I'm still slurping my way through some juicy pineapple-with lots of help from Quinn-we have a tiny piece left which will probably disappear at breakfast tomorrow. In the past year I've really seen a huge rise in Quinn's fruit intake, he'll easily finish whole containers of berries, melon or whatever he spots in the fridge.
But he's not so keen on hard fruits like apples or pears, today I caught him shoving strawberries in his mouth green leaves and all. The kids middle name should be Dyson.I took him to get some famousmalasadas, a fluffy Portugese hole-less donut yesterday. Okay maybe it was me who really wanted to go but he can't drive so I'm in charge. They have three signature fillings- custard, chocolate and haupia, which is a a thick coconut pudding usually served at Luaus. I came away with chocolate and some original sugar malasadas but I was kicking myself for not getting some haupia. I guess we'll be making a second trip back to Leonard's...score!
How I connected donuts to tempura is beyond me (fried?) weird things go through my mind when I'm stuck in traffic but it happened and I ain't complaining. Sweet ripe pineapple fried in crispy tempura batter and dipped in a thin version of haupia! The batter sealed in all of the juices and the crunchy coconutty finish was pretty dang tasty. Sometimes frying anything can be messy, lot's of work and some say unhealthy? but the taste...the taste totally makes up for it. Besides once in a while is fine and this only uses about two inches of oil in the pan. This dip would also be amazing with coconut shrimp!
Don't overcrowd the pot as it'll cool the oil down and the tempura will be soggy. Keep your oven on low and store the already fried chunks on a cookie sheet while the others cook. Li Hing Mui powder is ground dried plum skins and tastes a little salty.Great for seasoning but not required. Serve the tempura as fast as you can or it will get soft and start to lose it's crunch.
