He Puts Heat Into Lunchtime

When J.R. Thomas was growing up on Oahu, he would do just about anything to get out of washing the dishes.

So, he ended up slicing and dicing in the kitchen, helping his mom cook.

“We grew up poor and my mom was very creative. She came up with lots of different ways to make canned corned beef,” said Thomas, 58, the outgoing owner of Mango ‘n Chili’s Chili Chili Cafe (410 W. Sprague, 747-5416).

“I always loved to cook, right from the start.”

One thing his mother taught this versatile cook was the importance of measuring ingredients.

“I don’t want someone coming in here saying it tastes different than last time,” said Thomas, who’s known to his friends as Mango, a nickname bestowed on him by his dad when he was a kid because of his insatiable appetite for that tropical fruit.

Thomas - who runs the cafe with his wife and business partner, Morgan - is a retired Honolulu police officer. The pair relocated to this area in 1991 after visiting a friend.

“We looked at a place at Sacheen Lake and fell in love with it,” Thomas said. “We moved in five months later in the middle of a blizzard. I’ll never forget it.”

The couple were contemplating writing a cookbook but ended up opening the area’s first shop specializing in hot sauces and salsas. At the peak of its popularity, Mango ‘n Chili had three locations, including one in Post Falls. Now, the sauces are sold in a section of the cafe.

The commute from Sacheen Lake to North Idaho was draining. And, besides, Thomas came up with a way to feed his craving for Hawaiian food.

“The only thing I missed about Hawaii was my dad, who’s still collecting his pension at 91, and the food,” he said.

Last summer, he opened Chili Chili with a menu featuring two types of chili and a selection of Hawaiian plate lunches. This carbo-loading island tradition includes an entree served with two scoops of rice and macaroni salad. Main dishes include pecan-crusted mahi mahi, chicken teriyaki and pork or chicken sate.

“I don’t want anybody going out of here hungry,” Thomas said.

Hawaiian cuisine is as diverse as the people who’ve settled in the islands. The food reflects Japanese, Polynesian, Korean and Portuguese traditions. Steamed rice and tofu are constants, as is the steady diet of fish.

“We ate lots of raw fish,” he said.

One of the characteristics of Thomas’ food is the distinctive sauces that he creates from scratch. The barbecue sauces that go on the sandwiches have evocative names like Wicked Waikiki and Diamond Head. He also makes sweet-and-sour sauce, a lemon sauce for his chicken and a spicy katsu sauce.

He makes his saute sauce several times a week, and his teriyaki 10 gallons at a time. “Sometimes, when I’m running low, I have to come in here on a Sunday, and I don’t like to do that because I miss Winston car racing. And I love Winston car racing,” said Thomas, who was a hot rodder “back when I was a young whippersnapper.” (He drove a 1928 Ford with a souped-up El Dorado engine.)

Thomas eventually plans to bottle and sell some of his more popular sauces, including a spicy peanut sauce. The restaurant also will start serving dinner soon. (It’s open only until 5 p.m. now.)

The self-described workaholic keeps especially long hours before the cafe’s Hawaiian days, held the first Saturday of each month.

The very Hawaiian fare on those special occasions might include kalua pig and cabbage - an oven-baked version of the luau favorite - along with a barbecue pork-stuffed bun called char siu, Portuguese bean soup and fried noodles. For dessert, there’s usually haupia, a coconut milk pudding that’s closer to the texture of Jell-O.

He’s working on getting butterfish to make a dish called lau lau - seafood and pork wrapped in a ti leaf.

Thomas keeps all his recipes under lock and key. One of his most recent experiments was a citrusy barbecue sauce for summer.

“He’ll chase me out of the kitchen and be back there like a bloodhound, trying to figure something out,” said his wife. (She’s Chili to his Mango even though he playfully refers to her as The Tomato.)

At home, the couple co-exist in the kitchen cooking German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Indian foods. They’re both crazy for curries. But they cook for themselves.

“She has her two burners, and I have mine,” Thomas said.

Mango’s Spicy Stir-Fry Shrimp

On the cafe’s menu, this is called Jamaican Jerk Shrimp. It’s been known to cause diners to break a sweat. Thomas said the recipe can easily be adapted to suit individual tastes. “If you don’t like cabbage, leave it out. If you don’t like mushrooms, leave them out,” he said. “Put in something you like.” The seasonings are available at Mango ‘n Chili’s hot sauce and salsa section.

1 pound shrimp (21-25 count per pound)

2 teaspoons “911” jerk seasoning

2 cups green cabbage, shredded

8 mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon canola oil

4 tablespoons Bali barbecue sauce

1 tablespoon water

Devein and butterfly shrimp. Marinate shrimp in jerk seasoning for 10 to 30 minutes.

Just before serving, stir-fry cabbage and mushrooms in oil until soft. Remove from pan. Stir-fry shrimp with the jerk seasoning until they turn pink. Add cabbage and mushrooms. Add barbecue sauce mixed with water and stir ingredients together until heated.

Serve over steamed rice.

Yield: 2-4 servings.

Nutrition information per each of 2 servings: 349 calories, 10 grams fat (26 percent fat calories), 12 grams carbohydrate, 51 grams protein, 442 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams dietary fiber, 779 milligrams sodium.