kids encyclopedia robot

List of Hawaiian dishes facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Taro burger
A taro burger from Down to Earth, Maui

This is a list of dishes in Hawaiian cuisine, which includes Native Hawaiian cuisine and the broader fusion Cuisine of Hawaii. The Cuisine of Hawaii refers to the indigenous, ethnic, and local cuisines within the diverse state of Hawaii.

Meals

Breakfast

  • Portuguese sausage and/or SPAM, eggs and rice is a common breakfast, so much so that it is featured item at places like fast food restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King.

Entrees and combos

Desserts

PineappleSnowCone
Pineapple-flavored Hawaiian shave ice
  • Cakes: chantilly, Dobash, guava/rainbow chiffon once a perennial favorite at birthday parties for over 40 years years, haupia
  • Dole Whip—though not invented in the islands, Dole and pineapples are associated with Hawaii
  • Guri-guri—a sherbet originating from Maui via Japan
  • Haupia—a standalone dessert, or coconut flavoring accompaniment to others
  • Hawaiian shave ice also known as "ice shave" in other parts of the state
  • Kōʻelepālau — Pudding of mashed sweet potato mixed with coconut milk
  • Kūlolo—a distant Austronesian relative of the dodol using taro and coconut milk
  • Piele — Kūlolo-like dessert made with sweet potato or breadfruit
  • Lilikoi bar — local variation of the lemon bar
  • Mochi, including butter mochi—a favorite omiyage
  • Pies: custard, pumpkin, pumpkin-custard, haupia, chocolate haupia, okinawan sweet potato haupia
  • Pumpkin crunch — A variation on the "pumpkin (pie) dump cake" popularized by Sam Choy, often served chilled as a dessert bar.

Breads and pastries

Lavosh as Kanemitsu Bakery
Lavosh sold at the Kanemitsu Bakery counter in Molokai, Hawaii. Flavors offered include Maui onion, sesame, taro and cinnamon.
  • Andagi—popular at pop up shops during festivals like Obon
  • Anpan
  • Apple turnover—made popular by Zippy's as "Apple Napples"
  • Banana bread
  • Blondies—made popular by Kamehameha Schools called "haole brownies"
  • Bok tong go—generically known as "(Chinese steamed) rice cake," a classic item sold by the manapua man; a multiple layered version similar to kue lapis with a brown sugar top layer also exist
  • Chinese almond biscuit—simple known as "almond cookie
  • Chinese shortbread—or "kong sui ban" a very tender Chinese biscuit whose texture is between a cookie and a cake, often paired with hot tea
  • Chinese style bakery buns such as hot dog and ham & cheese
  • Chocolate chip cookies and shortbread made with the addition of macadamia nuts
  • Coco puffs—a popular cream puff made by Liliha Bakery typically filled with a chocolate pudding and topped with chantilly frosting
  • Jindui—a staple during Chinese New Year but eaten throughout the year
  • Lavash (or "lavosh") glamourized in the 1960s as a high end alternative to toast
  • Malasada—a traditional staple on Mardi Gras but popular throughout the year. Modern recipes have it coated with cinnamon sugar and/or filled with various jams and creams like guava, haupia, or custard
  • Manapua—A local iteration of the char siu bao often 2-3 times larger than those found in dim sum restaurants. Popular fillings also include a whole lup cheong sausage, sweet potato, kalua pig, and sometimes is baked made popular by the Royal Kitchen in Chinatown in the 1970s
  • Manju—a favorite omiyage for travelers leaving Maui
  • Molokai "hot bread"—a well-known export of Molokai that Anthony Bourdain featured it and was even a semifinalist for the renowned James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Baker
  • Moon cakes—another favorite during the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival where local flavors are sometimes incorporated like mango and taro.
  • Nian gao—(simply known as "gau") a staple of Chinese New Year sold at many Chinese and non-Chinese shops or made in bulk by local households to share with other families
  • Poi donuts/ malasadas, mochi
  • Portuguese sweet bread or "Hawaiian sweet rolls" outside of Hawaii
  • Spanish rolls—a favorite staple to share in the office to go with coffee
  • Snow puffies - A variation of the Napoleon pastry

Dairy

Drinks & Beverages

Fruit and vegetables

Owoce Kuruba
Curuba from Hawaii
Kalo Loi Harvest
A kalo lo'i harvest in Maunawili Valley. A lo'i is an irrigated, wetland terrace, or paddy, used to grow kalo (taro) or rice. Ancient Hawaiians developed a sophisticated farming system for kalo, along with over 300 variations of the plant adapted to different growing conditions.

Vegetable proteins and dishes

Seasonings & Condiments

Meats

Beef

Loco Moco
Loco moco
  • Chili frank, chili with whole hot dogs (served with rice)
  • Beef stew
  • Bulgogi
  • Canned corned beef
  • Corned beef hash - normally shaped into patties
  • Hamburger curry stew
  • Hot dogs are simply boiled, pan fried, grilled or simmered in a sweetened soy sauce "shoyu dogs" and served with rice
  • Kalbi shortribs
  • Loco Moco
  • Meat jun - a jeon typically made with thin slices of beef sometimes marinated before dipping in egg/egg batter before pan frying
  • Pho
  • Pipikaula ("beef rope"), a salted and dried beef that resembles beef jerky
  • Sukiyaki
  • Teriyaki beef
  • Teriyaki burgers - a common item at local burger joints, the McTeri is a favorite and seasonal item found at McDonald's
  • Teriyaki meatballs

Chicken

Fish

See also: List of Hawaiian seafood

Pork

Lau lau
Laulau, a traditional Hawaiian dish

Noodles/Pasta

  • Cake noodles - a serving of chow mein noodles are fried until the outside is crispy, while the inside remains al dente and then cut into squares. It is usually topped with gravied/saucy dishes like beef and broccoli
  • Chicken long rice
  • Chow fun
  • Chow mein
  • Look fun
  • Pancit
  • Saimin, fried saimin
  • Yakisoba

Rice

Snacks and candies

Awwwwww NUTS
Macadamia nuts
  • Arare (or interchangbly as "kakimochi") and senbei
  • Coconut balls
  • Crack seed such as dried or preserved (wet) lemons, plums, and mangoes
  • Dried squid or cuttlefish
  • Haw flakes
  • "Hurricane" popcorn - popcorn tossed with arare and/or furikake
  • Li hing mui (powdered) covered gummy candies and dried fruits
  • Macadamia nuts and chocolate covered macadamia nuts
  • Maui-style potato chips
  • Sesame seed candy
  • Shortbread
  • Shrimp chip
  • Taegu - sometimes made with dried codfish and sold alongside poke in the seafood sections of local grocery store, but often made with dried squid/cuttlefish in households
  • One-Ton chips (fried wonton strips)

Soups

Wontonsaimin
Wonton saimin

Specialty products

Starch dishes

Hawaiian poi dealer, photograph by Menzies Dickson
A Hawaiian poi dealer, circa 1870

See also

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
List of Hawaiian dishes Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.