Welcome to my kitchen.
I’m Lynette Lo Tom and have been cooking for more than 50 years since my mother asked me to prepare dinner as the eldest of five children. Fortunately, cooking became my passion and now is my art form. Cooking can be easy and relaxing and I would love to teach you what I have learned over the years. Today I write about home cooks and their recipes for several food publications, including The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
My mother, Lorna Lee Lo, was a fabulous cook and her Chinese recipes are showcased in A Chinese Kitchen cookbook. Her other recipes are included in Back in the Day. The newest cookbook about Dim Sum is now in stock.
Although I live in Hawaii, I enjoy cooking food from all parts of the world. Learning from cooking classes all over, including in Japan, Korea, Italy, Spain, Bali, Vietnam and China. Would love to share tips and recipes with you.
I look forward to meeting you and talking about food. Please sign up to be notified when we have in-person or virtual cooking classes. Aloha, Lynette
Cooking is Fun
Please let me help you get comfortable in the kitchen. When you cook for others, it shows them you love them. I’ve been cooking for more than 50 years and have learned so many techniques and tips. In three cookbooks, I share recipes and stories. I’ll be adding new recipes that I hope you like to this website constantly. I like to teach cooking classes, in-person and by zoom, so please sign up so we can let you know about them. Mahalo (thank you)
p.s. Click on recipe title to read more. Remember all books are shipped by USPS for free
Char Siu Spareribs
Succulent spareribs flavored with a Cantonese classic sauce - char siu might be considered work as you peel the delectable meat off the bone. My background taught me that no food is too much trouble; that is part of the enjoyment. From A Chinese Kitchen.
Nobu’s Chicken Hekka
Chicken Hekka is one of Hawaii’s top comfort foods. Vegetables and chicken are simmered in a soy sauce, sugar, sake mixture and it can feed a crowd. From Back in the Day cookbook.
Japanese-style Kim Chee
These crunchy cucumbers are a cross between Japanese pickled vegetables (tsukemono) and hot Korean kim chee. The recipe is slightly sweeter and includes an interesting salted, sliced kelp called shiofuki konbu that adds flavor and texture.
Wonton
Wonton filling can be used to fill any type of wrapper. And you can boil them, deep-fry them, pan-fry them or fry, then braise them in a liquid. Folding wonton can be a great activity with your children and grandchildren. From Yum Yum Cha cookbook coming out in November 2021.
Ma Tai Soo (Water chestnut and pork pastry)
This is one of my favorite dim sum offerings. Flaky pastry covers a savory filling with water chestnuts, pork, mushrooms and other vegetables. One of the secrets is making two doughs, then combining them so they are similar to a puff pastry.
Pea Salad
Even vegetable-avoiders seem to crave this cold pea salad. It is a wonderful dish to take to potluck dinners. From Back in the Day cookbook.
Hawaii-style Cake Noodle
In my research for A Chinese Kitchen, cake noodle was the only dish found to be uniquely from Hawaii. We love it thick, with the outsides crispy and the inside sticky and soft. It is even enjoyed without toppings.
Paper Thin Sesame Seed Cookies
Food memories are one of the strongest connections to the past. Sometimes when we taste a dish it will bring back memories of when we first enjoyed it. These old-fashioned cookies are a link to my wonderful grand aunt, Mabel Wang.
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
Many people tell me they are afraid to entertain at their homes because they are not good cooks. My advice is that only three recipes are needed- any three. Make them until you feel comfortable and invite people over. Try this recipe that seems complicated, but is very easy. From Yum Yum Cha cookbook coming out this November.
Back in The Day
Awarded a Ka Palapala Po’okela Award of Excellence from the Hawaii Book Publishers Association
Bring back a more relaxed time, where homemade food was common, and families would bring out their signature dishes at parties. This colorful cookbook includes 106 delicious home-style recipes for you to treasure.
These easy-to-follow, tried and true dishes include Pork Chops Simmered in Onions, Tuna Casserole, Beef Stew, Warabi (fern shoot) Salad, and Fried Aku Bones. Learn how to make the best Baked Ham with Raisin Sauce, Shrimp Canlis, Hanamaulu Cafe Chicken and the easiest, Sausages with Potatoes and Onions. And of course, nostalgic favorites like Pound Cake, Rice Pilaf, Hawaii-style Cornbread and tasty Pea Salad.
Dessert lovers will enjoy Mango Loaf, Double-Crusted Banana Pie, Lazy Daisy Cake, and Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. Potluck favorites are Soba Salad and Kobumaki.
Color, 160 pages, hardcover, wire-o, 6X9 inches, published in 2018.
$19.95, free shipping.
A Chinese Kitchen, Traditional Recipes with an Island Twist
Chinese cooking has to be the most popular cuisine in Hawaii. It’s found everywhere - buffets, potlucks, local celebrations.
A Chinese Kitchen does more than just show how to cook more than 100 recipes. It takes you behind the scenes explaining the recipes, providing stories, vintage photographs and insights into Chinese food traditions, the Chinese culture and experience in Hawaii.
Former TV reporter and public relations executive Lynette Lo Tom shares recipes from her family and friends. From quick-and-easy to ones that require more time and bring back memories of our grandparents’ cooking. Savor cold ginger chicken, cake noodles, minute chicken, kau yuk (braised pork belly) with taro and other mouth-watering recipes.
Enjoy one of the best selling cookbooks in Hawaii.
Color, 216 pages, hardcover, wire-o, 6X9 inches, published in 2015. $21.95, free shipping.
Yum Yum Cha - Let’s Eat Dim Sum in Hawaii
Going for dim sum, known as yum cha in Cantonese, is a favorite culinary outing in Hawaii when all tastes can be satisfied among dozens of small plates that are shared and enjoyed with family and friends. It’s the perfect way to sample beautifully presented bites of food that are steamed, pan-fried, deep-fried, tolled, and wrapped.
Yum Cha (“drink tea” in Cantonese Chinese) refers to the experience of eating and enjoying dim sum. This cookbook has over 100 recipes that duplicate what you can order in restaurants. Included are such favorites as pork hash bites (siu mai), shrimp in translucent wheat starch wrap (har gao), steamed then pan-fried turnip cake (lo bak go) and tender steamed pork spareribs, in fermented black bean sauce (dow see pai gwat).
There are also recipes for both steamed and baked pork buns (char siu bao) including their many other fillings. Enjoy flour rolls filled dried shrimp (cheong fun) and the popular half moon (gok jai or fun gow), nicknamed ear “pepeiao” in Hawaii.
Color, 224 pages, hardcover, wire-o, 6X9 inches, published 2021. $20.95, free shipping. Now in stock.
Website Photo Credits
Lynette Lo Tom by Floyd Takeuchi. Char Siu Spareribs, Cake Noodle and Paper Thin Sesame Seed Cookies by Kaz Tanabe in A Chinese Kitchen, published by Mutual Publishing. Pea Salad, Japanese-style Kim Chee, and Chicken Hekka by Kaz Tanabe in Back in the Day, published by Mutual Publishing. Ma Tai Soo by Taren Taguchi, Boiled Wonton by Lynette Lo Tom and Salt and Pepper Fried Shrimp by Courtney Tomasa in Yum Yum Cha, published by Mutual Publishing