Much like the Menehune of Hawaii or Alien Big Cats, good tiki eats can be rather elusive.

Now's your chance to show us your Tiki Food.

Did you eat at a tiki restaurant or bar? Indulged at a party?
Classic cuisine or something experimental or futuristic?

If you ate something memorable while out and about, please show us a picture.

Did you cook or have a recipe to share? What makes it tiki?
Post that here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=38047&forum=10&0

Let's eat!

[ Edited by: amybean 2010-10-07 22:52 ]

[ Edited by: amybean 2010-10-08 11:48 ]

[ Edited by: amybean 2010-10-10 08:24 ]

I honor of Halloween...ZOMBIE FISH returns!
Okay, I know this is a re-post, but it's too damn cool.
Bet you can guess where I ate it (look at the mug, it's behind the creepy fish eye).
I think the recipe is as follows...

1. Dunk one fish in a vat of boiling oil.
2. Then cover in herbs that look like seaweed.
3. Make fish hug rice ball.

BTW- Check out the "Tiki" water in the background.

Thumbs up! Amy....

Tonga Tom, that fish gave me nightmares!

For those interested in having some pupu-like nibbles at their Tiki habitat but not able to cook them from scratch (either for lack of skill, desire or because the starving Tikiphile horde came to your place out of nowhere) Costco does carry some pretty Tiki-conversant bits of food:

Teriyaki meatballs
Crab rangoon
Chicken spring rolls (appetizer-sized, Ling-Ling brand)
Pot stickers (ditto)

Whole Foods also carries other Ling-Ling products, and some pretty decent coconut shrimp -- the brand is "Royal Asia, I believe -- with a sweet chili dipping sauce.

Of course, getting your fanatical foodie on and doing it all from scratch is the best bet, but I am pleasantly surprised by how tasty these are. Especially since almost all of these can be ready after a few minutes in a hot oven.

(My go-to Tiki edible is huli-huli chicken, in case you were wondering! One day I'll master the "Chinese" BBQ ribs...)

jokeiii- I had never heard of huli-huli chicken til now. Thanks for that. I'll poke around for some recipes.

Have you ever made Kalua...anything, really...a Hawaiian friend taught me, and according to this recipe, she showed me the modern way with ginger, garlic, liquid smoke and soy. The traditional style is just salt and smoke.

Assemble ingredients in a roasting pan and cover mightily with aluminum foil for steaming. Slow roast for hours and then pull out all the bones. I've done turkeys and chickens- both fantastic. Your friends will be amazed at how tender.

This recipe shows pork

http://www.hawaiiforvisitors.com/recipes/kalua-pig.htm

The folks over at http://virtualweberbullet.com/ have all the kalua recipes that you could want! (They are HARDCORE foodies of the open-fire-and-smoke persuasion...)

I moved this post to the new "Tiki Food Recipes" thread.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-10-09 08:18 ]

That helps a lot! Thank you for that. I don't always remember to take pictures when I cook, but this will remind me to for sure.

PS It works equally well with skinless chicken, but you may have to be more vigilant.

Hey Amy, I have a Kalua Lamb (over rice) recipe that is real good. (Just need to locate since my move). AND a home made Kalua recipe which I will also post as soon as I find.

Jokeiii, thank you for the huli-huli recipe, looks lovely!

(Ah, should I post here?)

For additional Tiki-food fun, you can always hop on to YouTube and search for "Alton Brown Good Eats Down and Out in Paradise" and you should get his 1-hour special of Tiki food. (I posted the links in another topic I started.)

The premise was that AB "shipwrecked" and had to make "Good Eats" with whatever he found on the tropical island where he had washed up. Sweet & sour pork, coconut shrimp, etc. are all there.

PS For even more fun, check out the article in Saveur Magazine on Trader Vic's food which I just posted in the Tiki Food Links thread.

My personal theory why TV was able to weather the Tiki Dark Ages has to do with the fact the food is actually pretty good. A lot of places I could name closed because all they had were drinks.

-J.

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-10-08 08:12 ]

[ Edited by: jokeiii 2010-10-09 09:05 ]

On 2010-10-08 00:08, WSWahine wrote:
Hey Amy, I have a Kalua Lamb (over rice) recipe that is real good. (Just need to locate since my move). AND a home made Kalua recipe which I will also post as soon as I find.

Jokeiii, thank you for the huli-huli recipe, looks lovely!

(Ah, should I post here?)

WS Wahine- that lamb sounds fantastic.
I was thinking about a separate thread for recipes. Recipes seen online, or from restaurants or family secrets could all be in one handy location.

Keep this thread for photos, comments, addresses and links?

On 2010-10-08 10:02, amybean wrote:
I was thinking about a separate thread for recipes. Recipes seen online, or from restaurants or family secrets could all be in one handy location.

Keep this thread for photos, comments, addresses and links?

Given the, er, fireworks going on in, uh, other sections of TC, I think the best thing is to have one thread ("our own Tiki food recipes" or similar) for our own recipes, such as the huli-huli chicken I posted recently and keep this one as the place for links etc. to Tiki food out in cyberspace (such as the YouTube links I posted to Alton Brown's Good Eats special on Tiki food).

The "what's cooking thread" I think, has a bit too much...umm...going on to be useful to people looking for recipes. More heat than light, if you see what I mean. I don't mind sharing food recipes/stories/etc., but for those people coming by to TC for resources to all things Tiki, it'd also help THEM if they didn't have to wade through the not-quite-so-Tiki stuff, my own foremost among these. (I'll be more than willing to post my billion and a half recipes for everything from Argentine steak to gravlax, but I think it best to separate the Tiki from the Rest.)

I'll be happy to move my posts to the appropriate spots, but I suggest we start with a clean thread.

Thoughts?

P.S. Made "oven fried" (also didn't fuss with the funky folding) crab rangoon for dinner last night. BIG hit.

This thread started off right . . . . then went thataway!!!!!!

So, did ATP's thread go the way of the dodo?
OK, here's some "Tiki Food" Sherriyaki and I had at Don's tonight...

Salad with pineapple and pickled ginger and some sweet bread rolls...

Poke tacos...I think they used to have square wonton wrappers to make them look more "Tiki"/"Asian"

Crab with corn and sweet potato fries...

[ Edited by: Tonga Tom 2010-10-15 12:22 ]

The corn and crab dish looks like a party! Was it good?

Trader Vic's Emeryville is posting some savory looking dishes styled in a similar fashion:
http://twitpic.com/photos/TraderVicsBay

[ Edited by: amybean 2010-10-14 12:47 ]

On 2010-10-14 12:42, amybean wrote:
The corn and crab dish looks like a party! Was it good?

The food was good that night! The crab was on special for $14.99 (a Wenesday night thing).
I really like going to Don's, but the quality of food is kinda hit 'n' miss there...the zombie fish was also pretty dang tasty last month, I must say.
Unfortunately, or fortunately for DBC, there was a lady with her son (I'm assuming) sitting next to us giving her "harsh" criticisms to the manager. He seemed to be soaking it in, and wanting to improve their menu with her suggestions. Don't know who she was, but attention was being paid. Looking forward to improvements/changes.

Here are some Tiki Food sightings from The Beachcomber in Malibu...

TINY AHI TACOS...Well one at least.

VEGGIE SPRING ROLLS

JUMBO SHRIMP “CORNDOGS” & GREEN GODDESS CALAMARI
There are homemade tiki cookies in the bags. I'll take a pic and post it later.

WILD MUSHROOM AND TRUFFLE MAC

TANGERINE SHRIMP

I think this was the MALIBU PIER BURGER

BLACKENED AHI SLIDERS

Here's the cool tiki cookies Eric October made.

Aha....corndogs!

Tom, was the SHRIMP “CORNDOGS" listed as corndogs on the menu?

that mushroom dish looks mighty tasty.

I believe it was listed as "JUMBO SHRIMP “CORNDOGS”"

On 2010-10-23 01:38, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Tom, was the SHRIMP “CORNDOGS" listed as corndogs on the menu?

It was mighty mighty tasty.
We ordered it the first time we went to the Crystal Cove Beachcomber, and had to order it again when we went to the Malibu Beachcomber.
They have 3 cool local specific mugs and a bowl too for quite reasonable prices. They are the same at both locations.

Here are some pics I took from the Crystal Cove local.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=25162&forum=1&vpost=523027

On 2010-10-23 13:59, ErkNoLikeFire wrote:
that mushroom dish looks mighty tasty.

International Market Place food court...

"If it doesn't say Tiki on it, it's not Tiki food."

Who was the guy who said that? :)

Anyway I opted for the Kimchi fried rice in the stall next door.

There's a lot of bad Tiki around here (Waikiki). Stay tuned...

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2010-10-31 13:38 ]

I went to the newly renovated Trader Vic's in Emeryville recently.

The view is nice, but the food and drinks were totally disappointing. They weren't awful, just not anything to take a photo of, or inspiring me to want to go there again. It was happy hour, so the tab wasn't ridiculous.

If anyone has a better experience with the menu there, I'd love to hear about it. In the meantime, it's cocktails at home, parties, or Forbidden Island.

What? you didn't like the "Tiki Food" Amy :lol:
it's to bad we don't know any better?

On 2010-11-09 18:15, amybean wrote:
I went to the newly renovated Trader Vic's in Emeryville recently.

The view is nice, but the food and drinks were totally disappointing. They weren't awful, just not anything to take a photo of, or inspiring me to want to go there again. It was happy hour, so the tab wasn't ridiculous.

If anyone has a better experience with the menu there, I'd love to hear about it. In the meantime, it's cocktails at home, parties, or Forbidden Island.

That's dissapointing to hear Amy. I get to TV's Chicago several times a year and the food is always great.

Lots of people have good things to say about the food at Trader's L.A.
I know Sabu is a fan, anyone else?

On 2010-11-10 20:07, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Lots of people have good things to say about the food at Trader's L.A.
I know Sabu is a fan, anyone else?

I'm a fan!!!
The last time we went, we sat in the bar (corner booth so you can check the whole area) during late afternoon, and ordered off the appetizer menu. Although the shrimp were overcooked, the other four dishes we had were great. We had Mai Tais from scratch, Navy Grogs and Menehune Juice...All very tasty!

It's hard to compete with the majestic Smuggler's Cove, though.
The Rum Barrel cocktail packs a wallop. And is completely delicious.

Smuggler’s Rum Barrel Smuggler's Cove Recommends Warning: Very Strong

Secret blend of fresh juices, Caribbean spices, several rums.

Went there almost a week ago, and just found the flower
still hanging out in the take home mug. ha!