Moloka`i has been all about my grandmother since the day I was born there. Grandma is solace. Grandma is refuge. Grandma is comfort food from the moment of my arrival at her Kaunakakai house.
Her preparations for my visit go something like this:
-Get fresh octopus and tuna for poke from the fisherman.
-Check the tide chart so I can pick fresh ogo (seaweed) down by Kualapu`u Park when the tide's low.
-Pick the fresh bamboo shoots.
-Buy sugar, pineapple, and coconut. Make preserves and haupia (coconut) pie.
-Get fresh poi (taro paste) and char siu (ribs).
-Make my secret-recipe kimchi with the won bok (napa cabbage) from the tarai (washtub planter).
She never fails to prepare my favorite foods. Upon my arrival, grandma lays out the poke, lomi lomi salmon, poi, sweet potatoes, pork adobo, potato-macaroni salad, kimchi, kalua pig, and even fresh haupia pie. You'll find some of grandma's comfort food in the featured recipes here. To taste the others, you'll have to make the trip to Moloka`i.
Hawaiian Traditions
A Luau, originally called aha'aina or pa'ina, is a Hawaiian tradition to honor accomplishments. Today, Hawaiians throw luaus to celebrate weddings, graduations, and other big events—and to welcome visitors to the islands. There is dancing, singing, and, of course, food. The featured food at a luau is a whole pig (puaa) cooked in an underground oven (imu) or stone-lined pit. The pig is covered in banana, ti, or taro leaves, and buried for hours to roast. In Hawaiian, the taro leaves are called lu'au, giving the feast its current name. Oven Kalua Pork, Lomi Lomi Salmon, Poi, Chicken Char Siu, and Chicken and Pork Adobo are Cooking Light's versions of traditional fare served at luaus.
Influential Immigrants
Hawaii has always been a land of immigrants. The first to arrive were Polynesian voyagers (some estimates put their appearance as early as A.D. 600), and native Hawaiians trace their roots to these intrepid seafarers. Leading the first Europeans to set foot on Hawaii's shore was Captain James Cook, in 1778. He was followed in the 19th and early 20th centuries by an influx of Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Filipino, Puerto Rican, and Samoan immigrants, many of whom came to work on Hawaii's vast sugar and pineapple plantations. Today, their descendants make up the state's rich multiethnic culture.
The culinary influence of all these cultures can be seen in what Hawaiians call "the mix," or "mixed plate," which features foods of different ethnic origins. Hawaiian kalua pork may be served alongside Korean kimchi, sweet Portuguese-style Hawaiian bread, and Japanese white rice.
Award-winning, Honolulu-based novelist Lois-Ann Yamanaka is the author of Father of the Four Passages, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers, Blu's Hanging, and Heads by Harry. Lorrie Hulston Corvin is a Cooking Light contributor.
