Hawaiian Feast: Laulau, Poi, and Poke

Coconut friend

This post actually comprises a couple of different meals, but I thought I'd put them all together and call it a smorgasbord. And more than any cooking, this post is highlighting some finds at United Noodles - namely laulaus and poi. You can buy laulaus and poi at United Noodles?! Who knew?! They aren't cheap at $15 and $10 respectively, though they wouldn't necessarily be cheap in Hawaii either. The eating of the feast coincided with me receiving 6 coconuts from my co-worker (she used them for drinks, but did not want the meat inside) - which meant a big coconut processing fest, followed by "fun with coconut shells!"

Laulau steaming....

Laulaus are pork (with some extra pork fat) and a little bit of butterfish wrapped in taro leaves. This ensemble is wrapped again, in ti leaves this time so that the little package can be steamed. When you buy them at United Noodles, they come frozen in a pack of 3. I put them in a steamer basket over boiling water and they were ready in 15 minutes. These were amazing - the taro and ti leaves smell so good! My Charming Companion and I kept trying to think up other (local) greens that could replace the taro, and though collards or spinach or lamb's quarters would do, there is something about the taro that is really unique. We did think about trying laulau with one of the aforementioned greens wrapped up in corn husks - aka tamale wrappers. It would be a laulamale. ha!

I ate my laulau with a simple egg drop soup of chicken bone broth, eggs, sesame oil, and wakame seaweed (which I love - also from United Noodles in the Japanese section). It is about the fastest soup ever and tastes good too. If you make this, be sure to really stir up the broth as you pour in the whisked eggs so that the eggs are thread-like. These got a little clumpy due to not quite enough ferocity in the broth stirring.

Poi is fermented taro root - it is a gooey thick paste that is light purple, that to me tastes faintly of sourdough. I think it is nice with raw fish (lomi salmon or poke), though My Charming Companion just eats it up plain.

Above, the frozen poi is heated over a double boiler so as to avoid defrosting the whole batch at one time. Instead, you can score the poi package down the middle, whack it firmly on some strong structure (like a butcher block) and keep half in the freezer for later. Heat it slowly in the double boiler, adding some water to get a nice smooth, not too thick consistency. Then let it sit to cool to room temp for serving. Otherwise just defrost the whole package and whisk up (with some water) for full consumption. Any leftovers will continue to ferment, so beware if you don't want it to get more sour!

Finished poi! Eat it with your fingers!

Poke is sashimi tuna (or in my case salmon - but could also be swordfish or even octopus - though you would cook that) that is marinated in sesame oil and a little coconut aminos, with hawaiian sea salt, chili pepper flakes, and limu seaweed. You can buy a little packet of poke mix at United Noodles - and really what you are buying is the limu, which seems hard to come by otherwise. I mixed mine with some fresh scallions too. And after you pick up your poke mix, you can pop right next door to Coastal Seafoods for your sashimi grade fish! Just remove the skin, and dice.

Salmon poke - yum!

So, that is the feast. One of my fave Hawaiian dishes that was not made this time around is lomi salmon, which is a salad of raw salmon with green onions, tomatoes, and hawaiian sea salt. This is not the time for tomatoes though, so that will have to wait for summer!

Coconut friend eating a laulau.