The Sausage Voyage: The Art of Hawaii Sausage

Following the meat and following the boats there is the essence of things to come and how it will be found is how it is shared.  discover the art of sausage. While appreciating the ingredients in their natural form is where it is most beautiful the methods used for survival turn those into things that look much less desirable. As history stretches everything they can, mankind has, with deep wisdom and boundless creativity, crafted sausage as a means to transform every precious piece – the valuable off-cuts, the vital organs, even the remnants of other meals – into a new form that someone might say that it is delicious. It is about insuring nothing is wasted, because waste has to go somewhere, and as a responsibility the person who ended life must use that body to continue life. To make something like that taste good is the definition of good culinary expertise.

The World of Hawaii Sausage, is a looking to the islands for what might remain from those who have tried to do things at home or on a farm, those who dared refine their skills, and those who put their practice into edible art. While not the most high status food the sausage still has its own culinary heritage that needs to be told from the charcuterie board of trade ships that may have also had a hand in forming the selection of sausages that are eaten today. Those from Germany, United Kingdoms, United States, and influences from East Asia had come and gone leaving a few sausages that decided to stay in Hawaii. These classics would have local takes on them: Beer Bratwurst is just Hawaiian Bratwurst, Currywurst is a Coconut Curry Sausage, Smoked Andouille is Cajun Sausage, Italian Sausage is Hawaii Italian Sausage, and Hot Dogs are a whole selection of their own with the Polish Dogs.

The rest of the story lies in wait to be discovered as many home chefs and butchers had done what they could until their sausages were rich, vibrant, and desired. 

But truly, wherever the voyage takes you across these vast oceans in the beautiful world, it is almost certain that you will encounter this tube formed meat, thoughtfully prepared, ready to cook, and ready to be eaten. It's about the Where, the Meat, the Preparation, how it's served, and what's inside. The Voyage is divided into different islands with a list of sausages, and from their geographic regions that have curated flavors to represent those areas, and descriptions from the notes that are done by the people themselves who are local. To make it feel more like home things are not especially strict, slip in, slip out, the sausages can breathe, inhale and exhale the life energy that was given to them.

Hawaii Butcher Sausage

The range of sausages in Hawaii are vast and different from the people who came here originally. The customers who get it have the world of sausages and it really depends on local tastes on how much people like it and that translates to how well it sells overall in Hawaii. These sausages come as they are from other places, but the popularity starts building as it is tweaked, twisted, and ultimately changed to Hawaii local tastes. As a meat product its important that it has its own grinds, hawaii salts, and other seasonings, so that it doesn't feel like all the other parts of the worlds sausage as one homogenized thing that is the same from one part of the globe to the other. There are different groups that brought their sausages and each island had a slightly different way of making their sausages, so knowing the ships that came to the ports is important to tracking down some of those. 

Hawaii has its sausages straightened out from the mess of sausages that were all regularly available to make sure there was plenty of island distinctions and subregions that repped their own sausages. Kauai tends to have a lot of influence from German Sausages from the plantation owners, Maui has had all sorts of mixed meat mixtures as it had access to game meats, Oahu has artisan meats that merge more influences than others from it being the main point of entry during the Jet age, and the large amount of Portuguese Sausages influence on the big island happened for a reason of the access to meat. These influences would also show their reflection in the companies that remained in the islands or in the families that made home made sausage over the years with some quite famous ones to locals. 

Local Sausage, is placing the importance of its sourcing of being made in Hawaii and it is important for it to be anti biotic free, naturally farmed, and vegetarian feed, to be "pono" balanced. It also has to "malama" in a cycle as a food resource for people and then in turn the people can "malama" food source. This is a link to the kama'aina of the islands, which has been largely neglected from food importers and local politicians. It is always an on going debate of ranches, piggeries, and food producers around the islands. It can be a touchy subject to say the least. It is connected to the topic of how Hawaii lost its food sovereignty and how places were colonized and somehow lost the ability to feed themselves where there were once an abundance of favorable weather for ranching, great feed crops like bread fruit and other tropical fruits. 

"Creating sausage is the power of food, it creates a sense of strength, and a sign of care and resilience. As the piggeries were lost, the dairies closed down, and the mystery of not having affordable cattle would make having the ability to make sausage expensive if done from in Hawaii ingredients. My family use to raise pigs and one day it was all gone and it was all planned, because controlling food sources is how you can control island people... All island people..." 

Companies that have remained to make sausage for kama'aina are family run operations that have passed down the company from generation to the next. This would include: No-Ka-Oi Ah fook's, FF-Franks Foods (Frenz Family, 1955), Redondos (Redondo Family, 1949), Purity (Rego Family, 1958), Gouveas (Gouvea Family, 1933), Hawaiian Sausage Co, and Kulana Foods just to name a few. Some have closed down or merged for survival of the competition of other non local companies to work together and share information to survive the sausage making scene. The closures are important because they have stories about what works in the island and what doesn't work, so knowing those stories helps people grow without tripping on themselves nearly as much by knowing some things that may give them trouble down the road. Even knowing why families no longer have enough time to make their own sausage or have the family motivation to get together once a year to make sausages to freeze for the year can tell you so much about the economy, convenience, and society.

"Making sausage at such a large scale wasn't really a choice, but one of the few options. Export sausages to the mainland or lose to the limited amount of sausage people can eat within the islands population. The places that make sausage still... its from the heart, because its a hard business and its about coming together to lower the production costs make sausage that's more affordable. Hawaii simply isn't big enough where people can be rivals and survive, because its an island with limited customers and limited resources and only so much can come from the Hawaii itself before things come from outside the islands."

Sausage making has seen growth from the 2010s, when a number of shops and families started making local sausages. A seemingly forgotten art was brought back into a spotlight from a number of chefs who wanted butchery to come back into fashion for malama aina, pono ranching practices, and local sourcing. A few notable pioneers were: McGee Family (Robert & Erica), Connor Butler, Frank Kramm, Adam Watten, and the Stovall Family (Mills & Kamalei). All familiar names from the Hawaii butcher revival. It created a door that felt closed for a long time and gate kept by super markets and large big box stores with it seemingly being overtaken by the mainland tastes without much local input with minimal selections. After this time period it would mark a start to many more chefs that would enter through farmers markets to leave their marks with their own sausages, charcuterie cured meats, and farm-to-table dishes.

Eggs, Sausage, Spam, and the Rice

The Typical Hawaii meal at Breakfast... There are Two Institutions that put together the entire plate with the the first institution being the morning fruit punch and the second institution is made of meats of the breakfast table, primarily the sausage, secondary spam, and last the burger. Cultural Gastronomic understand there is only more things to add to a fuller plate of food that make it a "Deluxe", a nod to the bigone early days of fast-casual food, and all meats come together on a plate for something bigger than themselves. Hawaii sausage has personality and was at first primarily used for the Hawaii Local Breakfast that would have slices of sausage, a slice of spam, and eggs scramble with a scoop of macaroni salad and two scoops white rice as a breakfast plate lunch. As a must there would be the usual sauces of shoyu and hot sauce would be eaten with the meal. 

Hawaiian egg farmers are strong as they have been passing on multi-generation knowledge of chicken eggs since the 19th century and early 20th century. This would be rooted in early egg producers like Kawatachi Farm (1900. Ahualoa) and Petersons' Upland Farm (1910. Wahiawa) where they would start "Hawaii chicken breeds" and likely had a specific diet of sweet potatoes, yellow corn (xanthophylls, lutein, orange color), cabbages, carrots, and beans as well as food scraps of papaya leftovers, citrus skin, and banana peels. As of 2015 the added ingredients alfalfa meal, marigold petal extract, paprika (capsanthin , capsorubin), soybean, milo, barley, oats, wheat, and sunflower seeds, so it is a joke that there are "secret feeds" that keep people researching exactly what effects what food has to Hawaii Chickens and how it affects the quality and elements of the egg. 

Hawaii Eggs would have to keep up with extra-high quality of Japan eggs as standard quality American eggs were deemed unsafe to eat raw. The versatility of how Hawaii people ate their eggs was key in enjoying breakfast and sausage.

Meadow Gold Dairies of Hawaii produced POG (Passion Orange Guava) juice that Haleakala Dairy created in the 1970s. They had also milk in single servings in cartons that could be easily distributed. During that time McDonald's in the states would roll out its breakfast menus in 1977 and by the 1980s Hawaii had its own breakfast menu that featured unique, locally inspired menu items alongside the standard American fare, most notable their "Local Deluxe Breakfast Platter". At this time Fanta Hawaii-style Fruit Punch was already the breakfast juice of choice, but with Milk and Pog Juice also made available it made the three the go to breakfast drinks. While there is no specified date it was noticeable in the 1990s and other places took note including fast-food competitors, breakfast cafes, and hotels with breakfast included menus.

Hawaii Sausage Sizes

Cocktail Sausages: In the mainland bite sized sausages are known as "Cocktail Sausages", but in Hawaii they are known as Pupu Sausages. Pupu usually refers to something of a bite sized piece of food. Sometimes hot dogs or pocho sausage were sliced as a way to eat pupu sausage at times as well. The most common pupu sized sausage is the Vienna sausage, Arabiki sausage, Smoke Sausage, and Red Hot Dogs.

Regular Sausage: A regular sausage is just called a "Sausage" and is the standard sized sausage cooked in a pan or on the hibachi grill. This can be pork sausages, bratwurst sausages, polish sausage, chicken sausage, lamb sausage, and sometimes venison sausage. When sausages are of a bigger size it is referred to as "Jumbo-sized". In mom and pop stores there are jumbo sized sausages used for the breakfast plates. A particular place that specializes in the Jumbo size sausages is called Franks Foods on the big island, which supplies Ken's House of Pancakes. 

Sumo Sausage: Don't be fooled about the regular sized sausage being a sumo sausage, because locals like a wide diameter sized sausage for its girthiness in the mouth feel. While the sausages in Hawaii might not be as long as some of the longest it is still shaped in a way that is desired. The most often times a person will come by a really large sausage it will be one that needs a deli-meat slicer to do the job right. The size it is called is "Sumo-sized", which was sort of a name given to it for its enormous size and that would include bologna, certain salami, and mostly cured meats. 

Hawaii Linguiça (Portugal), Portuguese Sausage is the admixed filtration of a plantation sausage by taking something that represents the people of portugal — linguiça, and start the mixing of the salty meats and making it the sausage of all Hawaii sausage. The term linguiça covers a wide range of smoked pork sausages that depend on the area, breed of pigs and what they eat. The sausages are seasoned with salt, pepper, dried garlic, white wine, paprika, and red pepper. Many of the artisanal sausages that are made in Butcheries have variations on the Hawaii Portuguese sausage, which in some cases is seen as the Ali'i of sausage that many recipes have been loosely based on. There are some sausages that are a bit heavier on the garlic and paprika with local nioi peppers, one that use blood and vinegar, one that uses beef, one spiced with curry, and another that uses ginger and garlic. 

The Many Sausages of Portugal: Traditional sausages, such as: Chouriço, Morcela, Farinheira, Alheira, Salpicão, and Paio are sausages from the portuguese sausage homeland, but those are more Portugal and less so Hawaii. While they are widely known by the Portuguese community and eaten alongside American made brands of Portuguese Sausage it is not seen as the same. To many eaters of spiced tube meats the well-known Gaspar's, Mello's, and Silva, are all seen as Mainland-Portuguese Sausages that are in a category of its own and separate from Portugal-Portuguese Sausage and Hawaii-Portuguese Sausage.

What happens when seasoning is added to it that is less spicy and more savory with a either pork intestines of the animal. Or adding additional meats to the grind makes for something different from any sort of traditional linguiça that is more of a far off relative rather than a parent. The fats that are left over are in shapely visible chunks that can make a sausage from Hawaii so oily that it can oil the pan on its own by just moving it around while the heat is going. It was a good way to use the fattier parts of a pig or even a wild boar as there are different recipes for both in places like Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii. When people see portuguese sausage they think of a sort of sausage that is from Hawaii, but if they don't know, or simply are not aware that it is the taste of a linguiça on the mainland or from Portugal will make them scratch their head. The taste is very different from the flavors in Hawaii and it is quite noticeable. 

What the selection is of portuguese sausage in the modern day will grow over time with the next modern day and hopefully there are ideas of the portuguese sausage that stick around. There are a wide selection of locally-made Hawaii Portuguese Sausage brands and there are varieties of them in the markets with butchers having their own flavoring as well. 

There is a project that is being worked on that is a scrapbook of local specialties that are hidden in plain sight for those looking for a sausage-themed adventure into the country roads "Totally Tubular Hawaii Sausages: A Stash of Sausage Stories and Recipes"

Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Pacific Portuguese Sausage
Where: Generic
Meat: pork
Preparation: diagonal wide-sliced, pan-fried, boiled
Served: as primarily a breakfast side, in sandwiches, and with tortillas
Flavor: Slight-sweetness, Chewy, Filler, Light-fattiness, mild-spiciness 

Portuguese is referring to an ethnic group, but it really is part of the story of telling people the origins, the plantation, the lunas, the butchers, the people who worked with meat. The general portuguese sausage has more fillers and is sometimes seen as a filler-sausage because it is made in large quantities and made for volume rather than a strong flavor. It is the most common fast-food sausage that was popularized from McDonalds and is friendly to all sorts of tastes by tasting like all sorts of portuguese sausages without sticking out from the pack in the way it tastes. While other sausages can show a star with the garlic or the spice or the ingredient of the meat mixture...this variation doesn't star any particular ingredient and depends on its broad appeal in a balance of flavors.

Ingredients: Pork, water, salt, vinegar, sugar, flavoring, spices, garlic, paprika, sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, dextrose, sodium nitrite, sodium citrate.

Momona Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Redondo's Lisboa Portuguese Sausage
Where: Waipahu (Hawaii), and other parts of Puʻuloa Oahu.
Meat: pork, chunks of pork fat 
Preparation: poached, grilled, pan-fried, diced
Served: as a pupu appetizer, or with bread, breakfast, and popular in soups
Flavor: Moderate Beefiness and Porkiness, high-fattiness, mild-spiciness

Momona means "fat" in Hawaiian, which refers to fattier cuts of the pork which are usually contained in the sausage. The fat is rounded out with the meat grind, the spices, and the salt, and possibly could have onions. There are other sorts of Puʻuloa variations that represent the areas like: Pearl City (Manana), Waipahu, Ewa (Ewa Beach, Ewa Villages). When in Hawaii the mom and pop restaurants will usually have it on its menus for breakfast. As the sausage ingredients pop out with people seeing the black pepper and the pepper flakes the variations begin to grow as people start grinding their own sausage fillings.

Ingredients: Pork, water, salt, flavorings, sugar, sodium phosphate, monosodium glutamate, oleo-resin of paprika-extract, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, packed in collagen casing.

Haohaka Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Purity Portuguese Sausage
Where: Halawa (Hawaii) and also Aiea
Meat: pork
Preparation: grilled, sliced
Served: as a pupu appetizer, breakfast meat
Flavor: Slight-sweet, Soft, Light-fattiness, mild-spiciness, meaty 

Haohaka is to be grilled and the sausage is known for its meat mixture and is enjoyed in areas Central Puʻuloa like Aiea and Halawa. The sausage was made by Al Rego and his brother Leonard of Leonard's Bakery and was a popular sausage made in Pearl City. There are grilled dishes in the Manana-style that involves using purity sausage for its very-light acidity and sourness. The seasoning is light and lets people enjoy the meat, so the meat plays a role in the flavor, and is enjoyed grilled alongside hot dogs, burgers, and steaks.

Ingredients: Pork, water, nonfat dry milk, salt, vinegar, sugar, flavorings, paprika, sodium phosphate, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, oleoresin of paprika, packed in collagen casing.

Kahiki Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Hawaiian Brand Portuguese Sausage
Where: Honolulu (Hawaii)
Meat: beef, chicken, duck, turkey, elk (venison), lamb, veal, rabbit, goat
Preparation: breakfast meat
Served: boiled, pan-fried
Flavor: Slight-smokiness, moist, Soft, Moderate-fattiness, mild-spiciness

Kahiki means foreign and the name means a foreign portuguese sausage. As the most versatile, alternative sausage, that concentrates on the smooth than the course it is both familiar and unfamiliar. Seeking a even larger sausage that is familiar to the foreign palette to things more akin to a hot dog, bratwurst, or commercial sausage the emphasis on the seasonings, the vegetable mixture, and the complexity allow for it to be a vessel of sausage exploration. This is thanks to things like Nonfat dry milk (NFDM), a skim milk powder, that uses milk proteins (casein and whey) to bind sausage through fat-content and liquid together. It prevents a sausage-crumble as a texture that makes it the expected texture of a sausage. The fat, the milk, the binders, and the fine grind makes it even more smoother as it is often ground multiple times. Due to this unique approach it is necessary for an emphasis of a excellent tasting and satisfying casing that brings a quality of bounciness and snappy bite for it to be a satisfying experience.

Ingredients: Pork, water, nonfat dry milk, salt, vinegar, flavorings, paprika, sodium phosphate, smoke flavoring, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, oleoresin of paprika, packed in collagen casing.

Kūwea Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Gouvea's Portuguese Sausage
Where: Kalihi (Hawaii)
Meat: Chicken, Pork
Preparation: breakfast meat, baked, stuffing
Served: pan-fried, grilled, sliced
Flavor: light-porkiness, moderately seasoned, leaner, firm, meaty

As the name similarities suggests, Kūwea is a Hawaiian pronunciation of Gouvea. It's based on Hawaiian phonetics and is not a direct translation of the surname. People in Hawaii, especially those with Portuguese heritage, would still use and recognize the name "Gouvea" as is, pronounced in a more English or Portuguese way, even when speaking Hawaiian. Gouvea's Portuguese Sausage was started by Jacinto Gouvea in 1933 in his Kalihi backyard in Honolulu. However, when trying to distinguish the flavor with the chicken in this variety the word Kūwea allows for people to be less confused than the branding of the company Gouvea's is attached to and separates the sausage. It distinguishes itself with chicken and used for it as a meat to take on the flavor of the seasonings and makes it pair with the pork and add to the pork. Variations of this sausage have been made from Polynesians in the area with different chicken and pork grind's. That can be like the amount of chicken to pork, different chicken parts, the chicken fat for a even more distinct flavor. 

Ingredients: Pork, mechanically separated chicken, water, salt, spices, garlic, paprika, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite and collagen casing.

Sugar Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Moono Portuguese Sausage
Where: Waipahu (Hawaii)
Meat: pork
Preparation: breakfast meat
Served: pan-fried, grilled, sliced
Flavor: Moderate Sweetness, Moderate-porkiness, Moist, Moderate-fattiness, moderate-spiciness

This particular product emphasizes a "sweet" profile, meaning it has a noticeable amount of added sugar to balance the savory pork and paprika. It's available in both mild and hot versions, so the "sweet" refers to the sugar content, not necessarily the spice level. As most sausage don't have a noticeable amount of sweetness to it in this one it is the show.

Ingredients: Pork, water, soy sauce, sugar, salt, flavorings, sodium phosphate, monosodium glutamate, oleoresin of paprika, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite, packed in collagen casing.

Maui Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Uncle Louie Portuguese Sausage
Where: Kahului and Makawao (Hawaii), and other parts of the Maui.
Meat: beef, pork
Preparation: breakfast meat
Served: Pan-fried, Grilled
Flavor: Paprika-focus, moderate-fattiness, salty, more beefy than porky

Maui Portuguese sausage is from Maui, simply it encapsulates all sorts of portuguese sausages on the island. None is more known or eaten on the island for that matter than Uncle Louie's Portuguese sausage as it has deep roots in the community. For many, it's the taste they grew up with and is Maui's predominant portuguese sausage and that is often compared when sausage eaters state that they like another islands portuguese sausage. It really leans into the taste of the beef as it tries to really get a beefier taste than one of pork that acts sort of as a second thought. The potential of sausages on Maui have led them down the path of flavors that are Bulbous (garlic, onion, fennel): Spicy Flavor (secret mix), Sweet Onion Flavor, Onion Garlic Flavor, Habanero Garlic Flavor, and Uala Fennel Flavor. Families that have tropical trees bearing fruits have their hands full in more ways than one and makes use of things like Mangos for additional flavoring agents to the sausages. Tropical fruits like Pineapple Flavor have caught on with tourists and those who just enjoy the Golden Maui variety of Pineapple. When it comes to heat there is also no where that does it quite like the Spicy Hot Flavors on Maui that use more foreign chilis: Jalapeno, Habanero, and Anaheim.

Ingredients: ork, water, salt, non-fat dry milk, paprika, vinegar, garlic, chili pepper, spice, sweetener (sucralose), sodium nitrite.

Ula Portuguese Sausage

Brand: Frank's Foods Portuguese Sausage
Where: Hilo (Hawaii), and other parts of the Big Island.
Meat: Pork or Boar, Beef 
Preparation: Pan-fried, Grilled
Served: pan-fried, grilled, sliced
Flavor: Smoky, Tight, Moderate-fattiness, light-greasiness. 

Primarily called "Big Island Portuguese Sausage" it is also known by its color. Ula means red or even royalty in Hawaiian and it is because of the redness of this sort of sausage. It is the quintessential icon of regional Portuguese Sausage of the Big Island. The beef and the smoke flavoring makes it stand out and it has a meatier taste from the beef that adds a grainy texture. It is a bit more lean, even though there is fat, but the well balance of beef is also noticeable in its taste, and has become liked from those with traditional portuguese food tastes as well as locals and tourists. Because of its dominance of being liked it has been lifted to be called at times the Ali'i of Portuguese Sausages and is often the first sausage to be compared to its Oahu Portuguese Sausage counterparts. According a residents it is a taste of the farming and agriculture operations on the island that are the sausage of the countryside. Due to this status there have been ways to experiment with fats and mushrooms absorbing fats to have different home made recipes found North Big Island and Beef fats being used in South Big Island recipes. Ula Portuguese Sausage that is made with Wild Boar seems to be more prized for the process of hunting, butchering, and the sausage being made with so much energy. It is said that the "mana" that the sausage has passes on through making it to the people eating it.

Ingredients: Pork, beef, dextrose, salt, soy protein concentrate, paprika, sodium phosphate, flavorings, hydrolyzed soy protein, garlic powder, msg, smoke flavoring, sodium erythorbate, sodium nitrite.

Varieties of Hawaii Sausage: The Meats depended on the availability of the area. There was: Beef (all islands), Lamb (big island, ni'ihau), Goat (big island), Pork (all islands), Chicken (all islands), Turkey (kauai, maui, big island), and Venison (maui, molokai, lanai). Many of these are a few of the sausages that have been made for years by families, so it does not include more artisan sausages called "Deluxe Sausages".

Bratwurst Sausage, while the breakfast link sausage is the mainland sausage the bratwurst for its coloration being pale white is called haole sausage. Many see it at stores for its affordable price in the frozen section as it has become a common sausage for the hibachi or breakfast meat. It could have possibly come from the german ships that traded with Kauai, but no one knows for sure. (A.) Brats take many forms like the Coburger Bratwurst from Coburg the thin, slender, really long sausage that is pinecone charred with mustard as a street food. (B.) Thüringer rostbratwurst is one of two German bratwursts with a protected geographical indication (1404) with a 15-20 cm length with medium-fine trimmed meat (pig, veal, or beef) and spiced with salt, pepper, caraway, marjoram, and garlic. (C.) The other brat that won protection was Nüremerger rostbratwurst (2003) of Nuremberg a cocktail-size at 7-9 cm in length with seasoning of marjoram, mace, and onion.

Smoked Sausage, were from "little smokies" which are a mixture of smoked pork and chicken. These were quite popular after the war, especially amongst those who served in the 442nd. The smoked sausage would be found along with items like spam, luncheon meat, and pork sausage, italian sausage as a meat made for a working mans breakfast plate. Oftentimes in Hilo there are restaurants that still serve smoked sausage with their loco mocos. Smoke sausages would be made as regular-sized sausages as time went on.

Breakfast Sausage, most commonly this sausage is "link sausage" and in Hawaii its enjoyed with a natural casing. It has gotten a nick name of mainland breakfast sausage for its distinct taste that is familiar from hotel breakfast buffets. Their have been varieties of other sorts of sausages, but this sausage has remained the same for a number of years. It is a comfortable alternative to smoked sausages and spam on many menus that have it as an option.

Portuguese Sausage is also known as "Pocho Sausage", the reason is to not get it mixed up with mainland Linguica brands and have it known as a "Hawaiian Pocho Sausage". It has to do with communication and differentiating product and making people buy more Hawaii made sausage. The iconic breakfast item of champions is the portuguese sausage and shortened to pocho sausage by many locals. Not to be confused with "Classic Linguica" which is also eaten has a largely different taste from its fat, spices, and consistency. Portuguese families from the plantation would always have the best sausages and families still keep the tradition of making them once a year in large quantities for the freezer.

Longanisa Sausage, the filipino sausage as it was called back in the day is referred to as Hawaii Longanisa Sausage. It came from immigrants who came from the Philippines as some of the first workers of the sugar cane fields. These sausages were extra fatty compared to other sausages and what was one of its best qualities was its sweetness and its ability to keep for a long time in the ice box. While it is found on other islands it is seen as a specialty sausage of Oahu.

Vienna Sausage, were some of the oldest as they were often eaten with cabbage in the plantations as a affordable food for the different camps. It was almost always made with a sauce, but if not plain was okay too. There were many families to feed and only so much food, so the cooked vienna sausage and its juice would be added to vegetables like cabbage and mixed with rice. It is not as popular as more artisan sausages have hit the market.

Arabiki Sausage, the name in japanese means (arai- course, biki- ground) or course ground sausage. It is commonly found cooking on the hibachi and a relatively newcomer to the sausage scene is the Arabiki pork sausage. It has gained a following for its distinct sausage snap from sheep casing and umami which has plenty of juicy goodness with smokey flavor.

Oahu, the sausages of all kinds make it to a particular place and that gathering place is Oahu where its where all the ships from around world and say "wanna see my sausage?" and the choices are in the markets. It is in the taste buds of the people who are there for leisure, or for their excellent taste in weiners, or just want more options for breakfast. The butcher counters are there, there are multiple sausage factories, and competition and collaboration make for a line up that is only in Hawaii. There are the Classics (hawaiian portuguese sausage, blood sausage, azores linguiça) to the staple mainland colonists (beer bratwurst, link sausage, kielbasa), and the modern artists (chashu sausage, peeping sausage, fresh lup cheong). As a place that gathers all sorts of foods there is a large amount of sausages eating people who leave no pork whistle unturned.

Old Azores Sausage
[ref. Ahle Wurst]

Koko Morcela Sausage
[ref. Morcela]

Pastele Sausage

Char siu Pork Sausage

The name comes from the flavor of "Char siu" meaning "fork roasted" is a popular roasted meat of Hawaii-Chinese Cuisine that originated from Cantonese cuisine that turned into a sausage. Terrance and Kayla Enomoto the owners of Island Sausage are credited for popularizing the Char Siu flavored pork sausage that is made in Oahu, Hawaii. Typically it uses: honey, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, five-spice powder, fermented bean curd, red food coloring 

Menu: Beer Bratwurst, Kielbasa, Chorizo, Ginger Miso, Char Siu, Spicy Korean. Salami: Sea Salt Mac Nut, Cacciatore, Finocchiona, Spanish Chorizo, Mamaki Tea

Chicken Peeping Sausage
[ref. hawaiian pipa duck, roast duck, peepa duck]

Peeping Shoyu Sausage
[ref. nam fongs, shoyu chicken]

Wawae Moa Sausage
The name means "Wawae" meaning foot and "Moa" means chicken, so it is Chicken feet sausage. 

Chuck Wakeman

Smoked Porkship Moco, Porkchop Moco w/Kimchee Fried rice

Butcher & Bird: Ingredient Menu Selection- German Bratwurst, Italian Sausage, Kielbasa Polish Sausage (Polska Kielbasa), Chorizo, Smoked Andouille Sausage, Kalbi Beef Sausage, All Beef Winners (Hot Dogs), Pua'a Pork Sausage, Pork Belly Porchetta, Carne Asada, Pickled Cucumber, Pickled Asparagus, Pickled Garlic.

[ref. Jerky, Pigeon, Toro Bravo, Olympia Provisions, the Art of Charcuterie, Sauces, Manresa, Flour + Water, Preservation Kitchen, The Flavor Bible, Escoffier, Brock]

Kukui Sausage Co Portuguese Sausage: Gyoza Sausage, Pastele Sausage, Italian Sausage, Portuguese Sausage

Ingredients: Pork, water, salt, sugar, flavorings, paprika, sodium phosphate, sodium nitrite, chili powder, sodium erythorbate.

Maui, when the sausages made their arrival to Hawaii by trading ships it was like how birds drop their seeds from the sky, the world gave us their seeds in that case.

Molokai and Lanai are where there are more wild meats and that makes game hunting big with varieties of sausages that can be made with venison as much as pork. 

Boar Portuguese Sausage
[ref. maui]

Big Island, the cattle were introduced in 1793 that were gifted by King Kamehameha I by Captain George Vancouver, so naturally it gets beefy in their sausages. The rise of paniolo raised cattle populations and there were butchery practices already going on their with "Beef Rope" better known as "Pipi Kaula" that is a cured meat that is dried that can use different cuts of beef, pork, chicken, depending on what meats are available. The foundational sausage making wouldn't happen until portuguese linguica and chouriço sausage that came from across the waters. Frank's Foods was founded by the less predominant German Immigrants like Frederick "Frank" Frenz who brought all sorts of traditions from Maui over to the Big Island on the East-side Hilo of the island. Other places that has a history of the sausage scene was Hamakua Meat Processors on the Hamakua Coast North-West side and Hawaii Beef Producers is on North-Central side.

Naʻaukake Sausage

Curry Naʻaukake
(ref. American Currywurst)

Coconut Curry Sausage
(ref. Chicken Currywurst)

Kulana Blood Sausage
()

Pipikaula Sausage
semi-dried sausage
(ref. Landjager)

He'e Hakakaula Sausage
semi-dried sausage

Kauai, 

Kauai Mettwurst

Braunschweiger Mettwurst

Banana Leaf Goteborg Sausage
(ref. smoked in banana leaf)

Mustard Goteborg Sausage
(ref. coleman's hot mustard)

Kauai Goteborg Sausage
Gotenburg Sausage, the swedish sausage that is mostly beef and some pork came from the earlier trade ships of the germans to the ports of Kauai. Gotenburg sausage has a large following on that island and started to spread its sausage influence with the gotenburg musubi. Most of the sausage has continued to be sold from "Hormel". It is marked as a Kauai specialty sausage.

Kauai Hahai Boar Sausage
[ref. kauai. Jagdwurst]

Dinuguan Koko Sausage
[ref. kauai. morcela. dinuguan]

He'e Sausage

Kimchee He'e Sausage