Today’s comic may look surprisingly similar to last week’s.  You may be inclined to believe that this is, in fact, an error, and that perhaps the real comic is being hidden from view, perhaps being kept just underneath the surface, out of your view.

You would be incorrect.  This is what we have to give you.

You may recall that we have put numbers in our titles before, in the firm belief that the great beast known as continuity would rear its head and arrive here, perhaps for an extended period of time.

But until this moment, continuity has remained a fickle friend, just off in the distance, out of sight – perhaps behind that tree over there.

In this instance, however, we had several reasons to return to the world of Kogi.  They vary greatly, which you can judge by the examples below:

1. We had two jokes that we liked and wanted to tell.

2. It took a long time for Spencer to deal with the backdrop, and we wanted to use it again.

3. Kogi kindly reposted our comic last week, giving us more exposure, and we’re whores.

You see?  Our reasons are varied, but I think we can all agree that they are valid.

Incidentally, there is a small amount of truth buried within our offering here – since the growth in popularity of the Kogi trucks, some similar-looking trucks have appeared on the streets, offering similar (but not equal) fare behind a logo that made them look like the original.

While the particular truck I was thinking of when this comic was written has since changed and built their own brand and style, we still wanted to get the word out that we (and particularly Ninja) dislikes impostors.  They offend him, for some reason.

-Dan

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I was just really proud of how the truck ended up looking, we had to do a follow up. Also, I’m hoping to score some free Kogi if I ever make it out to Los Angeles.

It seems we’ve been making a lot of food jokes recently, with KK Cakes, and now the Kogi truck, but that’s probably just because Dan and I can be really big food nerds sometimes. Lately I’ve been on a burger kick, trying out The Counter and Burger’s on the Edge here in Hawaii, though my favorite burger joint in Hawaii is W&M. When I was going to school at Pacific in Stockton, I was heavily addicted to In-n-out burgers. I’m easily addicted to good food.

My list of addictive foods (sorry, I actually have never tasted Kogi):
In-N-Out Burgers
Pirates Booty
Organic Peanut Butter (365) with banana and nutella sandwiches on wheat
Hank’s Haute Dog’s in Honolulu
Pipikaula from Helena’s Hawaiian Food
and Pringles

What’s on your addictive food list?

Spencer!

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I have a sort of love/hate relationship with burgers, particularly of the gourmet fashion.  See, it’s not that I don’t enjoy them – certainly, they provide flavor and nourishment in a great package of bread and meat and cheese and veggies, and with the new-fangled aioli spreads and what-have-you, a burger can certainly be an experience.

No, my problem is that eating a burger, particularly in public, particularly in a restaurant, reveals one of my deep, dark secrets.

I have selective relapsing food OCD.

This isn’t a real disease, mind you, but it really feels like one.  There are certain foods that, when presented with them on a plate, I feel the need to prepare them in a particular way – making sure everything is even, and properly set up, for maximum enjoyment.  Sometimes this simply means making sure the bun is straightened.

But sometimes this means deconstructing and reconstructing my burger in front of my friends.  Or even on a date.  (The date did not go particularly well, although I don’t think it was because of the burger.)

I can’t explain it.  There is no particular reason why I would want to do this.  I just sort of feel like it’s necessary for me to get the full experience.  If you’ve ever seen me eat pancakes, you know what I’m talking about – that’s another food on the OCD list.

Anyway, my addictive foods (besides Kogi, which was quite an experience and one that I’ll have to seek out soon):

– iHop Pancakes (despite the issues of OCD) – not necessarily because they’re good (although they can be) but because they come with everything.  You order a dinner, side of pancakes.  Salad?  Pancakes.  If you order pancakes they come with additional pancakes.

– Sapporo Ramen instant noodles, Shrimp flavor – It’s not good for you, or even particularly good, but this was one of those comfort instant foods that my mom would let me make before I was allowed to cook for real.  Makes me feel warm and sleepy.  Although that could just be the MSG.

– Grandma’s Beef Stew, Wahiawa – not something I can get anywhere else, it’s a recipe that took 50 years to perfect.  I consider myself a passable cook, but my attempts at replicating this have been mediocre at best.  Give me another 40 years and I’ll get it right.

– $1.50 Hot Dog, Costco – between the price and the fact that the hot dog is gigantic, it’s hard to go wrong.

– ahi poke with Maui Onion from Ruger Market – little mini-mart ish shack in Kaimuki makes the best poke IMO.  And they don’t mix in the wet sauces (shoyu, chili pepper water, etc.) until you buy it – meaning the fish has maintained its consistency and isn’t all soggy.

– Okinawan Soba, wherever I can get it – Okinawan Soba with pork sparerib (souki soba) isn’t like traditional japanese soba – the noodles are thicker, closer to udon noodles in size but not as soft.  The soup base is a pork bone/shoyu base that, when made right, took about 4-6 hours.  The resultant meat that you get with the noodles falls off the bone and has that sweet/savory flavor that really adds to the soup and the slightly chewy noodles.  It’s hard to find outside of Okinawa (even in Hawaii there are only a couple of restaurants that serve it) but I’ve been known to make it myself on occasion.

Now I’ve made myself hungry.  I don’t know that I have any of the above items available to me at this time.  Maybe the Sapporo ramen…

– Dan