Hawaii Food and Recipe Blog

The centerpiece of any luau is of course the kalua pig. Pulled hot out of the imu (and if you’ve gone to the Polynesian Cultural Center you get to see them actually open the imu - the smell is amazing!) this shredded pork has nothing to do with the famous liquor, Kahlua (notice the “h” when someone is talking about the liquor?) - it means to be rubbed in salt and smoked in the imu.

Of course, on the mainland most of us don’t have an imu So how to replicate the flavor of a yummy luau  treat like kalua pig? You don’t need to look any further than your crock pot. Simple ingredients add up to a really wonderful main dish, no shoveling in the garden required.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5-6 pound pork butt - make sure it will fit in your crockery cooker
• 2½ tablespoons Kosher salt (if you can find Hawaiian salt, by all means use it! Hilo Hattie makes a smoked sea salt which is yummy)
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke

DIRECTIONS:

First grab a big fork. You’re going to wash the pork butt and patt dry, then pierce it all over with that fork so there are plenty of little holes  for the yummy flavor to go into. Next, rub the roast first with the liquid smoke, then with the kosher salt. Once you’ve finished giving the pork roast it’s massage, into the crock pot it goes on low for at least 12 hours, and more like 16. (This is a recipe you want to start early in the day, or even the night before!) Once times up, lift the roast out of the cooker and shred - add dripping from the crock pot to moisten it if you need to. That’s all there is to it!

When you go to Hawaii, you’re going to find Macadamia nut recipes everywhere. I even got the chance to visit a Macadamia nut farm (yum!) where they had seasoned mac nuts, mac nut bread, and of course mac nut chocolate chip cookies! These are just as easy to make as traditional chocolate chip, but much MUCH tastier

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
• 12 oz white chocolate chips (about 1 bag)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and then gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets (I use parchment paper and my cookies come out perfectly!)
   
3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Let them cool, then enjoy with a tall cold glass of milk!

If you go to Hawaii and somehow manage to avoid having a Mai Tai, I’m going to be seriously impressed. Every restaurant,nightclub and venue has it’s own “special” Mai Tai recipe and believe me, they are amazing. I liked some better than others, but no matter what recipe Mai Tai you taste they are super sweet and will knock you on your butt faster than you can say “luau”.

The basic components of any Mai Tai are rum, lime or pineapple juice (or both), and triple sec. But there’s a lot of room for variation, like these two recipes. Be sure you pop a slice of fresh pineapple in yours and a paper unbrella, and you’ll feel like you’re on the beach at Waikiki!

Pineapple Variation Mai Tai
(My personal favorite)

• 4 oz orange juice
• 4 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz Rose’s lime juice
• 1 oz dark rum
• 1 oz light rum
• 1 oz triple sec
• 1/2 oz grenadine

The “Trader Vic” Mai Tai

• 1 oz gold rum
• 1 oz dark rum
• 1 oz triple sec
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz Orgeat syrup

No matter which recipe you choose, shake all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass over crushed ice. Garnish with fruits and mint, and serve with a straw and that paper unbrella!