Back in the 1960s, going into town from the country meant you drove on Kamehameha Highway because H-2 did not exist. My mom drove a second-hand, push-button white Plymouth Valiant, so it took a long time.
Waipio Acres was situated about a mile south of Wahiawa town. It was surrounded by pineapple fields as there was no Mililani. There was no air conditioning in cars yet, so when you rolled down the window, you could smell your journey and rememberer places you drove by through sight and scent.
A lot of our land was still in agriculture or for producing beef, pork, chicken, eggs and dairy. Kipapa Gulch bridge brought the smell of cow manure. When we passed Crestview heading to Pearl Harbor, about a mile down the road, we inhaled the aroma of pig farms. They used to boil leftover food for the pigs. It’s funny what I remember.
My simple point is that the road we took back in time was different than today. There was also no Pearlridge Center, only Kam Drive In at the top of the hill and below it, Sumida Farm in all its simple natural beauty.
Kalauao Spring fed the flooded fields of watercress. The business was founded in 1928 by family farmers Makiyo and Moriuchi Sumida. David and Barbara, the two youngest siblings, were the third generation of farmers starting in the 1980s for almost 40 years. Barbara would personally deliver watercress every week to the King Street restaurant and the Pineapple Room. It was a time when farmers delivered their goods in person and relationships with farmers were important.
Visiting the farms and walking the fields with farmers to see how everything was grown and experiencing the terroir gave me an appreciation and respect for their hard work and product.
Being on a farm makes me want to cook and put it on the menu. This is one of the things I miss most about not having my restaurants anymore.
On a recent trip to Sumida Farm with the ChefZone team we met with Elijah Madayag — a Kapiolani Community College graduate — who showed us around. Madayag and I knew each other; we had taken a trip to the Big Island together. Anyway, I saw the farm is still in good hands, run by fourth generation owner Erin Suzuki and her husband, Kyle. Elijah gave me a bundle of “leko,” or young watercress.
My first memory of watercress was not a good one. I remember my mom wasn’t feeling well, so my Chinese grandfather went to Chun Hoon Market on School Street to get a bunch of watercress. He juiced them and gave it to my mom. Then, she gave some to me and I almost threw up. It was bitter. I think you remember me telling you I was a picky eater growing up.
Watercress is thought to have originated in Greece. There is evidence that the Persians, Greeks and Romans have been eating watercress for millennia. It was possibly the first known leafy vegetable eaten by humans. It was a part of the Greek diet and a staple of the Mediterranean diet. It was not only used for food but for medicinal properties.
Hippocrates is said to have used it to treat blood disorders. Watercress is a super food that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assigned a perfect score of 100 for nutrition density based on its concentration of essential vitamins and minerals.
One morning, I was craving Japanese curry, so I made some sauce and kept it vegan. On a whim, I added watercress from Sumida Farm to the sauce. What I liked was that the spices of the curry sauce blended well with the watercress and it wasn’t so bitter anymore.
I was also making pork hash and didn’t have green onions, so I threw in watercress instead. What I liked about it was that the bitterness from the watercress cut through the fat from the pork and it was a good match. I looked at the ogo on my kitchen counter and took a bite of it with the watercress and found another great pairing.
Sometimes, when you are having fun in the kitchen and feeling free to do anything you want, you come up with great combinations by accident.
Watercress is bitter and for younger children it’s not an easy vegetable to eat at first. I found that pairing it with something sweet diminishes the bitter. That’s why adding apple juice and other sweet fruit juices to watercress juice works. If you blanch the watercress before adding it to something, it will greatly affect the strength of bitterness. If you want the full health benefits of watercress, eat it raw or don’t overcook it.
What I like to do is chop it up and then sprinkle a little salt on it and massage it well. The salt will help extract water and some of the bitterness with it. It actually will look like it’s been blanched. I call this a quick watercress tsukemono, a Japanese pickling method.
If you learn to go with the flow and use bitterness as a flavor enhancement and not the enemy when cooking it can be fun. Think about a juicy steak and a tannic red wine.
The tannins help you cut through the fat that’s in the steak and allow you to keep wanting to eat more. It works together. Incorporating bitter foods into your dish can do the same thing. That’s why pork watercress works for a lot of locals.
When I see Sumida Farm it always reminds me of those rides into town back in the day when it was the only thing you saw driving by. Eating watercress makes me think of my Chinese grandfather.
Most importantly, I see the importance of this farm staying there for generations to come, so our grandchildren can keep visiting it and eat the watercress, like we do today.
We need to keep the beautiful natural waters of Kalauao flowing to nurture the watercress and preserve a true treasure of the Leeward side.
Chef and restaurateur Alan Wong has wowed diners around the world for decades, and is known as one of the founders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. Find his column in Crave every first Wednesday. Currently, Wong is dba Alan Wong’s Consulting Co.
