ISO: Another request - ISO Hawaiian appetizers

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dawnnys

Well-known member
I offered to help my niece with a little party she is having - not really a luau, but just an indoor snacky thing. It will be in late October, so it'll be inside.

I'm sure she'll want something with pineapple, but I thought it might be fun to make something - not to hard - that is authentic Hawaiian. Will be for about 12 people. Thanks!

 
You got me on "Authentic Hawaiian." Appetizer suggestions, I can lend a hand, authentic... can't.

Assuming that is what you are striving for! : )

 
I should rephrase: Something containing pineapple (sorry Sandi in HI and CathyZ), coconut, or

macadamia nuts, or anything you might think of when you think of Hawaii. This is for a group who will be going to Hawaii and it's a little intro party beforehand.

Thanks Sandy and Barb!! I googled and searched a little, thought I might get some input from here.

 
Rec: Sylvia's Domain Chandon Cheese Spread. You can sub Macadamia for the walnuts; I served on

individual endive pieces. Great presentation, threw a bunch of chopped nuts on top of the entire thing. Looked fun and enjoyed by all! I did not pipe the cheese. (That would have been a nice touch!)

Domain Chandon Cheese Spread

8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 oz. blue cheese
1 T toasted walnuts or pecans (I like more)
1 T chives, chopped
1 T parsley, chopped
Sour dough bread

Chop walnuts, chives and parsley briefly in food processor. Toss together with crumbled blue cheese and mix well. Process cream cheese until creamy, add blue cheese and walnut mixture and blend until thoroughly combined. Do not over mix.

http://eat.at/swap/forum/index.php?action=display&forumid=1&msgid=48773

 
Well, huli huli chicken wings are pretty "authentic"

Huli huli means to turn so huli huli chicken is usually either done as a whole chicken on a rotisserie or as pieces turned many times on the bbq grill. Huli huli chicken uses a special marinade and the one listed above looks like it would work just fine.

If you must use pineapple (!) how about making small bamboo skewers of pineapple, brushing with soy sauce and grilling them? Pretty tasty. I even do this sometimes smileys/smile.gif

Sashimi is probably the number one-most beloved pupu (appetizer) in Hawaiian fare. So cut some beautiful fresh Ahi and mix up some wasabi with shoyu (soy sauce) and eat with chopsticks. You are almost "local" with that one.

 
When using Spam this way it is called Musubi, Ang- Favorite after school kid treat

I meant the "Spam Sushi" not the spears smileys/smile.gif

And grown-up people treat too! Spam rules in Hawaii.

 
I have "Kamakani Cooks", Winning Big Island Recipes from Hawaii Preparatory Academy

Pupus (appetizers) recipes include:

apricot brie
asparagus spears
caponata (?!)
chicken & jalapeno nachos
eggplant dip with garlic
Hawaiian salsa
sun dried tomato torte
tiropetes (?! again... isn't this Greek?)
tropical lumpia
Jay's non-fat black beans
sparkling sangria
kahua iced tea

although only 2 of these even sound Hawaiian, I'd be glad to post a recipe for anything that sounds good.

 
Coconut and pineapple as ingredients are not really Hawaiian...

I guess what I would consider to be "Hawaiian Food" is very different from what you may consider to be Hawaiian, which is why I usually don't reply to requests for "Hawaiian" food.

To the residents of Hawaii, "Hawaiian" refers to foods from the native Hawaiian diet, which may include things like kalua pig (pit roasted pig), poke (raw fish mixed with various flavorings), lau lau (meat and fish wrapped in taro leaves), poi, squid luau (squid and taro leaves braised in coconut milk), etc.

To me, a Hawaiian recipe including coconut or pineapple is kinda like calling a McDonalds hamburger a beef dish smileys/smile.gif

A typical party in Hawaii consists of foods from so many different cultures - Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hawaiian, American, etc. etc. etc. And then there are foods that cross cultural lines, and become uniquely Hawaiian, like the Spam musubi. An appetizer in Hawaii could really be from any culture. You gotta love the diversity!

 
No "aversion" to it but this is what happened....

Sometime, I think in the 50s, Dole Pineapple rolled out a campaign to get Americans everywhere to eat canned pineapple. Because Hawaii has the perfect climate for growing pineapple and at that time was known as an exotic "paradise" (still is!), Dole paired Hawaii with pineapple in their marketing and put out many cookbooks using pineapple in recipes and calling them Hawaiian. So everybody thinks Hawaiian food has pineapple in it. Not so. Totally wrong.

Coconut is used in many ways in Hawaii- the water, milk, the meat, the oil but again, it was a marketing ploy long ago to make America think because coconut trees are grown here that Hawaiian recipes have coconut in them. While there are a few desserts that I can think of that use coconut milk, you NEVER see recipes with flaked or shaved coconut in them smileys/smile.gif

See Sandi's post to see the real deal. This is what folks make and eat.

 
Yup, I knew none of that sounded real smileys/smile.gif BTW, I'll be over there in 2 weeks and

would like to have some good poi - any recommendations? I remember having some as a kid and loved it.

 
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