The Five-0 on Hawaiian Food

I have to say that one of the things I was most excited about on our trip to Hawaii was the food (and the fact that I wasn't at work of course.  And visiting the beaches.  Oh, and the shopping - natch)!

Along with your typical American food that you can find anywhere in the USA, Hawaii has its own unique offerings thanks not only to its Polynesian culture, but also the large Asian population that inhabit the islands.

The Boy and I did our best to try nearly everything uniquely Hawaiian, or even kind of Hawaiian.  All in the name of research...and food blogging. 

Pineapple

Although Pineapple technically isn’t Hawaiian (it hails from Brazil) they grow some pretty awesome Pineapple in Hawaii. 

The pineapple here is so sweet and juicy that I inhaled a tub of it nearly every morning of our 10 day trip.  Luckily it is easily found in one of the multitude of ABC stores that litter Waikiki (ABC stores are Hawaii’s answer to the 7-11, only better I think as they also sell clothes).
 

The best thing about Hawaiian pineapple from the ABC store is that it comes with a cute little sword...so you can eat your pineapple and pretend you're a pirate all at the same time.

I was told, for the record, that it is just not Hawaiian to put pineapple on pizza, sandwiches etc and call it "Hawaiian". I wonder if you can even find an Hawaiian pizza in Hawaii?  Guess we'll just have to go back and find out.

Baked Manapua

The Boy and I tried the Baked Manapua on our Hawaii Food Tour.  I’m so mad at myself for not going back to Royal Kitchen to get myself another one as I think this has to be one of the best things I ate in Hawaii. And, I ate a lot so I’m speaking from experience here.

Manapua is a baked bread bun traditionally filled Chinese BBQ Pork, although the one in the picture below has a Kalua Pig filling as I LOVE Kalua Pig.  The bread is sweet and fluffy and really really good.

Baked Manapua is of Chinese origin and was introduced to Hawaii in the 19^th Century when thousands of immigrants flooded the islands looking for work on plantations.

A Baked Manapua is basically Hawaii’s answer to the donut.  Whilst you won’t find a Donut King or Krispy Kreme anywhere in Hawaii, you wouldn’t have to look too far to find someone, somewhere, selling a Baked Manapua.  I’ve been told that it’s not uncommon to see a van at the beach selling Manapua (though, unfortunately there wasn't one at the beach where we swam each day). 

Kalua Pig

OMG – this stuff is amazing!

Kalua Pig would traditionally be found at an Hawaiian lu’ua where the pig is cooked for hours in an underground oven called an “imu” which gives it an amazing smoky flavour.  If you live in an “condo” where you can’t dig a hole in the floor to bury a pig you can create the same smoky affect using a product called Liquid Smoke…which is hard to find in Australia, but you can get it at www.usafoods.com or some gourmet grocers.  We are still hunting it down.

The Boy and I tried the Kalua Pig a few different ways, at a lu’au along with 850 other tourists (yes, we ate a meal with 850 tourists), served with cabbage and rice and in a Baked Manapua.  My favourite would be Baked Manapua…but that might be more to do with the awesome bread bun, rather than the pork. 

The Boy and I loved Kalua Pig so much we’re going to have a go at making some at home.  Once we track down some Liquid Smoke that is.

Poi

Hawaiian kids grow up eating Poi, just like Aussie kids grow up eating Vegemite.  So it’s little surprise then that for the uninitiated Poi is an acquired taste that takes a little getting used to.  I didn’t care about Poi’s bad reviews from other travelers though…I was determined to give it a red hot go. 

Poi is a Polynesian food made by mashing cooked taro until it resembles a thin, and slightly watery, mashed potato (water is added to the mashing process…so its runny consistency is no accident).

Hawaiian’s eat Poi as the starchy component of their meal…just like we’d eat mashed potato.  As it is much more runny than mashed potato I wasn’t quite sure how to eat it…I just piled some on top of my fish and said “ahhhhh” and then “ummmm”.  Like I said, it’s an acquired taste. 

Spam

Whilst technically not being an Hawaiian food, the Hawaiians love of Spam is legendary so it would be remiss not to give it a shout out in this post.  In fact, Hawaiians eat more than FOUR MILLION cans of a year…really.

During WWII Hawaiians embraced Spam as there weren’t a lot of other choices to eat meat.  That said, Hawaii’s distance from well…anywhere, also meant that “back in the day” canned meat was at least one way of getting meat into your diet.

Locals eat SPAM as a delicacy.  No, I'm not kidding.  Really I'm not.  We saw it on various restaurant menus where it was added to soups and stews.

The Boy sampled a McDonalds Spam and rice place for breakfast, and we both had some Spam Musubi (ie Sushi) on our Hawaiian Food Tour. 

Ahi Poke

This is another yummy dish we tried on our Hawaiian Food Tour.  Poke is a raw fish salad made from Ahi (yellow fin tuna) that is marinated with sea salt, soy sauce, roasted crushed candlenut, sesame oil, limu seaweed, and chopped chilli pepper.  Very very good if you like raw fish…which luckily I do.

Lomi Salmon

Lomi-lomi salmon had its beginnings in Hawaii and is made by mixing salted, diced salmon with tomatoes, crushed ice, and green onions.

We tried some of this at the lu'au we went to. I really liked it, but thought the addition of crushed ice was a tad...interesting.  That's it in the plastic counter on my (over filled) plate below.

Shave Ice

The Boy and I (very) stupidly tried our first shaved ice about 2 days before we were flying back home. Stupid stupid stupid.

At first The Boy and I thought a Shave Ice would be just like the Snow Cone's we have back here in the Land of Oz Oz…but they are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. TOTALLY.

I’m pretty partial to the old Snow Cone, but I have to tell you that the Shave Ice kicks its butt into next week. 

As the name suggests a Shave Ice is literally a shaved block of ice – whereas a Snow Cone is just crushed ice.  Beware though as some Shave Ice vendors in Hawaii do crush their ice and it is nowhere near as good.  Trust me, I know from experience.

Because the shaved ice is so super fine the syrup is actually absorbed into the ice, rather than just sitting in a pool around it.  Shave Ice usually comes with three stripes of syrup...and sometime shave ice sits atop of scoop of ice cream. My favourite flavour was Pina Colada (along with walks in the rain) and The Boy loved Vanilla. It seemed like the entire population of Waikiki loves Watermelon as it was always sold out when we tried to get it.  Grrr. 

Hula Pie

The Boy's friend from work, The Peanut Gallery, urged us to go to Duke's Canoe Club and have us a piece of Hula Pie.  As we always do what Peanut tells us to we heeded her advice and wandered down to Dukes one day for a buffet lunch and a piece of this legendary pie.

If I'd actually had any inkling of what this pie would be like I would've skipped the buffet lunch altogether and saved all of my tummy room for the enormous ice-cream cake that was about to descend on our table. 

Hula Pie is simply as awesomely amazing as it looks.  The "pie" is made from macadamia nut ice cream which sits on top of an Oreo cookie crust. As if that wasn't enough to give you type 2 diabetes, the pie is topped with chocolate fudge sauce, whipped cream and more macadamia nuts.

We did our best to finish our slab of Hula Pie, but it got the better of us I'm afraid.

Crack Seed 

Crack Seed and the concept of a Crack Seed Store was one of the things that most intrigued me about Hawaiian food.  I was eager to hunt one down asap just so I could see what all about.

In short, I'd say that a Crack Seed Store is a bit like the Asian grocery stores we have here in Sydney, although they are primarily dedicated to all things snacky.  A Crack Seed Store is our version of the local corner shop, where kids would take their spare change and pocket money to buy tasty treats.

"Crack Seed" actually refers various dehydrated and preserved fruits which are "cracked" to expose the seed as this enhances the flavour.  You'll also find things such as rice crackers, gummi bears, Asian candies, sunflower seeds, salted plums and dehydrated seafood's at your local Crack Seed Store.

The Boy and I tracked down the Crack Seed Center at the popular Ala Moana Shopping Center.  This place had a constant stream of customers whilst were in there snooping about, so it was obvious that Crack Seed consumption in Hawaii is serious business.

We wandered around for awhile and oohed and aahed at all of the strange and wonderful delights on offer. In the end we decided to try the Dried Cuttlefish.  Sadly, after a munch on a cuttlefish leg each, we decide that chips and chocolate are more our crack seed of choice. 

Scrumptious Café, Parramatta

On the weekend The Boy and I meet up with one of The Boy’s work buddies Mr M and his lovely wifey Mrs M for brunch.

Mr and Mrs M used to be Parramatta locals before they upped sticks and moved even further west. Strangely this happened just as The Boy and I landed in Parramatta – not that we’re taking their move personally or anything like that!

Mr and Mrs M seem pretty excited to be revisiting their old breakfast haunt on Church Street, Bellani Café. Needless to say they are pretty upset as they stand outside Bellani’s only to see a boarded up café with no sign of their beloved Eggs Benedict within. I’m not sure what’s happened to Bellani’s, but cafes seem to come and go more often in Parramatta than just about anywhere else I’ve ever lived. 

After a quick pow-wow and lots of “I don’t mind where we go, where do you want to go” we decide to check out Scrumptious Café on the riverfront. The only reason we register that this place exists is due to one of their waitresses strolling up and down Church Street giving out menus.  Smart move Scrumptious.  

Scrumptious is located right on the Parramatta River underneath the old David Jones building.  Without the help of the waitress/customer wrangler I would never have registered that this place is even open as the David Jones building has been empty for as long as I can remember. 

The location of Scrumptious is really nice. Being right on the river front it's relatively quite and we're shielded for the noise of the traffic and the bus fumes that usually accompany eating outdoors on Church Street.  They also open much earlier than most of the Church Street cafes - which is good as we're meeting at 9.30am...on a Sunday, ouch! 

Both Mr and Mrs know exactly what they are having and promptly order Egg's Benedict ($11.90). 

The cafe has no problem in substituting the ham for bacon, however forgets the side of mushrooms that they've ordered, and only bring out the side order of hash browns after prompting by us. The cafe did fill up quickly after we ordered, but no excuses...right?

Mr and Mrs M seem happy enough with their brunch, but it's obvious this Egg's Benedict doesn't compare to their old favourite from Bellani's.  The hollandaise is a bit more thin and vinegary, but overall it's not bad.

I'm currently in the hate phase of my relationship with eggs on toast, so go for the French Toast ($10.50) which the menu tells me comes with strawberries, banana and cream.  There is a noticeable absence of banana on my French Toast, but I don't mind as the green apple they've substituted it with is wonderfully tart and cuts through the sweetness of the French Toast.  A bit more apple would've gone down really well I think.

The Boy, still lamenting he is no longer in the USA where the meals are bigger than a elephants tummy, goes for the Big Breakfast ($18.00). As promised this breakfast is big...in fact it is ENORMOUS!

Despite the slow(ish) service once the cafe became busy, all in all, Scrumptious was a pretty nice place to have brunch and chat with friends.  I'm sure that once we've explored the other brunch offerings in Parramatta we'll be back to take advantage of Scrumptious' nice location by the river.

Scrumptious is located at Shop 1, 330 Church Street, Parramatta...just follow the steps down from the Church Street bridge and you'll find them easy enough.

Morimoto Waikiki & Wailana Coffee House, Hawaii

It’s not often The Boy and I go out for a fancy meal. Now that I come to think about it I don’t actually think we’ve ever been out for a really fancy meal together. We did go to the Meat & Wine Co in Parramatta last year, but I don’t think that really counts...does it?

I’m pretty excited when I find out that Iron Chef Morimoto has a restaurant in Waikiki. And to make things even more exciting it is in the hotel right next door to where we are staying.

Morimoto’s is situated within the trendy and stylish The Edition Waikiki Hotel. I had MAJOR hotel envy the first time we walked into The Edition. I mean our hotel was nice but The Edition is the kind of hotel where “people with money” come to stay and play.  We have money, but most of it can be found in our Monopoly game back home in Sydney.

I figure that as it’s our honeymoon and the Aussie dollar is just so great at the moment we should splurge and treat ourselves to a fancy schmancy dinner. 

The boy gets all fancy pants and swaps his thongs for enclosed shoes.  I just wash the sand off my thongs, put on a slightly less crinkled top and figure that the lighting will be dark so no one will notice we’re not dressed to the nines. And with no further adieu we are ready to head off to Morimoto’s to see how the other half live.

I’m so excited when we arrive at the restaurant, but a bit taken aback when the hostess isn’t the typical over-friendly restaurant hostess we’ve come to know and love in Hawaii.  I guess when you work at Morimoto’s you can be a bit hoity toity (right)? 

I’m later told that most of the staff at Morimoto's Waikiki are from “the mainland” so the place really does lack that Aloha Spirit we’re so in love with.  It’s a pity as, for us, this kind of dining experience is rare and I wanted everyone to be as excited as we were.  I’ve also read quite a few reviews online since our meal at Morimoto’s and nearly every one of them has a gripe about the rude staff. 

Not to worry, I’m sure things will get better once we’re inside.

The decor of the restaurant is really lovely and modern.  I suppose it call be called “Nouveau Hawaiian” with huge shell decorations hanging from the ceiling, and a groovy sea-sponge installation at the evil hostesses desk.   

This place feels expensive, but I’m pleased to see most of the prices on the menu aren’t outrageous when compared to what we’d pay for a fancy eating experience back at home.  That said, if the exchange rate was as bad as it was when I travelled to the USA back in 2006 I’d be giving this place a wide berth and heading for Denny’s.

Our waiter introduces himself to us and offers us bottled water. I’m wanting to spend my money on food not fancy water so we just opt for tap water, which is what most of the diners around us are doing.

Our waiter is a pretty friendly guy but the service is still a bit disorganised. One of our meals ends up on someone else’s table and we end up waiting an age for our replacement to arrive.  However, I do like that our food was delivered to our table in quite a spread out timeframe – it gave us time to enjoy the surroundings and the experience.  Often we’re in and out of a restaurant in under an hour, but at Morimoto’s our meal took a leisurely 2 ½ hours!

We agree to go the whole hog tonight so start with cocktails.  The Boy has a beer and I choose a Morimotini ($12) with ginko sake, square one organic cucumber vodka, and Japanese cucumber slices. I have one word for this cocktail. YUM.

For starters I’ve choose the Hamachi Tartare (US $22).  

I’ve not eaten anything like this before and I feel so fancy. Lucky for me I watched Chef Duff (aka Ace of Cakes) eating it on TV the night before so I knew what I was doing.   The smooth tartare comes with a rainbow of condiments - including nori paste, avocado cream, rice cracker crumbs and daikon - which we mix and match for a different flavour with every mouthful. 

  

The Boy once again proves he is superior when it comes to ordering yummy food and opts for the Crispy Rock Shrimp Tempura (US $16).  The shrimp comes to us golden and deliciously crunchy and dressed with either a spicy kochujan sauce or a delicious (and not overly spicy), wasabi aioli.  There is also a side of coconut ranch dipping sauce.  This dish was deliciously tasty – like a fancy popcorn shrimp.  I could easily have demolished the entire serving myself...but I had to share. Hurmph. 

Feeding our addiction to Soft Shell Crab Roll (US $12) we decide that we simply must try Morimoto's offering...for comparison purposes of course. I’m devastated that the plate has five pieces and not six as I’m too slow to nab myself a third morsel of this beautiful roll that is filled with tempura soft shell crab, asparagus, tobiko, avocado, scallion and dressed with a  spicy sauce.

For mains The Boy chooses Duck, Duck, Duck (US $28).  As the name suggests this dish is duck prepared three ways: seared duck breast; duck confit spring roll; and duck meatball soup. It’s not a huge meal and The Boy eats it very S L O W LY savouring every mouthful. I’m told that it is a delicious meal...wish I’d ordered it!

Instead I’ve chosen Chi Rashi Sushi “Morimoto Style” (US $32). The covered bowl arrives at our table and is ceremonially “un-lidded” to reveal a colourful assortment of sashimi served over sushi rice.  The sashimi has come diced which surprises me as I expecting the familiar slices of sashimi that I’m so used to. I’m tempted to dunk all my sashimi into the soy sauce provided but the Japanese man at the table next to me is telling me that this would be a crime (all via hand signals and head nods).

We umm and ahh over whether to have something from Morimoto’s dessert menu.

I can tell though that The Boy has his heart set on a piece of Apple Pie Ala Mode from the homey Wailana Dinner down the road.   

Within minutes we’re seated at the counter at this basic coffee house stuffing our faces with piping hot Apple Pie and Hawaiian Deep Fried Ice Cream.  We breath a sigh of relief as we inhale our desserts, knowing we're back with "our people" in the "real world" - eating pie that costs about $3.50 a serve. 

I can tell the boy is thinking he's a bit like Booth from the TV show Bones...sitting at the counter of his local diner eating Apple Pie. Does that mean I'm like Bones and The Boy has no idea what I'm talking about most of the time?  Whatever!

A perfect end to our posh dining experience.

Morimoto’s can be found inside The Edition Hotel Waikiki at 1775 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu (www.morimotowaikiki.com)

Wailana Coffee House can be found at 1860 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu.