By Request: James Beard finalist Gaby Maeda gives Grandma credit

At age 15 Gaby Maeda was busing tables at Sekiya’s Restaurant & Delicatessen in Kaimuki. At 29 she’s running the kitchen at State Bird Provisions in San Francisco, one of California’s hottest restaurant tickets.

There’s no flattening of this career curve: Last month Maeda was nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s Rising Star award, an honor that goes to one of the nation’s most gifted chefs age 30 or younger.

When Maeda speaks of culinary inspiration she can cite some powerful chef-mentors: Alvin Luna at Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco, for example, and Stuart Brioza, the pioneering founder, with wife Nicole Krasinski, of State Bird.

But ask about an inspirational dish and she cites her grandmother, Doris Maeda, who introduced her to plain mochi with shoyu and nori. Her initial reaction was disappointment, she recalled, because this type of mochi is not sweet. “I was definitely complaining. But then I ate it, and it was so good.”

That simple mochi inspired one of Maeda’s early creations at State Bird, a gnocchi made with mochiko and kabocha, in brown butter. Mochi, served as pasta, is a staple now at State Bird, she said, made with seasonal produce such as beets, carrots, corn or pumpkin.

“I love the fact that the reason it’s around is Grandma Maeda made me something I was complaining about, and she shut me up with good food.”

Maeda grew up on 19th Avenue in Kaimuki and by high school was sold on cooking. She’d spend whole afternoons, she said, in the cookbook section at Barnes & Noble.

At age 16 she started as a pantry cook at the former Hiroshi Eurasion Bistro. “It was scary but so awesome,” she said, and integral to her later career.

After graduating from Myron B. Thompson Academy in 2008, she moved to San Francisco to enter the now-closed California Culinary Academy, eventually getting an externship at Gary Danko that became a five-year full-time job.

In 2014 she signed on as a line cook at State Bird, a restaurant acclaimed for its dim-sum dining approach — with diners selecting dishes from carts.

“When I walked into State Bird, there was something magical about it,” Maeda said. She is now chef de cuisine, meaning the kitchen is hers. She handles hiring, training, creating dishes and more.

That was pre-COVID, of course. The restaurant has scaled back to takeout-only with a limited menu. So the James Beard nomination was a welcome cause to celebrate. “I’m reinspired to keep going now.”

The awards will be announced Sept. 25 in Chicago.

AT STATE BIRD Provisions this savory mochi is garnished like Mexican street corn, with pickled red jalapenos, goat gouda cheese, cilantro and a lime vinaigrette.

But you could enjoy it in its simplest form, with furikake, “so it almost tastes like hurricane popcorn,” Gaby Maeda says, or as her grandma served mochi, drizzled with shoyu and wrapped in a sheet of nori.

FRESH CORN MOCHI DANGO

• 4 medium cobs yellow corn
• 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to season cooking water
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups mochiko (sweet rice flour)
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Shoyu and sheets of nori or furikake, for serving

Bring large pot of well-salted water to boil. Add corn cobs; cook 8 minutes. Remove corn to sheet pan or plate; reserve water in pot.

Cut kernels from cobs and use spoon to scrape the “corn milk” from cobs (this is where a lot of the sweetness comes from). Puree corn kernels and corn milk in a food processor or blender. It doesn’t have to be completely smooth, a little texture is nice.

Measure corn puree (you should have at least a cup) and add to mixing bowl. Add equivalent amount of mochiko. The amounts of puree and mochiko should be equal and will depend on the size of your corn.

Add 1 teaspoon salt; mix until dough holds shape and doesn’t stick to your hands or crumble. Roll into 1-inch balls.

Bring salted corn cooking water back to boil. Add mochi balls and reduce heat to medium, maintaining a simmer. Cook at least 6 minutes, until mochi floats to surface of the water.

Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath. When mochi is done, remove to ice bath to cool. Place on a tray or plate and coat each piece lightly in oil to prevent sticking.

Heat a skillet on medium-high. Melt butter and add mochi balls (work in batches if necessary). Season with a little more salt and roll mochi in butter until all sides are golden brown and crisp.

To serve: Sprinkle with furikake or drizzle with shoyu and roll in nori. Makes about 24 mochi.

Approximate nutritional information, per mochi (not including salt to taste): 60 calories, 4 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 0.5 g fiber, 1 g sugar, 1 g protein.

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