Hawaii No Ka Oi

Well, today wraps up our week in Hawaii. Next week's destination will be announced tomorrow.

Also, heads up! We're on vacation in the midwest for the following two weeks, and I've yet to figure out what to do about the blog... Perhaps we'll do some "road food" editions highlighting local delicacies?! Ooh, or maybe I can find a GUEST CHEF -- any volunteers?!?!

Anyhoo, we'll keep you posted.

If you've never made it to Hawaii, you really should go... You don't even need a passport! But, you'll feel like you're worlds way from the mainland. Trust me, you'll love it there.

Aloha -- Hawaii no ka oi! (Farewell -- Hawaii is the best!)

Why Hawaiians Love SPAM & Other Trivia Tidbits

Since tonight's not a cooking night, I thought I'd share a few interesting items we learned about Hawaii on our vacation and through subsequent research.

According to one website I found, Hawaii has the highest per capita consumption of SPAM in the United States! Hawaii and U.S. territories Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are home to the only McDonald's restaurants that serve SPAM (Burger King had to start offering it in Hawaii in order to keep up with its competition). There's even an annual festival in Waikiki devoted entirely to "the Hawaiian steak" and benefitting the nonprofit Hawaii Food Bank. SPAM was introduced to these regions during World War II when it was used to feed American GIs, since it had a long shelf life and didn't require refrigeration.

Did you know that Hawaii's state flag actually has a Union Jack on it? Apparently, they've just never gotten around to changing it. Before Hawaii became our 50th state in 1959, I guess Britain was the country most likely to acquire it, since explorer James Cook reportedly was the first European to discover the island chain in 1778 (he called them the Sandwich Islands). The eight strips in the flag symbolize the eight islands.

The Hawaiian alphabet has only 13 letters - the vowels a, e, i, o and u and the consonants h, k, l, m, n, p and w. A few days into our vacation, we started to understand how words were pronounced (there are lots of apostrophes that break up the syllables) and we even began inadvertently pronouncing our vowels like the locals. I think that was because we spent almost all day every day listening to Maui's awesome local radio station, KPOA.

Hawaii's state fish is the humuhumunukunuku-a-pua'a (come on, you can say it: hoo-moo-hoo-moo-noo-koo-noo-koo-ah-poo-ah-ah) or trigger fish. It's name translates to "piecing together" and "nose like a pig" which I guess are both appropriate descriptions. We saw some while snorkeling and managed to snap a shot of one.

Lastly, and this is VERY important, don't ever remove a lava rock from Hawaii. If you do, you'll be cursed with bad luck. During our stay we heard more than once, from locals and repeat visitors alike, that many people end up mailing the rocks back to the islands after they've returned home.

Well, that's it for now. I've got one more onolicious recipe to make tomorrow, an easy one we can throw on the grill. Stay tuned till then!

Mahalo! (Thanks!)

Oven Kalua Pua'a

As promised, tonight we prepared an at-home oven-baked version of the kalua pua'a traditionally cooked in an imu (underground roasting pit) and served at lu'aus. I found the recipe in our souvenir cookbook. Interestingly, the author states that Hawaiian women were not permitted to eat pork until 1819. During a lu'au that year, King Liholiho left the men's feast and went to eat with the women instead.

We used a bone-in pork roast to give it some extra flavor, and it "pulled" beautifully after slow roasting for hours in the oven. I removed most of the fat cap from the meat before roasting to make it a little bit healthier. We also used smoked salt to help impart an authentic pit-cooked taste.

The result? Fantastic! We had guests over for dinner, and they were willing taste-testers. Much to our delight, we got a unanimous thumbs up from everyone! We grilled up some pineapple (Hawaii's official fruit) to serve along side, which we basted with honey and lime juice for a little pizazz. Throw in some grilled asparagus, a big tossed salad and fixin's for the pulled pork, and that's a meal!

Here's how I made it:

3 lb pork roast, fat cap removed
1 Tbsp smoked rock salt
3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Liquid Smoke
2 cloves garlic, crushed and pulled apart
4" piece fresh ginger, grated

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, rub it all over the pork and let it sit for an hour. Then wrap the pork in foil, place it in a roasting pan (in case it drips) and bake it for 3-4 hours in a preheated 325° oven. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before shredding the meat -- we used two forks and it separated easily. Save the juices in the foil in case you want to add some to the pork once it's shredded. We served it on toasted buns with grilled red onion rings and bread-n-butter pickles.

Lu'au

A Hawaiian vacation isn't complete without attending a lu'au. We went to one by the Old Lahaina Lu'au company, run by the same family that operates the Aloha Mixed Plate.

Lu'aus were originally celebrated after a child survived its first year - the ancient Hawaiian population dropped from 1 million to 40,000 in just one generation after contact with Europeans.

Before the meal, performers and artisans held wonderfully informative discussions and demonstrations of old Hawaiian crafts, cooking, fishing, etc. (We even learned how to kill an octopus!) Then, they unveiled the kalua pua'a (pig cooked over coals in an "imu" or underground oven) and the feast began! (Pssst! You might want to check back tomorrow for more about the kalua pig... Hint hint!)

We sampled lomi lomi salmon (diced tartare-style with tomatoes and sweet Maui onions), poi (from mashed taro root), laulau (pork wrapped and steamed in taro leaves), island style mahi mahi, bbq mango chicken, and MANY other delicacies!
Ono loa! (Very delicious!)


Most importantly, the performances were spectacular, beginning with the kahiko (ancient) style telling folklore of Pele the Fire Goddess and continuing through 'auana (modern) style when beachboys serenaded their wahine (women). Here's a short video showing some of the opening hula, just to give you a taste of the fun. Aloha oe!

Coconut Baked Fish

Talk about a dish you can make in a snap! This recipe, from "A Little Hawaiian Cookbook" we bought while on vacation there, took only about 15 minutes to prep before it went into the oven. But, just because it's simple, don't think it isn't delicious.

Frankly, I'm a sucker for almost anything cooked with coconut milk, but this dish is one of my new favorites. I recommend keeping the veggies chunky, which also helps shorten the prep time. I bet some peas would be a nice addition... We ate it with some brown rice so that we'd be able to enjoy the luscious sauce. I'd happily serve this recipe to dinner guests any time! Hopefully, you'll agree.

Here's how I made it:

Oil

4 white fish filets (we used cod)
1 onion, cut into wedges and separated
2 tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced into chunks
1 red cherry (or other chili) pepper, seeded and minced
2 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
1 can (13.5 oz) light coconut milk
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350°. Place the fish filets in a single layer in a baking dish. Then, heat the oil in a skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions till they soften a little before adding the remaining ingredients. Continue to sauté for about 5 minutes more so the flavors can begin to blend. Pour the sauce over the fish, cover the baking dish and bake for about 15-20 minutes till the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Cook's Note: I cut slits in the foil I used to cover the baking dish so that the steam could escape; I didn't want the sauce to become diluted. Still, the sauce is fairly thin, so you could always coat the veggies with flour while they're sautéing in the oil (to make a roux) or add a spoonful of cornstarch while they simmer in the coconut milk if you'd like it to be a little thicker. Or, if you're not as concerned about calories, you can use full-fat coconut milk or coconut cream instead.

The Plate Lunch

During our Maui vacation a few years back, we discovered the local delicacy known as the plate lunch. 


After a morning of snorkeling, we stopped at Da Kitchen in Kihei, where Cath ordered their most popular variety called the "loco mock." Trust me, she didn't even come close to finishing the two hamburgers, topped with two eggs, mushrooms, onions and gravy, with sides of rice and macaroni salad! Unless you have a surfer's appetite, we discovered, you should be prepared to share.


Another restaurant we enjoyed often was called Aloha Mixed Plate, which was just down the road from the condo we rented on Ka'anapali Beach. We loved its inexpensive, ono food, friendly service and outside verandah seating -- especially when the luau company the owner's family operated next door was performing, but more on that later.

There are many versions of this meal, with seafood, chicken, beef, duck - and you could probably order whatever combination you'd like! 


So, if you're hungry and need some fast, cheap eats, find yourself a plate lunch. You won't regret it!

Mango Bread

I found this recipe on the University of Hawaii website. Even though pineapple is the official fruit of Hawaii, I adore mangoes so I HAD to try this cake.

And, it didn't disappoint. The spices and mangoes pair perfectly. You get a moist, lightly sweet, dense but not heavy cake. I made mine in an 8" round cake pan, but it could easily be baked in a loaf pan.

All in all, a very tasty treat, and it couldn't be simpler!

Here's how I made mine:

Mix the following ingredients together well, pour the batter into a greased and floured cake pan, and bake for an hour at 325°.

2 cups flour

¾ cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ cup golden raisins

2 ripe mangoes, chopped

3 eggs

¾ cup canola oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cook's Note: After I took the photo, I decided to dust the cake with powdered sugar, which turned out to be a nice touch. Also, I used white sugar but I'm sure brown sugar, light or dark, would work wonderfully as well.

Week #12: Hawaii, USA

Lahaina Sunset

Aloha! Grab your ukuleles and flip-flops and settle in for some laid-back island cooking, because this week we're traveling to our 50th state: Hawaii!

We traveled there a few years back, so we'll share lots of stories and info gathered during that trip (today's photos were taken while we were there.

Later in the week, we'll prepare an oven-baked version of the centerpiece to any authentic luau. Before that, though, I'll make a yummy-sounding fish dish from one of our souvenirs from that vacation, "A Little Hawaiian Cookbook" we bought there. I'll probably track down a chicken dish, too, that we can grill up on the weekend.

Hibiscus Blossoms

But, my first post will come later today. We're heading out soon for a potluck Easter dinner with the family, so I've made a Hawaiian cake for the feast.

So, check back later and stay tuned all week! We're bound to enjoy much ono ono (absolutely delicious) cooking.

Mahalo! (Thanks!)