Sponsored by Hawaii Gas
The current pandemic has changed life for everyone. Chef Mark Noguchi and his wife Amanda ramped up their efforts to support those in need through Chef Hui, a project of Pili Group that connects cooks to their community. The first phase focused on getting donated ingredients to those in need and they are now rolling into cooking prepared meals for the community as well as a few other projects focused on supporting local farmers and producers and feeding people.
Noguchi launched “Quarantine Cooking” as a fun and inspiring way to get people cooking at home using local ingredients as well as with what they have around the house or in their refrigerator. The hope is to continue to connect people through the intimate act of cooking and eating while encouraging folks to think outside the box of traditional recipes.
Today, Noguchi will be making Kitchen Sink Dry Mein using a mix of donated products such as local noodles from Sun Noodle and leftover Brussels sprouts and veggies his family had from another meal.
“Typically, I’d use cabbage in a noodle dish, but Brussels are a type of cabbage, so they work just fine and support our efforts to make do with what get!” Noguchi says,
Chef Hui has partnered with nonprofits and educators to create experiences that connect folks to their food and the people who produce and prepare it. The group is currently working on a project with Hawaii Ulu Coop and Maui Nui Venison to educate folks on using local products at home.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to disrupt normal life, Chef Hui shifted its efforts to offer support in rescuing food and getting it to those in need. Over the past month, there has been an increased amount of unused food and a number of chefs out of work willing to serve their community. To help, the organization teamed up with Aloha Harvest and Pacific Gateway Center to rescue excess food and get prepared meals into the hands of those who need it most.
In the first two weeks, the groups rescued and delivered over 100,000 pounds of food. Through this partnership, Aloha Harvest will continue to rescue food, take it to Pacific Gateway Center to be processed by a small group of chefs and distributed to community organizations who feed keiki and kupuna.
Chef Hui encourages all that have excess ingredients and resources to email Aloha Harvest at info@AlohaHarvest.org, or fill out the organization’s online donation form to schedule for pick up of excess food. Aloha Harvest can accept ingredients and supplies as well as prepared meals.
You can find more info on Chef Hui projects and efforts online at chefhui.com.