List of Hawaiian dishes facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This is a list of tasty dishes you can find in Hawaii! Hawaiian food is a mix of traditional Native Hawaiian cuisine and flavors from many different cultures. These cultures include Asian, Portuguese, and American influences. It's a truly unique blend of tastes!

Meals

Breakfast

A common breakfast in Hawaii is a hearty meal of Portuguese sausage or SPAM, eggs, and rice. You can even find this combo at popular fast-food places like McDonald's and Burger King in Hawaii!

Main Dishes and Combos

Plate lunch: This is a super popular meal! It usually has two scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad, and a main dish like teriyaki beef or chicken katsu.
Mixed plate: Similar to a plate lunch, but it comes with two different main dishes, giving you more to try!
Loco moco: A classic comfort food! It's a scoop of rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy.
Poke: This dish features fresh, raw fish (often Ahi tuna) cut into cubes and seasoned with different ingredients like soy sauce, sesame oil, and seaweed. It's a bit like a Hawaiian salad!
Musubi: A popular snack, especially Spam musubi. It's a slice of grilled SPAM on top of a block of rice, wrapped together with a strip of nori (seaweed).

Ahi tuna limu (seaweed) ahi poke
Tako (octopus) poke
Spam musubi

Desserts

Pineapple-flavored Hawaiian shave ice

Hawaii has many delicious desserts, often featuring tropical fruits and coconut.

Cakes: Popular flavors include chantilly (a creamy frosting), Dobash (chocolate), and guava or rainbow chiffon.
Dole Whip: A soft-serve frozen dessert, usually pineapple-flavored. Even though it wasn't invented in Hawaii, it's very popular there because of the strong connection between Dole and pineapples on the islands.
Haupia: A traditional Hawaiian coconut pudding. It's often served on its own or used as a topping or filling for other desserts.
Hawaiian shave ice: A super popular treat! It's finely shaved ice topped with sweet syrups, often with a scoop of ice cream or condensed milk at the bottom.
Kūlolo: A traditional Hawaiian dessert made from mashed taro and coconut milk. It's similar to a chewy pudding.
Lilikoi bar: A local twist on the classic lemon bar, made with tangy passion fruit (called lilikoi in Hawaii).
Malasada: A delicious Portuguese doughnut that's fried until golden and often coated in sugar. Modern versions might be filled with guava, haupia, or custard.
Mochi: A chewy Japanese rice cake. Butter mochi is a favorite local style.

Breads and Pastries

Lavosh sold at the Kanemitsu Bakery counter in Molokai, Hawaii. Flavors offered include Maui onion, sesame, taro and cinnamon.

Andagi: Okinawan-style fried doughnuts, often found at festivals.
Malasada: As mentioned in desserts, these fried dough treats are a big favorite.
Manapua: This is the Hawaiian version of the Chinese char siu bao (steamed pork bun). They are often larger and can have fillings like char siu (BBQ pork), sweet potato, or even kalua pig.
Portuguese sweet bread: A soft, slightly sweet bread, often used for sandwiches or just eaten plain. Outside Hawaii, it's sometimes called "Hawaiian sweet rolls."

Drinks & Beverages

Coffee: Hawaii is famous for its coffee, especially Kona coffee from the Big Island. Coffee is grown on several islands.
Guava nectar and Liliko'i nectar: Sweet and refreshing juices made from tropical fruits.
Passion fruit-Orange-Guava (POG): A very popular juice blend that combines the flavors of passion fruit, orange, and guava.
Tea: Tea farming has grown in Hawaii since the 1980s, with many small farms now producing local teas.

Fruits and Vegetables

Curuba from Hawaii

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.

Hawaii's warm climate allows many different fruits and vegetables to grow.

Avocado: A creamy fruit used in many dishes.
Banana: A common tropical fruit.
Breadfruit: A starchy fruit that can be cooked in many ways, similar to a potato.
Coconut: Used for its water, milk, and meat in many Hawaiian dishes and desserts.
Guava: A sweet and tangy fruit, often used in juices and desserts.
Mango: A popular sweet and juicy tropical fruit.
Maui onion: A special sweet onion grown on Maui.
Papaya: A soft, sweet fruit often eaten for breakfast.
Passion fruit: Known as liliko'i, this tart fruit is used in drinks, desserts, and sauces.
Pineapple: An iconic Hawaiian fruit, sweet and juicy.
Sweet potato: Called ʻuala, these starchy vegetables have been a food source in Hawaii for a very long time.
Taro: A root vegetable that is a very important traditional food in Hawaii. It's used to make poi.

Prison inmates on Oahu eating poi circa 1890
Pineapple from Maui
Lychee, introduced to Hawaii about 100 years ago

Vegetable Dishes

Banchan or tsukemono: These are small side dishes, often pickled vegetables, served with meals.
Tofu: A popular plant-based protein used in many dishes.
Watercress soup: A common soup found in traditional Hawaiian restaurants.

Seasonings & Condiments

Hawaiian cuisine uses many unique seasonings and sauces that reflect its diverse influences.

Fermented bean products: Such as miso (Japanese) or gochujang (Korean), which add deep, savory flavors.
Furikake: A dry Japanese seasoning sprinkled over rice, often made with dried fish, sesame seeds, and seaweed.
"Hawaiian" chili pepper: A local chili pepper used to make "chili pepper water," a spicy condiment.
Ginger scallion sauce: A flavorful sauce made with ginger and green onions, often served with chicken or fish.
Honey: Local honey comes from flowers like macadamia and ohia lehua.
ʻInamona: A traditional Hawaiian condiment made from roasted kukui nuts and salt.
Salt: Especially paʻakai, with alaea salt being a famous red Hawaiian sea salt.
Soy sauce: Known as shoyu in Hawaii, it's a very common seasoning.
Wasabi: A spicy green paste, often served with sashimi.

Meats

Beef Dishes

Loco moco

Beef stew: A hearty stew often served with rice.
Bulgogi: Thinly sliced, marinated Korean BBQ beef.
Corned beef hash: Often shaped into patties and pan-fried.
Kalbi shortribs: Marinated and grilled Korean-style short ribs.
Loco Moco: (See Main Dishes section above).
Meat jun: Thin slices of beef dipped in egg batter and pan-fried, a Korean-inspired dish.
Pipikaula: A salted and dried beef that's similar to beef jerky.
Teriyaki beef: Beef marinated in a sweet and savory teriyaki sauce.
Teriyaki burgers: Burgers with teriyaki sauce, a popular local fast-food item.

Chicken Dishes

Siu mei dishes: Like cold ginger chicken or roast duck, influenced by Chinese cooking.
Fried chicken: Many styles, including Chicken katsu (breaded and fried), karaage (Japanese fried chicken), and Korean fried chicken.
Grilled chicken: Such as Huli-huli chicken (a rotisserie-style chicken with a sweet glaze) and teriyaki chicken.
Stews: Including chicken adobo (Filipino stew), chicken luau stew (made with taro leaves and coconut milk), and Japanese shoyu chicken.

Fish Dishes

Abalone: A type of shellfish.
Butterfish: Also known as black cod, often baked or grilled.
Kamaboko: A type of Japanese fish cake.
Lomi-lomi salmon: A refreshing side dish made with diced raw salmon, tomatoes, and onions.
Poke: (See Main Dishes section above).
Sashimi: Thinly sliced raw fish, usually served with soy sauce and wasabi.
Shrimp tempura: Shrimp that is battered and deep-fried.
Squid lu'au: A stew made with squid and taro leaves in coconut milk.

Pork Dishes

Laulau, a traditional Hawaiian dish

Adobo: A popular Filipino dish, often made with pork or chicken cooked in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, and peppercorns.
Kalua pig: A traditional Hawaiian dish where a whole pig is slow-cooked in an underground oven (imu) until it's incredibly tender and smoky.
Laulau: A traditional Hawaiian dish made by wrapping pork, fish, or chicken in taro leaves and then in ti leaves, and steaming or baking it until tender.
Lechon: A whole roasted pig, popular in Filipino cuisine.
Portuguese sausage: A flavorful smoked sausage, often served for breakfast.
Lumpia: Filipino spring rolls, often filled with ground pork and vegetables.
Siu mei: Cantonese roasted pork dishes like char siu (BBQ pork) and siu yuk (crispy roasted pork belly).

Noodles and Pasta

Cake noodles: Chow mein noodles that are fried until crispy on the outside but still soft inside, often topped with gravy and other ingredients.
Chicken long rice: A clear noodle soup with chicken and ginger.
Chow fun: Wide rice noodles stir-fried with meat and vegetables.
Chow mein: Stir-fried noodles, a very common dish.
Pancit: Filipino stir-fried noodles.
Saimin: A unique Hawaiian noodle soup, similar to ramen but with its own distinct broth and toppings.
Yakisoba: Japanese stir-fried noodles.

Rice Dishes

Bibimbap: A Korean dish with rice, mixed vegetables, meat, and a fried egg.
Steamed rice: A staple in Hawaiian meals, usually served with almost every dish.
Fried rice: Rice stir-fried with various ingredients like eggs, vegetables, and meat.
Musubi: (See Main Dishes section above).
Futomaki: Also known as "maki," these are large sushi rolls with various fillings.
Inarizushi: Known as "inari" or "cone sushi," these are fried tofu pockets filled with sushi rice.

Snacks and Candies

Macadamia nuts

Arare and senbei: Japanese rice crackers, often savory and crunchy.
Crack seed: A variety of dried or preserved fruits, often sweet, sour, or salty.
"Hurricane" popcorn: Popcorn mixed with arare and/or furikake for an extra crunch and flavor.
Li hing mui: A sweet, sour, and salty plum powder often sprinkled on candies and dried fruits.
Macadamia nuts: A famous Hawaiian snack, often roasted or covered in chocolate.
Maui-style potato chips: Locally made potato chips.

Soups

Wonton saimin

Oxtail soup: A rich and flavorful soup made with oxtail.
Saimin: (See Noodles section above).
Portuguese bean soup: A hearty soup with beans, sausage, and vegetables.
Wonton mein: Noodle soup with wontons (dumplings).

Starch Dishes

A Hawaiian poi dealer, circa 1870

Macaroni salad: A creamy and popular side dish, often served with plate lunches.
Poi: A traditional Hawaiian staple food made from mashed taro root. It has a unique purple color and a slightly sour taste.