Hawaii Food and Recipe Blog

One dish I absolutely LOVED while I was in Hawaii was the Lomi Lomi salmon. In Hawaiian, lomi means “to massage” or “to rub” so when you see this recipe, you’ll understand the name. It’s one of those really simple dishes that just tastes fabulous and can also be dressed up in lots of different ways. Enjoy!

• 1 lb salted salmon filet
• 3 fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 medium Maui or Vidalia onion also, diced (you can substitute 3-4 thinly sliced green onions)
• juice of one lime

Ideally you have a salted salmon filet available at your store. But if you don’t then pick up some kosher salt, massage it into the filet and refrigerate overnight. You really REALLY need the saltiness, so don’t even think about just mixing the ingredients and throwing in a pinch of salt at the end - it won’t be enough and you will wonder why this dish gets so many raves!

Once you have (or have made) a salted salmon filet, dice it the same size as your tomato. The idea here is that they should look almost identical in color and size. Mix the salmon, onion, tomato and lime juice and you’re done. Chill until ready to eat (at least one hour, more is better but don’t go crazy and overdo it) - delicious!

I found this pineapple side dish recipe on the Cherry Hill Cottage blog, and although it isn’t strictly Hawaiian - hey, it’s pineapple! And talk about yummy sounding, hot pineapple, cheese and a cracker topping would be good with just about anything - ham, of course but if you’re feeling extra adventurous, put it with some Spam and Mac Salad and you’re more than halfway to a plate lunch!

Click Here for her pineapple side dish recipe - and try not to drool on the keyboard

The thing about lau lau is that most of us here on the mainland don’t have access to Ti leaves! This version uses spinach and it tastes very similar, but of course unless you have “the real thing” you will not quite match the taste. And don’t even think about doing these in a crockpot - talk about a mess.

Pair this up with some mac salad and you have a typical plate lunch from the islands - enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2lbs pork.
• 2lbs salt salmon or butterfish
• 7-8 bundles of spinach
• corn husks
• salt
• sweet potatoes

Cut pork into small chunks about 2-3 inches square - you can also buy “city chicken” pork cuts at the grocery store which work nicely, just use more pieces. Cut the salmon in smaller chunks… I’ve never seen butterfish at my grocery yet, but I keep hoping Wrap one piece of pork and one of salmon in a thick pad of spinach (yum!). Wrap each package in corn husks. Tie at the tip. Place the laulau in a steamer, the bottom of which is covered with water. Put sweet potatoes around packages of laulau and steam 3-4 hours. Be sure water is always in steamer.