My friend Amy Aoyagi mentioned that she misses eating chicken hekka but there are no restaurants in town that serve this dish anymore. This dish was created in the 1880s, probably in the sugar plantation camps. Hekka is the Hiroshima dialect for sukiyaki and is great for sharing. Amy’s memories are eating hekka that was cooked over a hibachi.
I remember eating chicken hekka when I was young, as my grandparents had rows of chicken coops and my grandmother would fetch a chicken, dress it and we would have chicken hekka that night for dinner. She would chop the chicken and we would have the chicken pieces with bones, never boneless. I wonder if the bones added for more flavor? I remember eating little egg yolks that were undeveloped eggs. That brings back good memories for me.
Each family has their own take on the ingredients that were added to the pot. There could be shiitake mushrooms, watercress, mung bean noodles, tofu, bamboo shoots, all placed in a sake sauce.
My favorite ingredient in chicken hekka is the mung bean noodles, which is Chinese influenced.
The Rotary Club of Hilo holds an annual chicken hekka dinner event. Each table has a portable stove with ingredients around the table for cooking while sipping sake. It is a great way to keep the tradition of a dish that started during the plantations days of Hawaii.
Here is Sheldon Simeon’s recipe for chicken hekka.
Sheldon Simeon’s Chicken Hekka
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup mirin (sweet cooking sake)
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
6 ounces dried cellophane or glass noodles, or rice vermicelli
2-1/2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 pounds boneless, skin-on chicken thighs, sliced into 1-inch wide strips
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger from a 2-inch piece
2 tablespoons minced garlic, about 6 cloves
1 cup diagonal-cut carrot slices
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 (14 ounce) can baby corn, halved lengthwise on the diagonal
1 cup canned sliced bamboo shoots
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups fresh watercress, cut into 3-inch pieces
2 small baby bok choy, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
4 ounces aburage (deep-fried tofu) sliced into 1/2 inch wide strips, or 8 ounces extra-firm tofu, cubed
6 scallions, sliced into 2-inch pieces
In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce and mirin and set aside. Place the dried shiitake mushrooms in a bowl and cover with warm water to soften.
Place the noodles in a bowl and cover with warm water to soften.
In a large wok or Dutch oven, heat the sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, increase the heat to high, and saute until the meat is mostly cooked, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the carrots, onion, baby corn, bamboo shoots, soy sauce mixture and chicken broth. Reserve the mushroom soaking liquid. Discard the stems and slice the caps. Add them and the soaking liquid to the pan.
Bring all of this to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Drain the cellophane noodles (they should be softened at this point) and cut into 3-inch lengths. Add them to the pan along with the watercress, baby bok choy, aburage and scallions and simmer until the green are blanched but firm, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Serve with a bowl of rice.
My memories of chicken hekka did not have ginger or garlic.
Chicken Hekka
Serves 6
In a bowl, cube in hot tap water and soak for one hour:
1-3 ounce dried mung bean noodles
5 dried shiitake mushrooms
When mushrooms are softened, cut off stems and slice
Cut into 1-inch pieces:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Marinate in:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake or mirin
Place in the refrigerator.
Add to a large pot or wok, 3 minutes then heat to hot:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Add chicken and quickly sear.
Add and stir fry for 2 minutes:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large onion, sliced
Add:
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sake or mirin
Add:
1 (8 ounce) can button or straw mushrooms
1 (8 0unce) can bamboo shoots
Drained mung bean noodles
Heat through until the mixture starts to bubble.
Add
1 package aburage (fried tofu) cut into bite-size pieces
1 block firm tofu, cubed
2 cups watercress, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup mung bean sprouts
4 stalks green onions, sliced into 2-inch pieces
Serve with rice.
Email Audrey Wilson at audreywilson808@gmail.com.