90% of Maui’s food supply is imported, but you can still find plenty of locally produced food items to try. Here are six of our favourite things to eat on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
FRUIT
Forget the 100 mile diet. Fruit grows on a large part of the island. Papaya, pineapple, mango, banana, guava, sapote, passion fruit, you can find them all and so many more. Hit up a farmer’s market and get your fruit direct from the grower. There’s nothing quite like eating fresh fruit that has travelled up the block rather than across the country. There are also many road side stands and Farmers Markets all along the Hana highway
SHAVE ICE
A must on a scorching day, shave ice has been popular in Hawaii for decades. A bit different from a snow cone, the ice is shaved and packed into a container and doused in brightly coloured syrups. If you want to guild the lily you can get a scoop of ice cream added to the bottom of the cup. Not the most healthy treat but a real life saver after a hot day on the beach. We recommend Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice.
SEAFOOD | POKE
When on an island you can usually guarantee the seafood will be fresh and plentiful, take advantage of your geographical location! Fishermen go out early and sell to restaurants and stores, if they have any product left, they often sell it at road side stands and farmer’s markets. You will never find fresher fish than if you buy directly from the person who caught it.
Poke is one way to enjoy the island’s fresh seafood. Poke is a raw salad typically made with tuna and marinated with sea salt, soy sauce, inamona (crushed candle nut), seaweed and chopped chili pepper. You can get several different ways, with sea asparagus, furikake, spicy. For those of you who don’t enjoy raw fish you can also get cooked variations such as ahi karage poke and tako (octopus) poke. You can find the most delicious poke at Eskimo Candy in Kihei and at all Foodland stores.
SPAM
Alright, so a lot of people don’t consider Spam food and it’s not one that is produced on the island, but it is one of the things we eat when we’re in Maui. The canned ham product is more popular than ever on Maui with chefs using it in new and ingenious ways. Spam musubi, the Spam sushi, is a must when in Hawaii, you can grab it at most Japanese delis, and a few other inconspicuous places. Best Spam musubi, (in our opinion) - Nagasako Okazu-Ya Deli in Lahaina
MACADAMIA NUTS
Brought over from Australia more than 100 years ago, the macadamia tree took to the tropics and thrived. Macadamia nuts are tasty and healthy, you will have plenty of opportunities to eat them on Maui. You can find them in different forms to boot, chocolate coated or honey roasted, you can also get them in many savoury flavours like onion, jalapeño and of course, Spam.
These are only a few of our favourite things to eat on Maui. The cuisine is varied and influenced by many cultures including Japanese and Philippino. Ironically the cheapest macadamia nuts we could find was at the Costco in Kahului.
What Hawaiian foods do you enjoy?
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