Maui: food
Since we stayed in condos, we cooked the majority of our meals but when we did venture out, we made it a point to get Hawaiian foods. To the right is a photo of the spices I packed from home so that cooking in the condos wouldn't be bland and tasteless. I used a free daily pill case from my local pharmacy and the cylindrical container is from a craft store. It's meant for bead storage, I believe. Cute and easy idea, and extremely convenient.
Da Kitchen Cafe (which is a chain with multiple locations in Maui) - we came here specifically to get the Hawaiian plate lunch
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| deep fried spam musubi |
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| loco moco lunch plate |
Loco moco is also a Hawaiian creation. It's basically rice served with a hamburger that's topped with a fried egg and gravy. Typically, plate lunches are served with macaroni salad but I asked for a green salad (chopped cabbage and carrots). It's a simple but hearty and delicious dish.
Mahi-mahi, how could I not get seafood while on an island? They breaded the super fresh fish in a light batter and then dipped it in panko so that the crust was super crisp and light and the fish was really moist and delicious. It was the best fish I've had in a long, long time.
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fish & chips (mahi-mahi)
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I didn't get the kalbi plate lunch, but a few of my family members did. They commented that the marinade was really delicious, which, coming from Koreans straight off of the boat from Korea, is quite a compliment.
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| kalbi lunch plate |
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If you're going to get fruit, go to a farmer's market. Sure, grocery stores may be more convenient and cheaper, but the stuff at the farmer's markets are usually super super fresh (perhaps picked that morning) and will taste much yummier.
If you've never had fresh coconut, you're in for a rude awakening. Personally, I love it, but most coconut lovers are shocked to find that the liquid inside is pretty tasteless and the flesh is chewy and not as sweet as you'd think. However, it's super healthy, great for hangovers, and really fun to consume. And if you're so inclined, you can scoop out the flesh and dry it in the sun and make some homemade coconut jerky. Once dried out, the sweetness will be more concentrated; it still won't be as sweet as the coconut flakes you sprinkle on top of cupcakes, but still delicious.
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Hawaiian shave ice is so amazing. On a hot day, it cools you off; and unlike ice cream, it's not loaded with calories or dairy so it's really refreshing.
Ululani's has a few locations in Maui and it's the most popular (says my own internet research) and for good reason. The ice is shaved so finely so the result is a smooth snowy slush, their syrups are all homemade with fresh ingredients, and the staff is so friendly and happy and fun.
They use a machine to shave a big cylindrical block of ice which they pack into a snowball on their cute flower-shaped containers (that come in small or large), poke holes in it with a wooden dowel (to help the syrups soak in), pour over the syrups slowly, giving the liquid time to drip all the way through (so you don't end up with tasteless snow on the bottom), stick a straw in (so you can suck up any remaining juice) and serving spoons. You also have the option of putting ice cream or mochi in the bottom of the container. I also recommend the sno-cap topping, which is kind of creamy and fresh; it gives your shave ice a creamsicle-y flavor.
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| coconut, passion orange, and mango |
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| coconut, pink lemonade, and peach |
We also got some Hawaiian pizza with jalapenos from Pizza Madness. I didn't snap any photos but I did journal about it. Pineapple, ham, and jalapeno - delicious combination of sweet, salty, and spicy.
Foodland is a chain of supermarkets in Hawaii and we bought all of our groceries and snacks here. They had a pretty impressive selection of mochi and I decided to try the Hawaiian purple sweet potato mochi, which was soft, sweet, and delicious.
Mochi is a Japanese rice cake and it's a popular snack in Hawaii.
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Foodland also had a really cute selection of reusable shopping bags (both regular and insulated). Musubi! My cousin and her husband bought one for themselves as a souvenir.
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| impressive selection of spam (top shelf: with cheese, oven roasted turkey, single classic, single lite; middle shelf: black pepper, bacon, garlic, hot & spicy, hickory smoked; bottom shelf: lite, original, 25% less sodium) |
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