We all know that whether you are Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese, or Chinese, that you have a mother,grandma or aunty that makes THE BEST squid luau, pancit, ozoni, or jin dui on THE PLANET. Now, the same goes for Okinawans and their andagi (a golden brown deep-fried orb of a donut made from flour, sugar, milk, eggs, and baking powder). One day, a friend of mine who we shall call Lisa, said she had a funny story to tell me about her husband. She told me that her new husband was reminiscing about his mother who had passed on years ago.
“I wish I could make andagi the way mom did,” he said.
So excited to hear this, Lisa said, “Oh! My boss’s wife has a REALLY GOOD andagi recipe!”
GASP!! Oh no, she didn’t go THERE!!!
Halfway through her sentence, I was already laughing. Being half Okinawan myself, I knew the golden rule: EVERY Okinawan person has a family member that makes THE BEST andagi. You can tweak it in secret but never ever admit to using the recipe of another. NEVER!
Back to our newlyweds. So after hearing Lisa’s very well-meaning suggestion, her husband replied, “OH NO! My mom had THE BEST andagi recipe!” He went on and on about how it wasn’t too oily, it was delicious, and she could make it the PERFECT size and shape!
I won’t be offering my mom’s andagi recipe to Lisa and her husband, even though it is THE BEST ON THE PLANET!!
One Lucky Local 