Chris Kajioka’s Special Finadene Sauce

Local Chef Chris Kajioka has partnered with Ward Village to curate culinary experiences that will serve the city’s tastebuds for years to come. As he gears up to expand our culinary horizons, we’ve taken a moment to pick Chris’s brain about one of his favorite sauce recipes, Finadene.

Special Finadene Sauce Recipe

Traditionally, finadene is a sauce from Guam. It’s used as a dipping sauce for grilled meat. I adapted the recipe to suit the popular raw fish preparations in Hawaii because of its great acidity and depth of flavors from the charred peppers. The sauce is extremely versatile and can be used for oysters, raw sashimi and even grilled steak. Here’s my own adaptation of the recipe. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

PART 1

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Yellow Bell Pepper

1 Jalapeno Pepper

1/3 Cucumber

2/3 cup Green Garlic or Scallions

2/3 cup Heart of Palm Trim

PART 2

2 cups Soy Sauce

1 cup Water

1 cup Rice Vinegar

1 cup Mirin

1/3 cup Calamansi or Yuzu juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Torch & remove skin of all peppers

2. Brunoise (finely dice) all vegetables

3. Boil Part 2, then pour over Part 1

4. Cool, add calamansi/yuzu juice

Serve over raw fish or raw oysters and enjoy!