Sam Choy's Sampler: Hawaii's Favorite Recipes [Spiral-bound]

Sam Choy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

Sam Choy’s Sampler—Welcome to the Wonderful World of Hawai‘i’s Cuisine is the perfect introduction to the exotic and sunny flavors of Hawai‘i’s multicultural cooking.

Sam’s recipes reflect a melding of East and West, with distinctive Polynesian flourishes and some highly innovative twists that could have been conceived only in the creative and original mind of Chef Choy.

Here are over 80 recipes including both Sam’s innovations as well as his renditions of Island favorites. They range from simple preparations like poke, an addictively delicious raw seafood appetizer, to elaborate and beautiful dishes like Sautéed Island Fish Trio, sure to dazzle the table and palate at your next dinner party.

All the recipes use readily available ingredients. Where hard to find ingredients are involved, a guide to mail and Internet sources will give mainland readers access to poi, tropical fruits and even fresh fish.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Sam has been cooking since he was a young boy helping his father cater huge luau on the North Shore of O‘ahu in the 1950s and ’60s. His father, being of Chinese ancestry, taught him the secrets and techniques of Oriental cookery, while he learned the Island ways and European traditions from his Hawaiian-German mother.

He earned a degree at Kapi‘olani Community College and worked as a chef at some of Hawai‘i’s most renowned hotels and resorts before opening his own restaurants. Since opening Sam Choy’s Restaurant in Kona in 1991, Sam has become a legend, not only for his cooking, but also for his outgoing personality. He is Hawai‘i’s unofficial goodwill ambassador. People who dine at his restaurants end up friends as well as customers. Sam’s restaurants on Guam, Maui, the Island of Hawai‘i, O’ahu and Tokyo are always packed, and the people eating there are always smiling.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 152 pages
• Publisher: Mutual Pub Co (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566473446
• ISBN-13: 978-1566473446
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #609,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic Entry into the Hawaiian Cuisine world, May 21, 2003

By 

Don Riddick (Birmingham, AL, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sam Choy's Sampler: Hawaii's Favorite Recipes (Spiral-bound)

Well bound and with hearty paper stock, this book is made for the cook who wants to try some of the best Island recipes without having to learn how to dig a pit for Kalua pork. Sam has taken some of his best recipes, his old standards, from poke to sweet and sour (mmm!), his opah and his spicy soups, and placed them into one very easy to use book.
Again, Sam's at his best when he is explaining what the ingrediants and preparation process is, as well as giving lively history and substiution ingrediants for those of us without a nearby market. The back even has some ingrediant stores to get supplies from.
There's no downside to this book, other than than you could spend $... on his other books (some of which are fantastic- Seafood and poke for example) to get some of the best recipes which are all compiled in one easy to use place.
The recipes are all gems, which happens when you cull over 500 recipes into his best and easiest 80. If you could only buy one Hawaiian cookbook, this would be the one. And then you need to save up to buy some of his other cookbooks. It is a wonderful gift, and I am buying another to give to my island hungry friends.

Well Done, Sam, Very ono!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yummy!!!, November 19, 2002

By 

J. Detering "julrad" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sam Choy's Sampler: Hawaii's Favorite Recipes (Spiral-bound)

I bought this book while in Hawaii and immediatly made three dishes. All were wonderful. Not only did I love them, but my kids did too. Fancy finding a salad dressing that will get a six-year-old to gobble up his salad!!. The Huli Huli Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork are worth the price of the book. I am so impressed that I will buy another Sam Choy cookbook. By the way, his restaurant in Kona is great as well!

5.0 out of 5 stars Tasty Hawaiian Food, February 22, 2012

By 

Claire - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sam Choy's Sampler: Hawaii's Favorite Recipes (Spiral-bound)

Another book that brought back a lot of yummy childhood food memories. I food some recipes that I have been trying to duplicate.