Stocking up a Hawaii Pantry

Going back from to tackle good tasting food from Hawaii can be a bit intimidating to some and have their dishes recreated in their home kitchen. There is some strange idea that there is some sort of lost secret to Hawaii cooking and its food is hard to know what seasonings are inside. That the ingredients are hard to identify in taste, expert skills of a buffet worker are needed to get the taste like home, yet like a restaurant. The gifts that are awaiting in a Hawaii pantry are exactly what is needed to flavor and season things the way you want to and understand where all the flavors are coming from to make some great Hawaii food. If you want to check out the basics go to Starting a Hawaii Pantry and come back to this section when your ready.

How to Build a Hawaii Pantry

If we are to start a first to-do list — it would be great to get a start on learning about the most basic Hawaii ingredients that will be Essential in cooking as well as starting to build your own Hawaii pantry.

ESSENTIAL HAWAII INGREDIENTS:

Stock Powder (aka. Japanese Dashi stock, Hawaiian Wai Stock), you can use dashi packets, dashi powder to make a recipe easier. For many home recipes it is recommended to get alaea salt (Hawaiian salt) & Kombu kelp (seaweed).

Rice, is served with Hawaii food (medium-grain rice)

Meats are used often in Hawaii food, especially chicken thighs and breast, beef steaks, pork shoulder, ground beef ,chicken, pork, shrimp.

For your first homemade portuguese bean soup, add kidney beans, or macaroni, or maybe some cabbage and chopped green onion.

If you never buy seaweed before here are a few types to get? Make sure get nori-sheets for musubi, wakame-seaweed kombu for furikake and soups, and ogo-seaweed for salad.

Deep-fried food makes people hungry cause the smell is strong and so is the crunch. Mochiko mochi-rice flour for Mochiko Chicken, cornstarch for Garlic Chicken (Hawaiian Fried Chicken), panko bread crumbs for Chicken Katsu.

Getting to the Hawaiian Beef Curry, it is necessary to get beef bouillon and sometimes Japanese Curry Roux for some home made deliciousness with some pickled onion.

Bringing over the noodles is about sharing, there are many different Hawaii noodles with its multicultural flavors. There is Saimin, Long Rice (Vermicelli), Chow Funn, Lo Mein Egg Noodles for Cake Noodle.

Homemade dumplings is broke da mout (crazy delicious)! Start with Wrapper Noodles sometimes called Noodle Skins. This is great for Pork Hash, Gyoza, and Mandoo.

Ready for a Deep Dive into a Full-On Pantry thats ready for anything Hawaii Cuisine 

Lets look into each category!

Condiments in the Hawaii Pantry

It may seem like it is hard to get started, but we will cover the basic Hawaii Pantry with a few of the "condiments" that are most often used in Hawaii recipes. Many of them work to brings out a stronger flavor that is sometimes salty and umami that Hawaii recipes put the spotlight on. As more becomes familiar and the more times the pantry items are used the easier it is to make, so give it a try. You can find a variety of items like: Shoyu, Vinegar, Salt, Chili Peppah Water or Tabasco, Furikake, and some homes have Sweet Chili Sauce or Sriracha. Cooking condiments may include: Alcohol (White Wine, Sake, Shaoxing Wine, Beer, or Brandy), Mirin, Chinese Black Vinegar, Balsamic Vinegar, Rice Wine Vinegar, Apple Cider Vinegar, Honey, Premium Oyster Sauce, Patis Fish Sauce, Worcestershire (Lea & Perrins), Char Siu Sauce, Black Bean Sauce, Tom Mam Shrimp Sauce, Bagoong Fish Paste, Peanut Butter, Hoisin Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Mayonnaise, Hawaii Miso, Dashi (Wai Soup Stock), Oils (Vegetable, Sesame Seed, Canola, Peanut, Extra Virigin Olive Oil), Hawaii Katsu Sauce, Dark Shoyu, Light Shoyu.

Preserved Foods in the Hawaii Pantry

Before the war there were many who would preserved foods through pickling, smoking, and drying, however after war there would be a large increase of grocery markets and many people got interested in canned foods. A few like spam and vienna sausage as well as tuna or abalone were eaten from cans. As time went on these ingredients kept on getting used and are now apart of the standard preserve foods inside the Hawaii kitchen pantry. A popular list of items may include: Lup Choeng, Canned Corned Beef, Canned Spam, Canned White Albacore Tuna, Canned Salmon, Canned Sardines, Canned Anchovies, Canned Mussels, Canned Vienna Sausage, Canned Tomatoes, Canned Corn, Canned Water Chestnuts, Shelf Stable Tofu, Canned Evaporated Milk, Coconut Milk, Canned Condensed Milk, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Canned Clam Chowder.

Dried Goods in the Hawaii Pantry

The list of things to help with shaping up a meal come from some of the many dried goods that are available. While certain things are bought in the grocery store there are something that are awaiting at home in the cabinets as a secret arsenal of flavor.

Panko Bread Crumbs, Potato Starch, Corn Starch, All Purpose Flour, Cake Flour, White Sugar, Brown Sugar, Cane Sugar, Baking Soda, Kombu Seaweed, Shiitake Mushrooms, Dried Abalone, Dried Squid, Dried Tuna (usually Aku), Dried Shrimp, Dried Scallops, Dried Kidney Beans, Dried Hawaii Ogo (Limu Seaweed), Pipikaula, Roasted Sealed Kukui Nuts.

Rice & Noodles in the Hawaii Pantry

Starch Dried goods have always been a key component to the diet of people in Hawaii and the most popular variety is rice and noodles, however in place of these in the olden days were Taro, Breadfruit, and Potatoes. Locals had taken a liking to rice for many reasons, but it stuck well in the pantry for its ability to last long in a bag. Noodles were regularly available in bags as well, so cooking with noodles became popular as it was served with many meals outside of the home. Rice: Long Grain Jasmine Rice (Fried Rice), Medium Grain Calrose Rice, Mochi Glutinous Rice, Noodles: Hong Kong Thin Egg Noodles, Chow Mein Noodles, Long Rice Noodles, Somen Noodles, Chow Fun Noodles, Pancit Bihon Noodles, Saimin Noodles.

Seasoning Selection

Salt, Red Alaea Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, White Pepper, Lemon Pepper, Oregano, Dried Thyme, Ginger Powder, Five Spice Powder, Star Anise, Coriander, Cloves, Bay Leaves, Cayenne Pepper, Smoked Paprika, Curry Powder, Dry Mustard (Coleman's), Cumin, Dried Basil, Turmeric Powder, Dried Kona Coffee Grounds, Brown Gravy Mix (beef,pork), Red Gravy Mix (chicken), Mushroom Gravy Mix.