Post #166207 by nuimaleko on Thu, Jun 16, 2005 9:09 AM

When I lived in Hilo the place to eat was Jet Burger, a small island burger chain. They served Saimai, fresh papya, egg salad sandwiches and a dozen other non burger things. I ate there every day.
If there is no Jet Burger, plate lunch is always the best deal on food in Hawaii. You can get it at all kinds of places,plate lunch speciality stands, Korean BBQ places,stalls at the malls, you name it. The thing with plate lunch is that no matter what entre you order ( roast pork, teriyaki chicken, beef stew and meatloaf are my faves) you get two scoop white rice and one scoop of the best maraconi salad in the world for about 5 bucks. I understood the rice, because of the huge Asian population in Hawaii. There are a lot of East Asian things that have become part of the fabric of modern Hawaian culture, but when I asked a lot of locals how macaroni salad became a staple of the Hawiian diet, most had no clue, but some said it was the midwestern wives of navy officers stationed at Pearl Harbor that introduced it to Hawaii and as with all things good in Hawaii the locals picked it up, and made it thier own. Hawaiian macaroni salad is just like what my mom made in New Jersey; macaroni, onion, celery, celery seed and cole slaw dressing (mayo, sugar and sweet pickle juice)and maybe a little sweet pickle relish if you are fancy. The recipe has not changed in Hawaii. No pinnaple or teriyaki sauce added, thank god. Just the sweet creamy goodness of American summer food.(potato and macaroni salad, deviled eggs, cole slaw and every kind of poulty, sea food and meat you can drown in mayo)