Hawaii Food and Recipe Blog

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.

If you ask someone right off the street what sort of food they would expect to find in Hawaii, chances are good the first thing they will think of is pineapple. (Try it yourself and you’ll see what I mean!) When I visited Hawaii, I took every chance I could to get some fresh pineapple - right until my mouth started burning. turns out this highly acidic fruit is great - in moderation! Of course, I’m going to be providing PLENTY of pineapple recipes on the blog, and here’s a good one to start with Use it on fish, pork, or just about anything you can think of. It provides a tropical taste to darn near anything.

Sweet and Hot Pineapple Salsa Recipe

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
2 tablespoons orange marmalade
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons seeded and finely chopped jalapeño - fresh, but be careful not to touch your face or eyes while chopping! Best bet is to wear gloves or put ziploc bags over your hands.
2 teaspoons lime juice - again, fresh is best.
generous pinch of salt

In a medium bowl combine all ingredients well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve cold or at room temperature.

If you’ve visited Hawaii, you’re probably smacking your lips right now. If you haven’t yet, then Haupia is a coconut dessert. Not a pudding exactly - it’s more solid than a pudding. More like a creamy jello but made with coconut milk and thickened with cornstarch (so it’s still kind of transparent.) One of my favorite desserts - there’s alway a little room “in the cracks” for Haupia!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup whole milk
• 7 tablespoons sugar (you can use less, but I like mine sweet)
• 5 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

PREPARATION:

Pour one cup of coconut milk and the dash of Vanilla extract into a saucepan. Combine sugar and cornstarch stirring into coconut milk. Heat over low stirring constantly until slightly thickened. I can’t stress the stirring part enough - like any milk recipe, if you don’t keep stirring it will burn and/or form a skin!

Add remainder of coconut milk and whole milk and continue to heat until thickened again. Pour the mixture into an 8 inch square pan and chill until firm. Wasn’t that easy?