Garlic Fried Saimin

Garlic Fried Saimin, also known as "Garlic Noodles" are fried noodles that are often found in the recipes using garlic were labeled Pot Luck Saimin. In Hawaii, it is usually referred to as fried saimin noodles with garlic or chinese egg noodles that are a little thick. The noodles are curly, while the sauce that is added can have oil, shoyu, butter, and seasonings to make sure the flavor can be tasted. It was actually not something that stuck as many people who grew up with fried saimin may not have even heard of it, but to those who ated would start adding more garlic to their own recipes. At this time garlic fried saimin was not included as something associated at all with western cuisine as it was a local style of eating the noodles of Hawaii.

Etymology: Garlic Fried Saimin is mainly associated with Cajun-style or the Local-style in Hawaii, but both tend to be widely available with toppings and butter-sauces depending on the area. The name comes from "garlic" referring to the crunch of garlic, and "noodles" referring to the saimin noodles that are used. When people refer to it as garlic fried saimin in Local cuisine it is a better description of what people are ordering than simply garlic noodles that could possibly cause confusion as to what sort of noodle and how it is prepared.

History: A flat-top grilled starch was called "fried saimin" that was the precursor to garlic fried saimin. While it might sound obvious with being a variant of fried saimin the dish has carved out its own pairings due to the butter-sauce that has made it so well known. As there is no exact date it is said that recipes that involved butter in the making of fried saimin noodles wasn't specifically given its own category, but that was because people would fry with whatever oil and butter they would have in a large wok.

The original recipes back in the day were out of survival, so the recipes were simple, rather than the toppings that are on many fried noodles of today. It didn't have much added vegetables and meats and stuff that was added later, so the noodles were different before they became what is known today as garlic noodles. The difference from the typical fried saimin is that it was not only fried using the oil that makes saimin shiny, but it was also using seasoned butter as those who brought it believed it would add a good flavor to the noodles. It would be called unrefined, that is until the Hawaii-Cajun cuisine had caught on with the dish and began to make it for the modern audiences. 

The cooks at the time had regulars and they each had their own preferences to their orders and they would tweak the recipe until people would react positively and the orders would start coming through. This dish was so well received that it became a regular a la carte menu item under the name "Garlic Noodles". Others had copied these noodles with their own take and it became a staple part of Hawaii-Cajun dish  throughout Hawaii. It was served at specialty stores of Hawaii-Cajun cuisine and potlucks that were in the privacy of peoples homes. What was good too is that it bridged the gap between those who were local and the military base where it was something familiar to those on the mainland and had a local twist.

The first appearance of the dish commercially was at Karai Crab. It was located in the area near the old Willows Restaurant at Karai Crab in the 2010’s after the Recession and before the covid-19 pandemic. Fried noodles had already been eaten in different saimin shops and places that served fried saimin. But locals noticed that it was much different in its buttery flavor, fried garlic topping, slightly bland, and being a little rich than the typical fried noodle dish. Some locals call this a controversial dish at best, while some who like butter believe it's a great addition to fried noodles spectrum. It was at this time that buttery garlicky saimin noodles would be added to Hawaii-Cajun Cuisine, even establishments on the mainland would add it to their menus.

Cooks Discussion: Locally people really love their fried saimin and it was one of the foods that feed their soul, have it be in a bowl with soup, or on its own as a main dish country style. Garlic saimin is no exception to this, so cooks that worked the line would discuss how to find more reasons that customers could have to come back for even more garlic fried saimin noodles. They the existing dish was good, but variety they thought could create more food combinations that people would discover in the world of fried saimin and to bring them to Hawaii-Cajun cuisine and make it something that is more familiar and that would ensure it wouldn't just be called Mainlander food.

Controversy: Although Garlic noodles in Hawaii was occasionally served at potlucks and sometimes featured at local news stations food programs, it did not catch on with all the people in Hawaii and remained in the grouping of dishes within Hawaii-Haole cuisine. It was also not recognized as unique to Hawaii by those who weren’t interested in upcoming foods, so it was criticized for being part of a trend that would not last. While there is an ongoing argument of where it belongs there are several varieties with kamfen hong kong noodles and look funn noodles.

"I liked the noodles, but sometimes I wanted something that taste different. Everything taste like garlic. I know gottah have garlic, but I like something with more flair. Only garlic is boring, yeah?" -Customer 

Varieties: The dish originally was known for two distinct variations and that consisted of the Hawaii-Cajun style and the Hawaii-Local style, but both branched off of the regional cuisine of the region, Hawaii Cuisine. 

Hawaii-Cajun Style varieties: In the Honolulu area the predominant version of the dish is found with oil, butter, garlic chips, and usually contains other ingredients that make up its great toppings. The toppings are usually some sort of: roasted garlic kukui nuts, chopped up green onion with sweet onion, baby steamed shrimp, chopped fried octopus bits, smoked mussels, baby clams, escargot, an assortment of hard grated cheeses [parmesan, pecorino romano, asiago], and an assortment of spice powders [cajun seasoning, lemon pepper nīoi seasoning, sriracha powder seasoning, kiawe pineapple habanero seasoning]. (A.) Parmesan Garlic Fried Saimin, (B.) Cajun Garlic Fried Saimin, (C.) Chipotle Garlic Fried Saimin.

Hawaii-Local Style varieties: In the Moanalua are there are back yard barbecues and seafood boils in local neighborhoods where people get together with many of them being local born military. There is also a military housing that is nearby as well where people meet together as well to socialize and that is where many of the local variations have emerged, from serving residents who would make food that they and their fellow servicemen could enjoy. The toppings on these usually consisted of: green onions, diced fried omelette egg, diced sauteed portuguese sausage, diced sauteed spam, diced sauteed luncheon meat, or diced sauteed bacon: (A.) Garlic Fried Saimin, (B.) Kalbi Garlic Fried Saimin, (C.) Tabasco Lemon Garlic Fried Saimin.