Frommer's Kauai - Jeanette Foster [19]
Bento, another popular quick meal available throughout Hawaii, is a compact, boxed assortment of picnic fare usually consisting of neatly arranged sections of rice, pickled vegetables, and fried chicken, beef, or pork. Increasingly, however, the bento is becoming more health-conscious, as in macrobiotic bento lunches or vegetarian brown-rice bentos. A derivative of the modest lunch box for Japanese immigrants who once labored in the sugar and pineapple fields, bentos are dispensed everywhere, from department stores to corner delis and supermarkets.
Also from the plantations come manapua, a bready, doughy sphere filled with tasty fillings of sweetened pork or sweet beans. In the old days, the Chinese “manapua man” would make his rounds with bamboo containers balanced on a rod over his shoulders. Today you’ll find white or whole-wheat manapua containing chicken, vegetables, curry, and other savory fillings.
The daintier Chinese delicacy dim sum is made of translucent wrappers filled with fresh seafood, pork hash, and vegetables, served for breakfast and lunch in Chinatown restaurants. The Hong Kong–style dumplings are ordered fresh and hot from bamboo steamers from invariably brusque servers who move their carts from table to table. Much like hailing a taxi in Manhattan, you have to be quick and loud for dim sum.
For dessert or a snack, particularly on Oahu’s north shore, the prevailing choice is shave ice, the island version of a snow cone. Particularly on hot, humid days, long lines of shave-ice lovers gather for the rainbow-colored cones heaped with finely shaved ice and topped with sweet tropical syrups. (The sweet-sour li hing mui flavor is a current rage.) The fast-melting mounds, which require prompt, efficient consumption, are quite the local summer ritual for sweet tooths.
AHI, ONO & OPAKAPAKA: A HAWAIIAN SEAFOOD PRIMER
The seafood in Hawaii has been described as the best in the world. In Janice Wald Henderson’s pivotal book The New Cuisine of Hawaii, acclaimed chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa (chef/owner of Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills and Nobu in Manhattan and London) writes, “As a chef who specializes in fresh seafood, I am in awe of the quality of Hawaii’s fish; it is unparalleled anywhere else in the world.” And why not? Without a doubt, the islands’ surrounding waters, including the waters of the remote northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and a growing aquaculture industry contribute to the high quality of the seafood here.
The reputable restaurants in Hawaii buy fresh fish daily at predawn auctions or from local fishermen. Some chefs even catch their ingredients themselves. “Still wiggling” or “just off the hook” are the ultimate terms for freshness in Hawaii. The fish can then be grilled over kiawe (mesquite) or prepared in innumerable other ways.
Although most menus include the Western description for the fresh fish used, most often the local nomenclature is listed, turning dinner for the uninitiated into a confusing, quasi-foreign experience. To help familiarize you with the menu language of Hawaii, here’s a basic glossary of island fish:
ahi yellowfin or bigeye tuna, important for its use in sashimi and poke at sushi bars and in Hawaii Regional Cuisine
aku skipjack tuna, heavily used by local families in home cooking and poke
ehu red snapper, delicate and sumptuous, yet lesser known than opakapaka
hapuupuu grouper, a sea bass whose use is expanding from ethnic to nonethnic restaurants
hebi spearfish, mildly flavored, and frequently featured as the “catch of the day” in upscale restaurants
kajiki Pacific blue marlin, also called au, with a firm flesh and high fat content that make it a plausible substitute for tuna in some raw fish dishes and as a grilled item on menus
kumu goatfish, a luxury item on Chinese and upscale menus, served en papillote or steamed whole, Asian-style, with sesame oil, scallions, ginger, and garlic