Let's Talk about Hawaiian Cuisine

It’s all about Aloha Maid.

Hawaiian cuisine is just a mish mosh of Asian cuisine: pork, rice, fish. I get the hankering for it from time to time. Chicken lau lau (when done right!) is fab and of course can’t go wrong with kailua pork.

But macaroni salad and a burger patty with mushroom gravy (loco moco) on it isn’t really some haute, ethnically special, cuisine. That’s white people food.

Poke is fabulous, though. When I think Hawaii I think fresh poke. Mmm. Grab it from Foodland or even a Don Quijote. 🤌🏻 And then there’s mac nut on everything. And lilikoi desserts. Hell yeah.

OP, your list is, without exception, revolting,

Loved Kailua Pork when I visited Hawaii last year. Found a couple recipes when I returned home and tried them out, but haven’t done it again for quite some time.

KALUA pork, not Kailua.

OP is haole Greg.

There's a reason why they are fat.

So you know of no indigenous cuisine whatsoever, OP? Captain Cook sailed up in the 18th century and found a bunch of people eating canned meat and macaroni salad?

More breadfruit, Princess?

I don't like sand in my overcooked pit pork, thank you.

Love it. Kalua pork (usually served with cabbage), chicken katsu, island fried chicken (smaller fried, deboned thigh pieces, lightly breaded), teri short ribs or beef, poke, potato mac salad, spam musubi, loco moco, teriyaki chicken or beef, fried rice with fish loaf or bacon or pork - yum. I've had taro as well, poi is a little weird. I love the asian cabbage slaw too. I don't eat much of the rice or the steamed rice, because carbs, but I will make an exception for the mac salad. Mmm hmm, thick thighs here I stay.

Top ten dishes you must try.

When I lived in Honolulu, I used to go to the Columbia Inn, a local restaurant not far from Waikiki, where I’d get my favorite Hawaiian dish: fried Saimin.

I also enjoyed regular Saimin, a soup of fish broth with ramin noodles, strips of Spam, egg, and slices of this rubbery stuff, colored white with a spiral of pink Day-Glo.

I miss that.

I remember seeing Saimin (and rice) on the menu at McDonald's in Hawaii.

Update to [R12]: The Columbia Inn, originally opened in 1941, finally closed in 2001.

Great place for local food and people.

It is missed.

Puka Dog!

There's a Hawaiian coconut pudding that is quite good.

𝕋𝕀𝕂𝕀

Hawaiian meat servings are generous

Poi tastes like library paste.

Poke is great.

Haupia r16.

some of the best japanese food I've ever had

R21, thanks! That's what I tried.

Preach, R2.

R7 is hilarious.

[quote] -Spam (the essential protein of the Islands)

Meat from a can is their essential protein…?

I’m not doubting you, it just seems odd.

Odd, but true r25. It is served in just about every bento you order.

Spam fried rice is really popular and surprisingly good.

Does this make my ass look big?

>>>>Spam (the essential protein of the Islands)

Thank God for that, we're off the menu!

SPAM is the only food that is cooked after it is canned.

I just put on 5 lbs. of blubber just reading OP's list.

R29 ridiculous.

I love Hawaiian Pizza

Is Hawaiian pizza really Hawaiian?

Huli Huli Chicken.

Loco Moco is basically the Japanese hanbāgu, but with an egg added on top. I make hanbāgu regularly, also a seasoned ground pork patty with grilled pineapple on the side, though I cut it with ground chicken so it's probably not that authentic as far as modern Hawaiian post-contact food goes.

Spam really is a staple on the island (my partner's family is from there) but I never developed a taste for it.

Can someone give a history of how spam became a staple in Hawaii? Is it due to the lack of local meat sources?

Yes, R36. They can keep pigs and chickens, but not cows. So Spam and canned corned beef took over.

R36, from wikipedia:

The difficulty of delivering fresh meat to the front during World War II saw Spam become a ubiquitous part of the U.S. soldier's diet.

During World War II and the occupations that followed, Spam was introduced into Guam, Hawaii, Okinawa, the Philippines, and other islands in the Pacific. Immediately absorbed into native diets, it has become a unique part of the history and effects of U.S. influence in the Pacific islands.[12]

Disgusting, Asian whale food.

I like spam. It was a part of the diet in the rural South when I was a boy. Probably due to the poverty of the region and a holdover from WW II practice. I bought some during lockdown in case meat disappeared. I love the taste for nostalgia sake but it’s too salty for me now. I think I even tried a reduced sodium version.

People who refuse to eat pork but happily eat other meat are mentally ill, like R39.

Hawaiian pizza is from Canada.

[quote]They can keep pigs and chickens, but not cows.

The 9th-largest cattle ranch (Parker Ranch) in the US is on the Big Island.

It’s for sale, or was.

The most memorable taste I took away from Hawaii was a mouth full of racial abuse from a couple of locals.

Sad but true r44.

Aloha is just the name of an airline.

Hawaiian Punch

Much of the "Hawaiian" food is actually Portuguese or Japanese..

Hawaiian cuisine is a fusion of Polynesian, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Filipinos, and Portuguese. Oh, and Spam from American GIs.

I was in Hawaii 6 months ago, and had real trouble finding good vegetarian food. I ended up breaking training and just getting fish, a fried fish plate lunch or a bowls of poke, there didn't seem to be much else available for a person who wanted to eat on the go. Even the plate lunch near me only had the fried noodle plate lunch as the meatless option, and a meal of fried noodles, rice, and macaroni salad is too carby even for me!

So, what to look for next time?

Honolulu was where I was introduced to coffee jello. Yum

I like how brown rice is an option at every meal even breakfast.

R45 - Glad I’m not the only one who feels that way. Fuck that racist one-horse town.

Where can an haole find some good pu pu?