Hawaiian cuisine encompasses five distinct styles of food that reflect the waves of immigration to the Hawaiian Islands. When immigrant workers arrived in Hawaii, they brought with them recipes that were close to their hearts and that would later influence the region.
This blend of mostly Asian cuisines from China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Portugal created a style of “local food” unique to Hawaii.
National Hawaiian cuisine is a distinct fusion cuisine. Its development was based on an effort to move away from long-distance shipping ingredients that replicated continental recipes.
The idea behind the development of Hawaiian traditional dishes was to connect local ranchers, fishermen, and farmers with chefs and businesses in the hospitality and restaurant industries. International and continental hotel cuisines based on imported products and recipes from the mainland were replaced by dishes made from locally grown ingredients.
Speaking about food in general, the uniqueness of Hawaiian cuisine lies in the use of various herbs, sauces, spices and other ingredients such as pineapple, coconut, sweet potato, taro and yams. Seasonings include sea salt (pa’akai), ground nut (kukui), seaweed (limu) and sugar cane (ko), which was previously used as a sweet and medicine. A special, honorable place in Hawaiian cuisine is occupied by meat and fish, cooked according to a special recipe in earth ovens (imo).
The names of many dishes seem rather strange to visitors, but this does not in any way diminish their excellent taste.