Spam Spam Spam Spam

Hawai'ians eat more Hormel SPAM per capital than any other state. In Hawaii, Spam is so popular it is sometimes dubbed "The Hawaiian Steak." It is traditionally reheated (cooked), resulting in a different taste than Spam eaten by many Americans on the mainland, who may eat Spam cold. One popular Spam dish in Hawaii is Spam musubi, in which cooked Spam is combined with rice and nori seaweed and classified as onigiri. (wikipedia)

The goofy-looking spam musubi provide a rating system for the wonderful Honolulu Food Blog The Tasty Island. (Bored by this site's content? Check that rad Hawai'i food blog out!)

Trivia: In the Hawai'i-set film "50 first dates", what does Sean Astin present a box of to Adam Sandler before Sandler sets sail? (hint: it's two things...)

Scenes from the annual Spam Jam in Waikiki!

Hungry yet?

Hawaii Foods (Nutritional info)

http://www.hawaiifoods.hawaii.edu


Okay - not a food word, but a resource - this site put on by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, and the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii will give you nutritional information for any hawaiin food you can think of.

In this article by calorielab.com they talk about this site, some common Hawai'ian fare, and the fact that 37.5% of native Hawai'ians are obese. (See any IZ album art.)

“In Hawaii, data clearly substantiate that Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander populations are more at risk for overweight and obesity and obesity-attributable health complications than other ethnic groups,” according to the Obesity in Hawaii white paper by Brooke S. Evans. She goes on to write, “Food is a big part of life in Hawaii—with a variety of social and cultural meanings surrounding what people eat. Although traditional healthy foods in Hawaii (e.g. taro, fish) are still consumed on a regular basis, a range of other less healthy (e.g. fast food, “plate lunch,”) foods are also readily available.

“Hawaii is an ideal location to eat healthy with fresh fruit and vegetables year round, but often cost is a prohibitive factor for healthy eating as fast and processed foods are typically cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables. Moreover, in certain neighborhoods in Hawaii (i.e. both rural and urban communities), supermarkets are not easily assessable and residents must rely on quick shops and fast food restaurants for their meals.”

Check out what's in poi.

Pupu (platter)

Pupu:



Pūpū originally referred to the fish, chicken, or banana relish served with kava and has many meanings including Among its other meanings in Hawaiian are: shell; circular motif; bunch, tuft, bundle, or bouquet; to gather together, as in a net. Today it is taken to mean appetizer and usually means American-Chinese food including: egg roll, spare ribs, chicken wings, chicken fingers, beef teriyaki, skewered beef, fried wontons, crab rangoon, fried shrimp, among other items, accompanied with a small hibachi grill. (wikipedia)

Note: A pu pu platter is not what you think (urban dictionary).

Poi

Yum! Why haven't we done this one yet? ...well, because I'll bet it's not as tasty or interesting as Li Hing Mui, my first post. Poi, and the boy that loves it.

After nearly 30 min of searching for the now removed you-tube clip from Scooby Doo and the Tiki Scare (in which a large platter of poi being eaten by shaggy is apprehended and summarily consumed by Scooby) I begin the more serious portion of this entry.

This polynesian staple food is made by mashing Taro (the kalo plant) into a hilarious purple pudding which is sweet right after it's made and then sours over the course of the day. It is notoriously revolting - perhaps because of the lag between its concoction by locals and it's consumption by tourists. (wikipedia)

Note: Poi is also a kind of juggling/dancing originating with the Maori people of New Zealand. It often features dances with fire - expecially on youtube.

Kona Brewing Company

This afternoon I started plowing through the excellent Wizard Publishing's Guide to Oahu - I was reminded of just how mouth-watering reading and writing about Hawai'i is. As I sit here sipping a little leftover "honeymoon" from Grant and Erica's wedding, I find on top 'o the "to blog" item list, the Kona Brewing Company. It's time to talk about beer.


Probably most of us have seen hipsters (you know, people who don't appreciate Hawai'i as much as we do) walking through midwest grocery stores in Kona Brew t-shirts. But, let's look under the hood of these brews and find out what's going on. Ratebeer.com, though populated by beer snots (almost nothing can get a good rating if it has a mild hop character or sees national distribution) it can serve as a good handle on general quality of beers. Their reviews of the Kona Brewery reveals some interesting tasting notes. Their 7 strongest offerings by rating are barley wines, imperial stouts, porters and an IPA - a good sign that real beers are being made here. If you check out their homepage you can get a handle on their business model: bottle the easy-swillers and tap the more serious brews - which seem to be only available in Hawai'i. That won't be hard when you're on Oahu - now there's a Marina pub that's open for business. Someone (remind me) should check in with them later and find out what'll be on tap.

Wanna stalk them? Strangely they're not on the BeerMap of the Pacific Northwest (drag the mouse out to see and get Hawai'i on the map) but you can find them the old fashioned way on google maps.

I'm sorry to report that I can't say that I remember having some of their beers - although I'm pretty sure I did. I do remember having a red that was good - but I think it was someone elses.
But business (as for most small breweries) is good!