Before you read

Season for the food in front of you.

Island cooking rarely needs a crowded spice rack. CurtisJ's view is that a few reliable seasonings matter more than a dozen novelty blends, especially if you want fish, rice, chicken, and pork to keep tasting like themselves.

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Hawaiian cooking doesn’t rely on complicated spice blends or exotic ingredients — but the seasonings it does use are specific, and getting the right ones makes the difference between food that tastes Hawaiian and food that tastes like you’re trying. The good news is that most of these are available online if you can’t find them locally.

This guide covers every seasoning, salt, and spice blend worth having in your Hawaiian pantry, plus where to buy the real stuff.

The Essential Salts

Hawaiian Sea Salt (Pa’akai)

The foundation of Hawaiian seasoning. Traditional Hawaiian sea salt is harvested from evaporating ocean water in salt pans. There are several varieties:

  • Alaea salt (red Hawaiian salt) — Mixed with volcanic red clay (‘alaea), giving it a distinctive brick-red color and slightly earthy, mineral flavor. Used for kalua pig, poke, and as a finishing salt. This is the most iconic Hawaiian salt.
  • Black Hawaiian salt — Sea salt mixed with activated charcoal, giving it a striking black color and subtle smoky flavor. Used mainly as a finishing salt for dramatic presentation.
  • White Hawaiian sea salt — Pure sea salt without additives. Clean, bright flavor. The everyday cooking salt in Hawaiian kitchens.

For most recipes on this site, any good sea salt works. But for poke, kalua pig, and dishes where the salt is the star, genuine Hawaiian alaea salt is worth seeking out.

Japanese-Hawaiian Seasonings

Furikake

The Japanese rice seasoning that Hawaii adopted as its own. A mix of dried seaweed, sesame seeds, bonito flakes, and salt that gets sprinkled on everything — rice, eggs, popcorn, poke bowls, spam musubi. Nori komi furikake (the seaweed-heavy variety) is the most popular in Hawaii. Every Hawaiian kitchen has a jar.

Togarashi (Shichimi)

Japanese seven-spice blend with chili, orange peel, sesame, hemp seed, ginger, nori, and sansho pepper. Used to add heat and complexity to noodle soups like saimin, rice bowls, and poke. A little goes a long way.

Ponzu

Citrus-soy dipping sauce that straddles the line between seasoning and condiment. Essential for dipping katsu, gyoza, and any fried item. Great drizzled over fresh poke too.

Island Flavor Makers

Li Hing Mui Powder

The most uniquely Hawaiian seasoning — a salty, sour, sweet powder made from dried plum (crack seed). Hawaii puts it on everything: fresh fruit, shave ice, gummy bears, margarita rims, and even popcorn. It’s an acquired taste for some, but once you get it, you’ll want it on everything.

Inamona

Roasted kukui nut (candlenut) ground into a paste or powder with salt. This is the traditional Hawaiian seasoning for poke — it’s what makes Hawaiian-style poke different from shoyu poke. Hard to find on the mainland, but available from Hawaiian specialty shops online.

Limu (Seaweed)

Technically an ingredient rather than a seasoning, but dried limu is used as a flavor component in traditional poke and other Hawaiian dishes. Ogo (fresh seaweed) is used in limu poke. Dried limu kohu has a strong, briny flavor that defines old-school Hawaiian poke.

Essential Sauces That Function as Seasonings

These are covered in detail in our Soy Sauces and Condiments guide, but worth mentioning here:

  • Soy sauce (shoyu) — Aloha brand or Kikkoman. The backbone of Hawaiian cooking.
  • Sesame oil — Toasted. Used in poke, marinades, and finishing.
  • Oyster sauce — For stir-fries like chow fun and beef tomato.
  • Fish sauce — Filipino and Southeast Asian influence. Used in some poke variations and dipping sauces like coconut shrimp’s sweet chili dip.
  • Mirin — Sweet rice wine for teriyaki and glazes.

BBQ Rubs and Marinades

Hawaiian BBQ Seasoning

Several brands make ready-made Hawaiian BBQ seasoning blends — typically a mix of garlic, ginger, soy sauce powder, brown sugar, and sesame. Useful when you want quick Hawaiian BBQ flavor without mixing a marinade from scratch.

Huli Huli Sauce

Bottled huli huli sauce is available from several Hawaiian brands. It’s a quick shortcut for huli huli chicken when you don’t want to make the glaze from scratch. Look for brands that use real ginger and pineapple juice.

Where to Buy

  • Asian grocery stores — Best selection of furikake, togarashi, soy sauce, sesame oil, and mirin. Often cheaper than online.
  • Hawaiian specialty stores online — For alaea salt, inamona, li hing mui, and other hard-to-find items. Several Hawaii-based companies ship nationwide.
  • Amazon — Wide selection of all the above. Check reviews to make sure you’re getting authentic products.

Build Your Hawaiian Spice Shelf

Start with these 5: Hawaiian sea salt (alaea), furikake, togarashi, li hing mui powder, and good soy sauce. With these five seasonings plus fresh ginger and garlic, you can make 90% of the recipes on this site.

Then add: Sesame oil, mirin, oyster sauce, and fish sauce. Now you’re fully equipped.

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