Tiki Food Recipes

One more ;)

I know, right? Even more impressive when you realize that’s from 1968!

Banana Chimichangas. No real recipe. Made little burritos with half bananas and uncooked tortillas. Added toasted coconut and macadamias inside. Deep fried and plated with a squeeze of rum butter sauce, a dollop of whipped cream, and a light dusting of cinnamon. Very good.

Also tried it with macadamias and chocolate chips inside and chocolate syrup on the plate.

But I wanted Al Pastor, Mike! Seriously, looking good, How about making it with Bananas,rum, Cinnamon and sugar, served with Ice Cream, like a Bananas Foster Burrito?

Aloha Burgers.
Beef burger, a slice of grilled pineapple, and a thin slice of fried Spam, King's Hawaiian bread bun. Dressed a bit of teriyaki sauce and served with sweet potato fries and spicy aoli.

Great presentation Mike and it looks delicious.

It was good Hilda. Saw it on a menu in Temecula and thought it's give it a spin

Anyone have a recipe for Beef Cho Cho? I dimly remember Saveur Magazine having reprinted it ca. 2009 but I can't find that issue and their website is coming up zeroes.

Mahalo in advance!

-J.

Deeply grateful!

Experimented with Huli Huli Chicken. I wanted to try an easy (but not necessarily quick) Huli Huli. To me a key element is the smoke flavor from cooking over an open Kiawe fire. I picked up a Walmart rotisserie chicken and injected some Hawaii Famous Huli Huli Sauce under the skin and threw it in the water smoker with some mesquite chips. Since it was already cooked and I just wanted to add some smoke flavor, I cold smoked it at about 200° for an hour. During the last 15 minutes I brushed it with more sauce a couple times then served it with additional sauce.
Found this garnish idea from a Hei Hei Bento Box YouTube video, it seemed appropriate LOL This would work well for a group. Often the pre-cooked chickens are cheaper than raw ones and certainly less work. I can fit at least a dozen chickens in my smoker.
It wasn’t up to Road to Hana standards but I wouldn't hesitate to serve it at a party. The smoke and the sauce helped elevate it above a standard rotisserie chicken.

My trick for cold smoking is filling the water pan in my Weber "bullet" with ice. I may have to experiment now...

Cool idea jokeiii! (Pun intended LOL)

Golden Tiki in Vegas serves some Spicy Chicken Fingers. I made a quick version that turned out well. Made a Srirachi Honey sauce with Sriracha, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and garlic (https://easysaucerecipes.com/honey-sriracha-sauce/), drizzled it over some frozen popcorn chicken and baked as directed. Then garnished with black sesame seeds and green onions. The sauce keeps well in the fridge, so prep was quick and easy before serving. Sorry, no pic.

Easy Big Island Cookies. I took an oatmeal cookie mix and prepared it per directions. Then stirred in a handful each of espresso chips, macadamia nuts, chopped dried tropical fruits, and coconut. Scooped it into cookies, sprinkled them with some red Alaea Hawaiian salt, and baked. Simple and tasty.

My wife knows a wonderful recipe for grilled pork. She adds dry red wine and a mixture of basil, pepper and smoked paprika. Do you have any idea how good it is? It's also medium-rare!

Adventures in Huli Huli. Pork Loin chunks marinated in Hawaii's Famous Huli Huli Sauce and a dash of Mesquite Liquid Smoke for about 10 hrs. Then 10 minutes on each side at 400° in the air fryer. Delicious!

Williams-Sonoma Kalua Pork

Ingredients: 1 bone-in pork shoulder, about 6 lb. (3 kg)

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 jar Williams-Sonoma Kalua Pulled Pork Starter Sauce (I replicate it with... 4 T liquid smoke 5 T Hawaiian sea salt, or let's be real, regular sea salt ½ c pineapple juice (fresh is best, refrigerated is OK, and canned in an absolute pinch) ¼ c rice vinegar ¼ c honey 5 T garlic chili sauce 5 T hoisin sauce)

2 large fresh or thawed frozen banana leaves

Directions: Season the pork generously with salt and pepper and brush with 1/4 cup (2 fl. oz./60 ml) of the sauce. Place a large sheet of aluminum foil on a work surface, and place a banana leaf on the foil. Place the pork shoulder in the center of the leaf and wrap the ends around the pork. Place the second banana leaf on top of the pork, perpendicular to the first leaf, and wrap the ends around the pork to enclose the meat. Fold up the edges of the foil to tightly wrap the pork and banana leaves, folding the edges to seal. Refrigerate for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours.

Start a Traeger grill on “Smoke” with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes). Set the temperature to 300°F (150°C) and preheat, with the lid closed, for 10 to 15 minutes. (I use a Weber "Bullet" Smoker, myself.)

Place the wrapped pork directly on the grill grate and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions until the pork is very tender and falling apart, 5 to 6 hours. Transfer to a carving board and let rest for 20 minutes.

Carefully unwrap the pork, removing the foil and the banana leaves. Using two large forks, shred the pork into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Transfer the pork to a large bowl and add the remaining sauce. Toss to coat, then season with salt and pepper. Serve hot. Serves 8 to 10.

The grandkids were over today. So we broke out the ice shaver, Fassionola, Cinnamon Syrup, and Sweetened Condensed Milk for Hawaiian Shaved Ice

Hawaiian Tamale FAIL! Kalua Pork, Grilled Pineapple, and Calrose Rice wrapped in Banana Leaves. I think the concept is good but my rice wasn't sticky enough and the frozen banana leaves were a pain in the butt to work with. Maybe fresh leaves would be better. And either a stickier rice or add seasoned rice vinegar like for sushi.

Hawaiian French Toast - Hawaiian King's Bread, Vanilla, Nutmeg, crusted with Macadamia Nuts, Pecans, and crushed Corn Flakes. Served with Passion Fruit Syrup and Whipped Cream.

Teriyaki Bar Mix
Always looking for a good Tiki bar mix, here's my most recent experiment.
In a large roasting dish combine
1 stick Butter, melted
1/2 cup Teriyaki Glaze
1 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 teaspoon Ginger Powder
3 tablespoons Black Sesame Seeds
In a large bowl mix
6 oz Rice Chex (half of a 12 oz box)
8 oz bag of Sesame Sticks
3 oz can of Chow Mein Noodles
16 oz can of Whole Cashews
2 oz bag of Baked Pea Snacks or Wasabi Peas
Add dry to wet in roasting dish and mix well.
Bake at 250°F uncovered 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels; cool completely about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.
Pretty good, crunchy but not too salty or intensely spiced. Other ingredients could be Rice Crackers, Furikaki, bits of Teriyaki Jerky, dried Tropical Fruit, Puffed Rice, Macadamia Nuts, etc

Huli Huli Cane Toad?
Read about a new way of preparing chicken called the "frog method". Similar to spatchcocking but ends up looking like a frog. I added half limes under the skin before cooking for "eyes" LOL

A simple luau lunch - InstantPot Kalua Pork, Hawaiian Fried Rice, Stir Fry Veggies, and Maui Mudpie

First of all, thank you, @jokeiii, for providing the "oven-fried crab rangoon" recipe! It was a total success last night. None of my guests had previously tried a crab rangoon before (except my fiancé at Trader Vic's Tokyo), and that recipe knocked it out of the park for us. I made the lime-chili-hoisin sauce as recommended, which worked out great. I also prepared some Futomaki, Japanese-style potato salad, and two Pokes. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures from last night but I’ve included two older ones.

To keep this from being completely off-topic, I will share my Poke recipes. I like to make two variations of Poke for my Tiki parties: one traditional and one slightly more contemporary, making it more approachable for guests ony familiar with mall "poke bowls."

The Traditional, or Heritage Poke:

• Salt
• Dried seaweed (salad)
• Nuts (I like Brazil or macadamia)
• Orange Habanero
• Fish you're comfortable eating "raw"

Start by soaking your seaweed in salted water. I prefer packaged seaweed salads from Japanese/Korean/Oriental markets, offering various seaweed types. If unavailable, use dried wakame or kombu. While the seaweed soaks, process your habanero (you might want to use latex gloves for this). Remove the stem and seeds, and the webbing holding the seeds. Chop the habanero semi-finely and taste a piece. Assess the spiciness and add a suitable amount to a large mixing bowl. Roast and chop your nuts and add them to the bowl. Strain and dry your seaweed (with paper towels), then chop it, and into the bowl, it goes. Next, cube your fish with a sharp knife. The cubes can be anything from 1cm to 1" in size. Add those to the bowl. Finally, add good-quality salt (think of Hawaiian sea salt or kosher salt) and mix thoroughly. Give it a taste and add more habanero or salt if you'd like.

Some notes: When choosing the habanero, pick out the smallest, ugliest, and wrinkliest ones. I have found that those have the most flavor without being too spicy. Orange habaneros have an incredible fruity aroma that reminds me of "tutti-frutti" candy. When shopping for the chiles, pick up some milder "just in case" chilies that you can use if the habanero turns out to be way too spicy. Also, if you have Hawaiian chilies available, use those instead of habanero. While Tiki is very much ”polynesian pop” I love to include some authentic aspects like this heritage Poke The popular mall poke bowls have diluted the reputation of this fine dish and most people (at least in Finland) have never tried the real thing.

Modern Authentic Poke:

• Sesame oil
• 2 Scallions
• 1/4 to 1/2 of a Pearl onion (or any Hawaiian kind)
• Ginger
• Oyster sauce
• Soy sauce
• Hoisin sauce
• Gochujang
• Fish you're comfortable eating "raw"

Mix equal parts of the sauces in a large mixing bowl. Grate or finely chop the ginger and add it to the bowl. Cube your fish, dice your onions and scallions finely, and add them to the bowl. Give it a good mix and a taste test. Add soy if it needs more salt, oyster or hoisin sauce if it needs more sweetness, gochujang or ginger for spiciness, sesame oil for tastiness, and onion for onion flavor.

Some notes: I often add to the modern Poke some nuts and seaweed as well. I don't serve poke with rice because I almost always have a Japanese-style potato salad that provides carbs for the meal. Happy cooking!

Glad the oven Crab Rangoons worked out!

PS Mahalo for the poke recipes. Will try out ASAP.

KonsTiki, looks amazing! I'm not a big fan of fish in general and specifically raw (it's tolerable fried LOL) but I appreciate to love put into these two dishes. I didn't realize that nuts were a thing in Poke but those could be a welcomed addition. Watch your inbox, I'm going to send you a message

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2024-01-22 16:43:09 ]

Cane & Canoe in Montage Kapalua Bay, Maui does a Baked Hawaii. Passion Fruit Cake base, mango and pineapple ice cream, merengue, and green chocolate fronds in the shape of a pineapple. I decided to give it a shot.

I started with a bag of green candy melts and gently melted them in the microwave. Once they were melted and stirred smooth, I added a small handful of chocolate chips and just barely stirred hoping for some color variation. I dumped it on a silicone mat and set it aside to cool.

I didn't see the purpose of the bottom cookie, I left it out. I started with a pound cake mix, thought it would be a little more dense and sturdy/supportive than regular cake. Replaced about 3 ounces of the water with passion fruit puree and baked it. Then split it (not very evenly) into 2 layers

Cut the pound cake into 3 1/2 inch rounds

Using a serrated bread knife, I cut a carton of mango ice cream into 1 - 1 1/2 inch slices, cutting through the carton.

For each 3 1/2 inch cake round, I cut a 3 1/2 inch and a 3 inch mango ice cream round, stacking them on the cake. My wife believes that ALL desserts need nuts so I pushed some macadamia nuts into the ice cream and put it all back in the freezer for an hour

Next I cut slices of pineapple/coconut ice cream, and cut a 2 3/4 inch round for the top of each stack. Back into the freezer

By this time the green chocolate had cooled, I cut it into pointed fronds

Mixed up some meringue with 4 egg whites, 1/4 t cream of tartar, a dash of vanilla extract, and 1/4 c granulated sugar. Piped the meringue onto the "pineapple" When ready to serve, I hit it with a torch. Added the fronds et voila!

Looks mighty tasty!

Now I'm hungry...

Thanks CWSM LOL

In my eternal quest for Tiki Bar Snacks I present Huli Huli Bacon Twists. Cut thick sliced bacon in half and marinate in Huli Huli sauce for a couple hours. Lay bacon out and crust both sides with brown sugar, add crushed red pepper, cayenne, or Chinese 5 Spice to the brown sugar if desired. Twist the bacon from both ends and place on a baking rack, place the rack on a foil lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes. Flip bacon twists, sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake another 20 minutes and serve. The dark color is from the sauce, not burned

It's Girl Scout Cookie season! Now I know it's a bit of the stretch to call Samoas cookies "Polynesian" but Tiki is faux Polynesian anyway. I made a Samoas Cake.
Chocolate Bundt cake, a schmear of chocolate frosting to make toasted coconut stick to the cake. Drizzle with melted caramel and melted chocolate. Then top with Samoas cookies.

Holy moly!