Gravy Fried Saimin

Gravy Fried Saimin is a type of saimin dish made by stir -frying boiled saimin with ingredients such as onion, carrots, cabbage, pork, and seasoning it with shoyu-dashi sauce and oil. It is a saimin dish that originated in Hawaii. It is different from many other Country Fried Saimin Noodles as there are a wide variety of saimin dishes with a type focusing on Okuhara-type noodles and flavored with sauce that was served in Okazuya-style take-out counters after 1965. Other similar saimin dishes will also be explained to make sure there is a Hawaii Saimin Guide.

Cooking method: Ingredients such as cabbage, onion, green onions are fried in an oil on a flat-top, oyster sauce, a shoyu-dashi sauce are added and fried further, then boiled saimin is mixed in and seasoned with salt and pepper. Porkchop can sometimes be replaced with Portuguese Sausage Hot Dog (Purity) or Thin Sliced Barbecue Pork (teriyaki). Top with Chili Peppah Water or fried crunchy garlic to taste (fried garlic diced, infused in oil, onion powder, garlic salt, sugar, aloha soy sauce, dashi). 

Condiments: salt, black pepper, aloha shoyu, and sriracha.

Noodles: Boiling and Frying, The Gravy Fried Saimin served at homes and Okazuya requires boiling the noodles and allowing them to rest for a certain period of time. It is then to be lightly coated in oil to keep from sticking to one another and preventing the noodles from drying out as it is covered. When people want to eat they are then already pre-portioned and brought to the flat-top to be fried until a golden brown. It will be part of the overall reheating-process that uses the sauce and other toppings. This method shortens the cooking time as it was designed for a time before people considered using frozen noodles. 

History: Fried Saimin was relatively common on the island with shoyu, dashi, and vegetables, and many tasted like Hawaii Fried Saimin with slight changes. So, Fried Saimin served at Sato's Okazuya which slightly changed the texture of the sauce made it different from the usual recipe. In the background, Saimin noodle makers were prosperous back in the day and there were many Saimin shops that served Saimin and Fried Saimin. The history of food for survival would create the need for the typical mixture thrown inside most fried saimins.

Gravy Fried Saimin is a dish made with shoyu-dashi sauce, and onions with cabbage have been introduced at homes of the generational plantation families from Waipahu area. At the time there was a famous noodle place called Okahara Saimin Factory that had created a noodle that had a flavor and a specific chew to them in Hawaii. Saimin with shoyu-dashi sauce is something that has been in the area for quite a long time and grew to be a traditional food of the area. In Honolulu Magazine (2020), the dish was described as "Long Tradition in Waipahu" by Gregg Hoshida in the days of one of the most well known Okazuya closures. 

It has since become apart of Waipahu regional cuisine as a specialty dish of the area those who are originally called it "Sato's Fried Saimin" and those outside of the area referred to it as "Waipahu Fried saimin". The name can cause some confusion as the noodles that are known in the area also consist of "Waipahu Country Fried Noodles" from "Leeward Drive In". Waipahu Saimin Variation is described to have a distinctive feature is the thicker sauce quality and chewiness of the noodles. Depending on the person making it or family the recipe can be different. There is the: (1) Long-established Sato's Fried Saimin with visible fat, (2) Spicy Gravy Saimin which uses Sriracha sesame seeds and garlic, (3) Barbeque Gravy Saimin that uses a darker soy sauce, brown sugar, and chicken fat.

Sato Family Topping's in Waipahu: Waipahu, is located near the west central area of Oahu Hawaii and was nearby the Sugar plantation. The sources point that the influence of Waipahu's plantation culture of local mixed people would lead up to the strong taste of the hearty fried saimin. It is said the strong oily flavor was influenced from the Waipahu residence themselves. There has always been the noodle bowl, the semi chinese bowl design, chop sticks or fork options, and the fish statue near the front of the register area. The Sato Family is given recognition of popularizing the dish.

While sitting down for an order the noodle smell floats around the room and sizzling is heard from the kitchen. All things that remind people of a fried saimin destination! Variations that were established usually had a side order of macaroni salad: (A.) Fried Pork Chop, (B.) Fried Chicken with Hot Dog, (C.) Three Okazu Tempura Shrimps and Teri Beef, (D.) Fried Ahi Belly, (E.) Boneless Saba Fillet.

Gravy-Fried Saimin Toppings in a home in Village Park: There was a small home that had many children in it that would get hungry and they would always ask their mother for noodles. She would purchase party platters from Sato's Okazuya once in awhile as the budget was tight and the best she could do was get the platter, but it wasn't enough, because her kids would snack on the platter and finish it off. Getting creative the lady from Village Park whipped up different fillings of adding: onion, cabbage, and long green onions chopped in fourths. 

To make it less boring for her kids from the classic diced-char siu bits and green onion garnish she had thought to add a variety of toppings like: (A.) Gravy Fried Saimin with Two Fried Eggs, (B.) Four Thin Sliced Barbeque Beef with Grilled Green Onions, (C.) Two Portuguese Sausage Hot Dog, (D.) Fried Chicken [Karaage-Marinated, Potato Starch] with Teriyaki Sauce, (E.) Two Fried Eggs with Two Hamburgers and Gravy [Loco Moco].

Construction Worker at a Moanalua Barbecue: Working two jobs with construction on top of a job as a maintenance worker there was a grumpy older gentlemen that would pre prep his meals. He had a bunch of frozen shrimp, frozen thin sliced beef, frozen hot dogs, frozen chicken. He would soak the shrimp in a sesame-seed shoyu-sugar marinade that he would also use for the barbeque beef and onions he would cook ahead of time. He would bring his hibachi out and start cooking away with the shrimp, the beef, the chicken, the sausage, and it would all have grill marks. 

These would later become variations like: (A.) Gravy Fried Saimin with Two Fried Eggs,  (B.) Sweet Teriyaki Shrimps, (C.) Thin Sliced Sweet Barbeque Beef with Caramelized Red Onions, (D.) Portuguese Sausage Hot Dogs with Caramelized Red Onions, (E.) Two Fried Eggs with Mallet Tenderized Sesame Grilled Teri Chicken.