What To Eat in Hawaii? Top 10 Foods in Hawaii You Must Try 2023

Hawaiian food is as varied as you can get. Modern Hawaii is made up of so many different cultures, and it seems like the best dishes came with the people who now live there. From traditional Hawaiian food to Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Mexican, Portuguese, Micronesian, and other Pacific Island specialties, the food here will get you just as excited as the beautiful scenery will.

Table of Contents

Popular Hawaiian Food #1 Kālua Pork

Wild boar is used to make traditional Klua pork, which is cooked in an imu, which is an underground oven. The meat is covered with rocks and leaves to keep it moist while it’s cooking. Salt and kiawe wood give the pork its flavor. Both traditional and tourist-style Klua pork can be found at laus.

What To Eat in Hawaii? Top 10 Foods in Hawaii You Must Try 2023 - Travel Pixy — Kālua Pork | © Gregg Tavares / Flickr

Popular Hawaiian Food #2 Laulau

Laulau, which is chicken or pork wrapped in taro leaves, is another favorite dish in Hawaii. This Hawaiian comfort food is also served at laus, and it tastes best when mixed with poi. imu are also traditionally used to cook laulau.

Popular Hawaiian Food #3 Haupia

Haupia is a traditional coconut dessert that is made by boiling together ripe coconut shavings and coconut milk to make it thicker. Once it’s set, put it in the fridge to make it hard. If you like coconut, you will love this dessert.

Popular Hawaiian Food #4 Ramen

Ramen is a popular dish on the islands. It is made of noodles and comes from Japan. In Hawaii, there are a lot of places to get ramen, and each one has its own style. There are shoyu-based (soy sauce) broths, tonkotsu (pork), jidori (chicken), etc. broths. This comforting dish is usually served with a variety of vegetables, seaweed, eggs, and noodles.

Popular Hawaiian Food #5 Tacos de pescado

Fresh fish tacos are a great lunch or dinner during the summer, and there are a lot of restaurants that serve them. Choose any fish you like, like ahi, ono, or mahimahi, and wrap it in a corn tortilla with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and guacamole.

Popular Hawaiian Food #6 Ahi

Ahi is a common food in Hawaii, and there is a lot of it during the summer. The best and freshest ahi always seems to come from local fishermen, who catch the fish and sell it right there at any popular fishing harbor on the islands. Put some salt in a pan and sear some ahi. Serve it on a bed of rice and you’re done.

Popular Hawaiian Food #7 Sushi

Sushi is a traditional Japanese food that has become popular on the islands and probably all over the world. This tasty dish can be made in a lot of different ways, but most of the time it is made with rice, seaweed, fish, and fresh vegetables. There are also a lot of sushi restaurants on the islands now. Genki sushi, where your food comes on a conveyor belt, is a local favorite.

Popular Hawaiian Food #8 Manapua

Manapua is a traditional Chinese dim sum dish. The steamed buns can have many different fillings, but most people like the BBQ pork the best. On the islands, you can get manapua at many Chinese restaurants and even at 7-Eleven.

Popular Hawaiian Food #9 Snow ice

Shave ice is a refreshing local treat that both tourists and locals love. It’s just a snow cone with more toppings and tropical flavors, like mochi, condensed milk, azuki beans, sprinkles, ice cream, fresh fruit, and so on. Locals love both Waiola Shave Ice and Matsumoto, which are both great places to get shave ice.

Popular Hawaiian Food #10 Malasadas

A malasada is a Portuguese donut that has become a popular dessert for both tourists and people who live in Portugal. Malasadas are fried balls of dough that are covered in sugar or cinnamon, or even both. Leonard’s is the place to go for fresh malasadas, and they offer a different flavor every month to keep things interesting for regulars and people who come back.

Please don’t be afraid to try new things when it comes to the food in Hawaii when you go there. It is so varied and probably not what you are used to, but it tastes good and is worth trying. Aloha!

Topic: What To Eat in Hawaii? Top 10 Foods in Hawaii You Must Try 2023

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