Hawaiian Food - It's A Culture Thang

Wanted to share our 15 favorite things from an article in the Huffington Post about "31 Food Things Only People From Hawaii Would Understand."

If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated while trying to explain to a friend from the mainland what a Spam musubi is (or why you’d even eat one), or that you don’t drink mai tais every day and eat pizza topped with pineapple and ham, then this list is for you.

With a diverse blend of cultures and a rich culinary history that began long before Hawaiian Regional Cuisine became a buzz term in the '90s, Hawaii residents are lucky to have a ton of choices when it comes to local grinds. And every local worth their Hawaiian salt who’s pined for a poke bowl or knows exactly what causes a kanak attack will identify with these food things that only people from Hawaii would understand.

1. The Manapua Man was an integral part of your childhood. The only place where you can get char siu-filled manapua, fried noodles, candy AND a couple cans of Hawaiian Sun juice for under $5. Yup, we're pretty sure these guys started the food truck craze.

2. We don’t pay for papayas. Or mangoes. Or avocados. Or coconuts. We get ’um free from our aunty’s yard. Or our cousin’s cousin’s yard. Or our coworker’s. Or from the tree down the street (shhhh).

3. You love Aunty Marialani and her perfectly cooked chicken. Rap Reiplinger nailed it as a lovable lush in the best (only?) cooking show skit to ever come out of Hawaii. It’s “not too sweet, not too rancid” but juuuuuus’ right, eh? Go check ’um now, go.

4. THIS is real Hawaiian food. Obligatory components include: lau lau, kalua pig, squid luau, lomi salmon, pipikaula, poi and haupia. And an appetite the size of the Pacific Ocean.

5. When there’s a new restaurant coming to town, EVERYONE knows about it before it opens.
 For at least a few weeks, or sometimes months. And there’s ALWAYS a line to get in once it does. For at least a few weeks, or sometimes months.

6. You have at least one of these on your kitchen counter. A rice cooker. When you packed for college, this was at the top of your checklist. Seriously, is it even possible to cook rice another way?

7. It’s not sushi, it’s poke. And it's pronounced PO-keh. No matter where you are, you're always only five minutes away from a poke place. And everyone has their favorite go-to spots for those tender marinated cubes of fresh ahi (tuna), but we can’t not mention the poke bowls from Tamura’s in Honolulu, Fish Express in Lihue, or Da Poke Shack in Kona, which Yelpers rated the top spot to eat... ahem... in the country.

8. Speaking of bowls, breakfast just isn't breakfast without an acai bowl. Artfully arranged, drizzled with honey, and perfectly refreshing -- is there anything better after a sunrise hike?

9. It's totally normal to eat Spam musubi bought at a gas station. Or at any 7-Eleven. We love our Spam so much, we have an annual festival to celebrate its existence. Boom.

10. Nothing is safe from li hing mui powder. From pineapples and gummy bears to margaritas and cupcakes. There’s nothing we won’t put it on. Even foie gras.

11. Because POG. Passion. Orange. Guava. The taste takes you back to your hana butta days, or your last interisland flight on Hawaiian Airlines. We're pretty sure it's addicting since we buy more than 1.3 million gallons of it EVERY MONTH.

12. You take your shave ice seriously. Shave ice (or ice shave if you’re from Big Island) is WAY more than just picking out a syrup flavor or two. You need a scoop of ice cream, azuki beans, mochi balls and sweetened condensed milk. And no, it's not shaved ice. It's shave ice.

13. Forget spilled milk -- just the price of milk makes you want to cry. A single gallon can cost more than $9 at the supermarket. Want to go organic? You might as well buy a bottle of wine.

14. We're proud to be the Asian food mecca of the U.S. And we've got a pho restaurant, Korean barbecue joint and Thai food eatery on every block to prove it.

15. You get how dessert can tie you to your aina. Kulolo, the chewy-dense sweet made from local taro, coconut milk and sugar, reminds us that even our most ono foods can have a rich history steeped in tradition.

Mahalo and do something nice for someone today....spread the Aloha Spirit!

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Mahalo for reading. Please share the Aloha Spirit and do something nice for someone today. We welcome your comments and feedback. This blog is brought to you by KTC Hawaiian -- with over 3000 fun, unique and authentic Hawaiian items, we deliver Hawaii to you!