Cookware
Best Cast Iron Skillets for Island-Style Cooking
Cast iron is the perfect pan for Hawaiian cooking — high heat searing, oven-to-stovetop versatility, and practically indestructible. Here are the best options.
CurtisJCooks — Hawaiian Food & Drinks
Uncategorized
Spam Musubi Recipe — The Only Way I Make Hawaii’s Iconic Snack
The spam musubi recipe I learned in Kalihi — caramelized Spam, perfectly seasoned rice, and the wrapping technique that keeps it together.
Latest Recipes
Tropical Treats
Lilikoi Cheesecake — No-Bake Hawaiian Dessert
A creamy no-bake cheesecake topped with homemade lilikoi curd. Tangy, tropical, and no oven required.
Quick & Easy
15-Minute Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp (Plate Lunch Style)
A quick, home-kitchen version of the famous North Shore garlic shrimp. Buttery, garlicky, and on the table in 15 minutes.
Poke and Seafood
All Poke and Seafood
Poke and Seafood
Poke Nachos – Hawaiian-Style Nachos with Fresh Ahi
Somewhere along the way, someone in Hawaii looked at a plate of nachos, then looked at a bowl of poke, and said: “What if?” That person is a genius. Poke nachos have exploded in popularity over the last decade. Every sports bar in Honolulu has their version. It’s the pupu that gets ordered for the…
Poke and Seafood
Shoyu Ahi Poke – Classic Soy Sauce Poke Recipe
Classic shoyu poke puts soy sauce front and center. This everyday Hawaiian favorite is savory, simple, and perfect over rice or straight from the bowl.
Poke and Seafood
Limu Poke – Traditional Hawaiian Seaweed Poke
Traditional limu poke is the original Hawaiian recipe—seasoned with seaweed, sea salt, and inamona. A taste of pre-contact Hawaii in every bite.
Island Comfort
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Island Comfort
Plate Lunch of the Week: Korean BBQ Short Ribs
Sweet, savory, and incredibly tender—Korean BBQ short ribs the Hawaiian way.
Island Comfort
Plate Lunch of the Week: Kalua Pig
Smoky, tender kalua pig—the taste of a Hawaiian luau in your home kitchen.
Island Comfort
Beef Tomato – Hawaii’s Chinese-Style Stir-Fry Classic
Beef tomato is one of those dishes that every local kid in Hawaii grew up eating. It’s simple—tender slices of beef stir-fried with juicy tomato wedges in a savory-sweet sauce—but that simplicity is exactly what makes it so good. Quick enough for a weeknight dinner, satisfying enough to make everyone ask for seconds, and perfect…
Tropical Treats
All Tropical TreatsTropical Treats
Lilikoi Cheesecake — No-Bake Hawaiian Dessert
A creamy no-bake cheesecake topped with homemade lilikoi curd. Tangy, tropical, and no oven required.
Tropical Treats
Hawaiian Banana Bread — The Tropical Version You Need
This Hawaiian banana bread is loaded with macadamia nuts, coconut, and pineapple. It tastes like the roadside stands on the Big Island.
Tropical Treats
Classic Haupia: 4-Ingredient Hawaiian Coconut Pudding
Haupia is Hawaii's coconut pudding — four ingredients, ten minutes, and the most important dessert at any luau. Here's how to make it right.
Hawaiian Breakfast
All Hawaiian Breakfast
Hawaiian Breakfast
The Local's Guide to Loco Moco (Restaurant-Style at Home)
Rice, hamburger patty, fried egg, brown gravy. Loco moco is Hawaii's ultimate comfort food — simple, hearty, and absolutely non-negotiable at any plate lunch spot.
Hawaiian Breakfast
Hawaiian Acai Bowl – Thick, Creamy, and Loaded with Toppings
Walk down any main street in a Hawaii beach town – Haleiwa, Kailua, Lahaina – and you’ll find at least three acai bowl shops within a block of each other. Lines out the door. People sitting on curbs with purple-stained mouths. Instagram photos being carefully composed. Acai bowls are everywhere now, but Hawaii was early…
Hawaiian Breakfast
Hawaiian Sweet Bread French Toast – Soft, Buttery, Unbelievably Good
If you’ve ever made French toast with King’s Hawaiian bread, you know. You know. That soft, pillowy bread soaks up the egg custard like a sponge, then turns golden and almost caramelized on the outside while staying impossibly tender inside. It’s not even fair to regular French toast. The Story of Hawaiian Sweet Bread Robert…
Island Drinks
All Island Drinks
Island Drinks
POG Juice: Hawaii's Iconic Passionfruit-Orange-Guava Drink
Every kid in Hawaii grew up on POG juice. Here's why this passionfruit-orange-guava blend became the islands' most iconic non-alcoholic drink — and how to make it at home.
Island Drinks
The Perfect Hawaiian Mai Tai (Not the Mainland Version)
Forget the neon-red slushie you got at that resort bar. A real Hawaiian Mai Tai is a completely different drink — balanced, nutty, and dangerously smooth.
Island Drinks
Blue Hawaii Cocktail – The Original Island Drink Recipe
The Blue Hawaii is the drink that started it all—the original tiki cocktail that put Hawaii on the mixology map. That electric blue color, the perfect balance of tropical sweetness, and the kitsch of a paper umbrella have made it an icon for over sixty years. I’ll admit, I used to think blue drinks were…
Pupus & Snacks
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Pupus & Snacks
Fried Wontons – Local Hawaiian Party Pupus
No local party is complete without a plate of crispy fried wontons. These golden, crunchy pockets filled with seasoned pork are the pupus that disappear first—and the ones people ask you to bring again next time. Fried wontons came to Hawaii with Chinese immigrants during the plantation era. Over generations, they became such a staple…
Pupus & Snacks
Lomi Salmon on Taro Chips – Modern Hawaiian Pupu
Lomi salmon is one of Hawaii’s most traditional dishes—salted salmon “massaged” (lomilomi means to massage) with tomatoes and onions. Serving it on crispy taro chips gives this luau classic a modern pupu presentation that’s perfect for parties. Lomi salmon came to Hawaii in the early 1800s when sailors introduced salted fish to the islands. Hawaiians…
Pupus & Snacks
Korean Fried Chicken Wings – Sticky Sweet Island Style
Double-fried chicken wings tossed in a sticky sweet-spicy gochujang glaze — Hawaii’s answer to the ultimate pupu. Shatteringly crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and glazed with the kind of Korean-inspired sauce that makes you lick your fingers clean. Perfect for tailgates, watch parties, and backyard gatherings.
Quick & Easy
All Quick & EasyQuick & Easy
15-Minute Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp (Plate Lunch Style)
A quick, home-kitchen version of the famous North Shore garlic shrimp. Buttery, garlicky, and on the table in 15 minutes.
Quick & Easy
Aloha Friday: Summer Poke Party
How to throw an amazing poke party that brings island vibes to your backyard.
Quick & Easy
Aloha Friday: Spam Musubi Secrets
The insider tips that make spam musubi go from good to unforgettable.