# Making food Hawaiian **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [November 25, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734 "2024-11-25T00:17:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/1 "2024-11-25T00:17:09Z")
The challenge: take some typical American dish and try to pass it off as Hawaiian without using pineapple. Inspired by my visit to barbecue place and ordering the Big Kahuna burger, which was just a cheeseburger with a slice of pineapple. After thinking “Predictable” I started wondering to myself “well, what else could you do?” Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/2 "2024-11-25T00:20:02Z")
Put a big dollop of _poi_ on it. Repeat sales would be very few & far between, but it would be Hawaiian. For greater success, serve your [whatever] with genuine Kona beer. > **[Kona Brewing (en-US) | Homepage](https://konabrewinghawaii.com/)** > > Beer made with passion, quality, and a whole lot of Hawaii. It's Liquid Aloha from Kona Brewing Co. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/3 "2024-11-25T00:22:35Z")
SPAM® musubi. (And yeah, putting a pineapple on it and calling it Hawaiian is like making anything ‘California’ by putting avocado slices or guacamole on it.) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/4 "2024-11-25T00:26:08Z")
Whatever it is, serve it with a round scoop each of rice and macaroni salad ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/5 "2024-11-25T00:29:03Z")
Put Spam on it. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/6 "2024-11-25T00:31:22Z")
Infuse the dish (whatever you want) with Kona Coffee. Which, admittedly, works fine for quite a number of dishes, depending on your preferences and how strong or subtle you make it. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/7 "2024-11-25T00:34:14Z")
Glaze it with shoyu, garlic and sugar. It break the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/8 "2024-11-25T02:33:12Z")
Sing “Tiny Bubbles” while serving. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/9 "2024-11-25T03:02:28Z")
Put it in a hollowed-out coconut with a lei wrapped around it. You could drop a Big Mac in that coconut and could pass it off as a Big Island Mac. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/10 "2024-11-25T03:12:24Z")
Play really schmaltzy steel guitar music loudly in the dining room. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/11 "2024-11-25T03:19:43Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Whatever it is, serve it with a round scoop each of rice and macaroni salad This is the correct answer. > **[Plate lunch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_lunch)** > > The plate lunch (Hawaiian: pā mea ʻai) is a quintessentially Hawaiian meal, roughly analogous to the Southern U.S. meat-and-three or Japanese bento box. The combination of Polynesian, North American and East Asian cuisine arose naturally in Hawaii, and has spread beyond it. > Standard plate lunches consist of one or two scoops of white rice, macaroni salad (in an American style), and an entrée (usually in a Japanese style such as chicken katsu or teriyaki). A plate lunch with more than one entrée... ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/12 "2024-11-25T03:37:43Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Whatever it is, serve it with a round scoop each of rice and macaroni salad Macaroni salad with potatoes and peas in it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/13 "2024-11-25T03:42:09Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You could drop a Big Mac in that coconut and could pass it off as a Big Island Mac. You want fries with that? All apologies; let me rephrase. You want fries with that, plus a tiny ramekin of macadamia nuts? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/14 "2024-11-25T03:47:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Macaroni salad with potatoes and peas in it. Hawaiian mac salad doesn’t have any vegetables aside from shredded carrot and maybe a bit of onion. You need starch to soak up all of that kalua pork or teriyaki or BBQ. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/15 "2024-11-25T04:03:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > > > Whatever it is, serve it with a round scoop each of rice and macaroni salad > > Macaroni salad with potatoes and peas in it. 😉 I used to add a diced boiled potato and sometimes a can of tuna. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/16 "2024-11-25T04:10:21Z")
Take your typical pancake mix and add toasted coconut and a smashed apple banana. Okay, a regular banana works as well. If you wanna go further add some crushed mac nuts. There is also coconut syrup out there (yeah, it’s white, and looks like, uh, never mind). Serve with slice of saute-d spam. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/17 "2024-11-25T04:20:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Hawaiian mac salad doesn’t have any vegetables aside from shredded carrot and maybe a bit of onion. Not according to the potato-mac salad I enjoyed at a Hawaiian restaurant in Seattle I used to frequent. Seriously, potato-mac salad with peas is to die for… And I might, eventually. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/18 "2024-11-25T04:24:34Z")
Honestly, my Hawaiian SO makes the blandest authentic macaroni salad and it tastes like she uses pencil shavings. Respected macaroni is treated to melted cheddar and has toasted panko flake crust ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/19 "2024-11-25T04:27:45Z")
Add in the glowing eyes of 1000 feral cats from the darkness waiting for your scraps for that big island vibe. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734/20 "2024-11-25T04:35:02Z")
This is 100% anecdotal hearsay but someone I know on the West Coast has mentioned he’s hooked on the pea salad at Hawaiian takeout places, a cuisine we don’t have here. I googled it to make fun of him but did see it on a few menus, it seems to be the cold macaroni and pea salad mentioned upthread, hold the elbows. I like peas, even canned, and I like creamy salads but something tells me it’s probably too sweet. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-food-hawaiian/1010734.md?page=2)