thanks to the breadth of community he serves.
He hears from folks who come to Lanakila to take a tour, and those who grab a meal for a neighbor from Lanakila’s cafeteria. He hears from friends whose parents, uncles and aunts receive food via Meals on Wheels.
"They say, ‘The food is so good.’"
But more important than that, "for some homebound seniors, nobody visits them or takes care of them. That one meal a day they sometimes turn into two meals. At least we know they’re not starving," he said.
Another point of pride are the trainees, whom Chun describes as dedicated, loyal employees.
"Yes, they have disabilities. But they don’t let it affect their performance on the job," he said. "Some former trainees have really good jobs at prestigious restaurants in Waikiki. A couple hold positions of authority. Their disabilities haven’t held them back.
"Is that gratifying? Oh yes!"
