Customer Reviews

What Hawaii Likes to Eat

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From Shoyu Hot Dogs to Lamb Wellington "Indianne" with Tropical Fruit Chutney, two local authors have hit the nail on the head with their new cookbook, What Hawaii Likes to Eat.
A collection of 130 recipes submitted by readers of a Honolulu daily newspaper, the range of dishes and tastes are as varied as the multi-cultural and chop suey residents of Hawaii.
If there is one thing that all people like to do is eat, and with so many influences in the Crossroads of the Pacific, it would be impossible for even the most finicky of eaters not to discover something in this book that would make their mouths water.
Cookbook writer and editor Muriel Miura teamed with the newspaper's food editor Betty Shimabukuro and asked the professional cooks and chefs along with the experts -- the eaters -- What do Hawaii folks like to eat?
After months of reading, testing and eating, the result is this spiral-bound cookbook -- with the required color photos needed for any amateur Pacific Rim food preparer to serve a mouth-watering dish.
What Hawaii likes to eat will provide comfort food for those who grew up on the plantation: Chicken Hekka, Musubi and Mango Seed; for those townies who were raised in Honolulu or Hilo: Loco Moco, Hamburger Steak and Chicken Katsu; for those who love luau food: Chicken Long Rice, Laulau, Lomi Salmon and Haupia; and for those who appreciate the ambiance as much as the meal: Cavalier Restaurant's Lobster Thermidor, Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas' Garlic Shichimi Ahi with Ponzu Vinagrette and Kahala Resort and Hotel's Roasted Garlic Rack of Lamb with Garlic and Herbs.
For poi dog palates, try Napua Steven's Taro Biscuits, Arare Cookies and Sam Choy's Hawaiian Pulehu Tri-Tip Steak.
The kamaaina baby boomers and their parents may remember Jolly Roger's Orange Bread, Queen's Surf Chicken Kamaaina and Little George's Shrimp Scampi. The Stewart's Pharmacy Corn Bread would bring a tear to the eye of anyone who frequented the once-popular Waikiki establishment.
But for all the fancy Lavosh, Orange Souffle, Golden Phoenix Claws and Scalloped Potatoes that are in this book, perhaps the most intriguing recipe is the first -- and possibly the simplest -- the "Oki Dog," an American, Mexican, Tex-Mex and Okinawan Fusion creation, which is a bright red, crispy Redondo hot dog, Zippy's chili, shoyu pork and iceberg lettuce all wrapped up in a tortilla.
The delicacy was actually first served on Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood by Sakai "Jimmy" Sueyoshi, an Okinawa native who got rich selling his "Oki Dogs," and brought to Hawaii by one of the organizers of the Okinawan Festival who replaced the shredded pastrami that Sueyoshi used with the shoyu pork.
Onolicious.

Being born and raised in Hawaii and tasted the delicious local food growing up, I found this book to be one of the best cookbooks of local, Hawaii-style cooking. The recipes were easy to follow and the color photos brought back many fond memories. If you ever ate the 'ono' local food in Hawaii, be sure to add this cookbook to your library!

I got this cookbook about a month ago and have cooked little else than what's within its pages. Though I've found the recipes require a touch of adjustment, they are so far all generally solid starting points and I've enjoyed every meal that's come from its pages, as well as the lively pictures and descriptions.

PROS: Fun, delicious, wide range of styles, book design makes for easy use in the kitchen.

NOT-QUITE-PROS: Like most cookbooks, requires a little "feel" from the cook to adjust on the fly as appropriate.

CONS: None.

Try all the recipes even the ones that don't look familiar my family loves the recipes. the red velvet cake was a wonderful addition to our family Christmas dinners.