Review: Hawaiian Kine Asian Rub

This is Part 2 of my review series on Hawaiian Kine Seasonings and Sauces, which will cover their Asian Rub. Hawaiian Kine is a local Hawaii company based in Waipahu. I paid a visit to their warehouse to pick up these product samples and got to see first hand how they packaged their sauces and seasonings as-advertised: by hand.

During my conversation with the co-owner on the different types of products they offered, he discussed with me several different things I could try with each item. For the Asian Rub, he suggested I try sprinkling a bit into my scrambled eggs before cooking. Since I like scrambled eggs and make tamagoyaki for bentos too, this was a highly attractive quality.

Unfortunately, it turned out to be totally not my thing. The peppercorns in the rub are not very finely ground and while it did give my eggs a bit of kick, crunching into a ball of pepper while eating breakfast eggs was not a pleasant experience for me.

For my next try, I decided to follow instructions on the label and marinate some flap steak with equal parts shoyu and sesame oil. I used Kikkoman for this (1/3 cup) and added 2 tbsp of Asian Rub for what I’m guessing was about 1 1/2 lbs of meat. I let it sit in a bowl for about 20 minutes.

In hindsight, this was a bit too much combined with Kikkoman, as the meat was actually pretty salty. Next time I will probably try 1 tbsp and use Aloha Shoyu instead.

I cooked the meat in my wok and then chopped up some bell peppers. They were the only type of stir fry veggie I had, so I just went with it. The sauce in the meat really started to create a lot of sauce, so I added a bit of cornstarch mixed with water to thicken the sauce up.

It smelled yum and I was happy with the colors, though the ratio of meat to veggie was pretty off. I only cooked it for a little bit, then shut off the heat, as I hate overcooked bell peppers.

As I said, the meat was pretty salty, but I think that was due mostly to the soy sauce I used as I seem to recall being told that the rub didn’t actually have a lot of salt in it. There was a bit too much pepper for my liking, but it made for a very flavorful dish. I’d probably reduce the rub and also the liquids just a bit too. If my family had been open to it, I’d have totally added onions!

Beef & Bell Pepper Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 – 1 1/2 lb flap or flank steak, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp Hawaiian Kine Asian Rub
• 2-3 bell peppers, assorted colors, chopped
• 1 chopped onion (optional)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• water

Instructions:

1. Mix together soy sauce, sesame oil, and rub. Marinate meat for 15-20 minutes.
2. Heat oil in wok and stir fry the meat until cooked through.
3. Add chopped bell peppers and onions and mix together.
4. Mix cornstarch and water and add to mixture, tossing until sauce is thickened.
5. Serve with rice.

Shop for related items on Amazon:

• Helen Chen’s Asian Kitchen Excalibur Nonstick 14-Inch Lidded Wok
• Kikkoman – Soy Sauce 5.0 Oz
• Kadoya Pure Sesame Oil (Pack of 3)