You can get a Hawaiian food plate lunch almost anywhere in the Islands, with nearly all of the required fixins (kalua pig, laulau, lomi salmon, etc.). But if we were to craft the best Hawaiian plate ever, here’s where we’d go. 1. Haupia: Yama’s Fish Market (Oahu) We appreciate Yama’s taking creative license with the coconut […]
How does Hawaii like its mochi? Let us count the ways. No matter which culture these tasty tidbits are from, they’re made from sugar, rice and everything nice, and we’re into that. Here are some places on Oahu to get your local-style, Korean, Chinese, Japanese or Filipino mochi fix. Modern Colorful vegan options from Peace
Nestled along the slopes of the dormant Hualalai volcano on Hawaii Island, a traditional stone forno (Portuguese for “oven”) burns with sweet anticipation. Master baker Laurie Westrich, her hair wrapped up in a palaka (checkered) bandana and wearing a matching apron dusted with white flour, rakes the hot kiawe coals heating up the forno’s domed
A musubi—traditionally Spam on a fitted, rectangular bed of rice and wrapped with a piece of nori (seaweed)—is found in grocery stores, gas stations and snack stands all around the Islands. Of course, any Hawaii resident knows there are other possible musubi combinations, such as, the also popular, hot dog or chicken katsu musubis. But,
Hawaii has often been called a melting pot of cultures, and nowhere is that more evident than in the culinary habits of its residents. In a place where you can get Spam and Portuguese sausage breakfast plates at McDonald’s, pounded poi (taro) at Safeway and Whole Foods or Chinese dim sum at any 7-Eleven, it’s
This longstanding favorite served during the fall and winter season is by no means isolated to the Islands, but there’s something unique about Hawaiʻi’s version of the dessert when compared to the other recipes you can search online … Is it the thickness, the texture, the whipped cream cheese frosting? Not sure, but it’s ʻono,
*This story was published on May 1, 2013, and updated in February 2026. The phone in Mike Hirao’s office is ringing off the hook. He doesn’t answer it. “I bet this person wants chichi dango,” he says, eyeing the noisy phone. It’s 3 p.m. on a Thursday. Nisshodo Candy Store has been open since 7
Jim Gusukuma sits at a picnic table near Rainbow Drive-In, his board shorts still damp from his morning surf in nearby Waikiki. A line of customers is already at the takeout window, ordering plates of fried rice, loco mocos and buttermilk pancakes. This is Thursday ritual for Gusukuma, owner of the iconic comfort food haven,
A sugar-blanketed deep-fried Portuguese doughnut. A bowl of chili that leaves aficionados of the traditionally spicy side dish scratching their heads. A canned luncheon meat with an annual festival in its honor. Love ’em or not, this collection of Hawaii foods represents the eats we feel everyone must try at least once to boast that
It’s raining, as it has been for the past few days on Kauaʻi. Cars swerve to avoid potholes and people are armed with hooded sweatshirts, umbrellas and newspapers held over their heads. The scene in Līhuʻe looks more like Seattle in the summer than Kauaʻi in January. Still, while the bus stops and parking lots
Trust us. You haven’t truly sampled everything Hawaii residents love to eat until you’ve had a Spam musubi. It’s the perfectly portable Hawaii snack—a slice of fried Spam over a compacted block of sticky white rice, and all of it wrapped with a ribbon of dried nori (seaweed). There are dozens of versions of this
HAWAII Magazine reader Dinah Herrera e-mailed us for some help with a favorite Hawaii dessert: a chocolate haupia pie. Can you get me the recipe for the chocolate haupia pie at Anna Miller’s restaurant? You ask. We answer. Chocolate haupia pie is something of a dessert institution in the Islands. Haupia is a sweet, gelatinous
