Hawaii Cooks with Roy Yamaguchi

Two staple ingredients that define fresh Asian-inspired, seafood dishes are the focus of this show. First, Roy visits the renowned Tamashiro Market for tips on choosing and cooking with fresh island fish. Then a visit to a Big Island ginger farm reveals how this valuable root is grown and harvested on local soil.

Chocolate and vanilla may be the two most popular types of ice cream, but they are also two very important specialty crops being grown on the Big Island, the only place in the United States. Hawaii Cooks visits The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory and Hawaiian Vanilla Company. Guest chefs, brothers Philippe and Pierre Padovani of Padovani's Bistro, join Roy in the kitchen.

Kung Hee Fat Choy! Hawaii Cooks celebrates Chinese New Year with a trip into Chinatown and examines the delicious food and festivities that mark this holiday. Guest chef and Chinese restaurateur, Leeann Chin, joins Roy in the kitchen to prepare a traditional shrimp and tofu dish while discussing the significance of food and this auspicious celebration in Chinese culture.

Fresh and simple ingredients combine to make the most satisfying meals. And, what could be more satisfying than fresh pasta and vine-ripened tomatoes. Hawaii Cooks visits C&C Pasta Co., a quaint restaurant and deli, where fresh pasta is the featured item, and Roy checks out Green Growers Farm, a unique hydroponic tomato farm that is churning out fresh-off-the-vine heirloom tomatoes.

When you talk about flavoring, nothing is more basic than salt and pepper. Salt in Hawaii is especially valued where it is still being harvested near the sea in a traditional manner handed down for generations. A closer look at the pepper plant also reveals how this valuable spice is being grown in parts of the Pacific.

Mangoes arrived in Hawaii in the early 1800s and have exploded into an important local crop with numerous varieties now readily available. Roy and guest chef Ronnie Nasuti of Roy's Hawaii Kai take a tour of a unique mango farm that is growing exceptionally tasty mangoes while consistently experimenting with new varieties.