Street Food from Hawaii

Street food: we can’t get enough of it. Luckily, there’s still plenty of new food to discover around the world. Every time, we travel to a new country. Today: Hawaii. There, you can eat the most delicious garlic shrimp and shaved ice in every color of the rainbow, among other things.

Spam musubi

A compressed block of rice with Spam and sometimes an omelet on top, wrapped in a strip of nori. Spam? Yes, you know, that super-cheap canned meat. Spam musubi looks quite a lot like sushi, thanks to the Japanese influences. Maybe it is, in fact, sushi, but in a slightly larger version. Been on vacation to Hawaii and didn’t eat this? That’s almost impossible. From 7-Eleven to trucks on the street: spam musubi is sold absolutely everywhere.

Not going to Hawaii but to Indonesia? Then go looking for saté kambing.

Loco Moco

The ultimate Hawaiian comfort food: a scoop of white sticky rice topped with a juicy hamburger smothered in gravy and a fried egg, complete with a runny yolk. Some Hawaiians claim it was invented by young surfers on the island who had little money. They wanted an inexpensive plate of food that was filling and delicious at the same time. According to Lonely Planet, you can get the very best Loco Moco at takeaway Café 100. Yes, simply served in a basic plastic container.

Malasadas

A kind of doughnut, but even more indulgent. That’s because butter and extra eggs are added to the batter. The malasadas are fried until golden brown and soft, round balls—with no hole in the middle, incidentally—and then dipped in fine sugar. They’re best eaten right afterward, while they’re still deliciously warm. And not to forget the highlight: sometimes the malasadas are also filled with custard or coconut cream for you.

Hawaiian shaved ice

Shaved ice? Is that something typically Hawaiian? Sort of. Although you can find it all over the world, Hawaii is home to a particularly special version. The ice is shaved from a large block, but in such a way that it becomes very fine and airy—it looks a bit like snow, kneaded into a snowball. The syrup (and sometimes milk) poured over it—you choose the flavor yourself—therefore doesn’t sink straight to the bottom.

Huli huli chicken

A whole chicken marinated in a kind of sweet soy sauce—one made with honey, brown sugar and lime. Traditionally, it is then placed between a rotating grill. This gives the sweet marinade a chance to caramelize on both sides, making the outside of the chicken slightly crispy while keeping the inside deliciously juicy.

Garlic shrimp

Along the north coast, particularly around Kahului, you’ll find them next to virtually every beach: food trucks selling garlic shrimp. You can smell the garlic from a great distance. The shrimp are coated with flour and pepper and then briefly fried at a very high temperature in butter, after which they’re served on a plate with rice and a wedge of lemon. Tip: apparently, you can get the very best ones at Giovanni’s food truck on Oahu.