Inspired by Hawaii
THE MEAL
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Well, I’d hoped to make a more elaborate meal for our last tropical island and the 50th United State, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to find purple sweet potato, and the rolls I tried to make failed to rise TWICE, so this was much simpler than I would’ve liked. I’m just grateful that I got to go to Hawaii earlier this year and try so many great authentic foods!
Slow-cooked Pork & Cabbage
For the main dish of my simple Hawaii-inspired meal, I made slow-cooked pork with cabbage to represent kalua pork. Pork has been part of Hawaiian cuisine since around 400 AD, and the most famous way they prepare it is with an entire pig wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in an imu—an underground oven that roasts the pork over the course of an entire day. “Kalua” actually means “to cook in an underground oven.” Obviously I wasn’t equipped to prepare pork the authentic Hawaiian way, so instead I slow-cooked a pork shoulder with liquid smoke overnight.
It turned out pretty good! The authentic kalua pork I tried in Hawaii had a simple flavor that was dressed up with sauces or put on rolls and sandwiches. The meat I made was similar in taste. It went great with just plain white rice, but I also enjoyed eating the leftovers on bread with a little barbecue sauce. It’s versatile and filling and really easy to make!
Hawaiian Sweet Rolls
For my side dishes, I was going to make purple sweet potato but couldn’t find any near me in Indiana. Then I tried to make Hawaiian sweet rolls, which are supposed to be pretty basic dinner rolls with pineapple juice added to give it Hawaiian flair. Well, I don’t know what happened, but I could not make those rolls work. The first time, my yeast bloomed and my dough seemed to have the right texture, but after setting it aside to rise for a couple hours, it was still just a small lump of dough in my bowl! No rise at all. It was so disappointing. So I tried again with a different recipe that had the same ingredients but was supposed to be a quicker method, and this time my yeast didn’t even bloom in the heated pineapple juice at all. It was BRAND-NEW yeast, and I used a thermometer to make sure the liquid was the perfect temperature, and still nothing. I didn’t have the motivation or the time to make a third attempt, so that’s why my meal is so small. At least I got a good pineapple to spruce it up a little!
Chocolate Haupia Pie
Thankfully my dessert turned out great this time around! I was nervous, because haupia seems very similar to the latiya custard that I failed to make for my Guam-inspired meal, and I was really worried that it wouldn’t set. As you can see from the photo, though, it set just fine!
Haupia is the Hawaiian word for a coconut custard that you can find all across Polynesia. The original version is vegan, made without any kind of gelatin, eggs, or dairy—just coconut milk and usually arrowroot for the starch. It can be enjoyed on its own, sometimes with other flavors like mango added in, but an especially popular way to make it is as a pie, with either a chocolate or sweet potato layer. For this chocolate version, after making the coconut custard, you set aside half of it, then mix cocoa into the other half and layer them in a pie shell and top with whipped cream. It has a great flavor—sweet but not cloying. I loved it!
That does it for the tropical island states and territories of the U.S.! Now back to the mainland to finish up the western states. Next stop: California! I can’t believe we only have three more to go! Thank you for reading!