Immigrant workers brought cuisines from China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Portugal after arriving in Hawai'i, introducing their new foods and influencing the region. The introduction of new ethnic foods, such as Chinese char siu bao (manapua), Portuguese sweet bread and malasadas, and the Japanese bento, combined with the existing indigenous, European, and American foods in the plantation working environments and in the local communities. This blend of cuisines formed a "local food" style unique to Hawaii.
In 1992, a new culinary movement began in Hawai'i called Hawaii regional cuisine. It refers to a style of cooking and the group of chefs who developed it and advocated for it as a distinct Hawaiian fusion style. This cuisine promotes the use of locally grown foods instead of produce imported from elsewhere. This new style of cooking draws from local ingredients (including seafood, beef and tropical foods), and is a fusion of ethnic culinary influences. Today, the cuisine of Hawai'i remains a fusion of foods and flavors brought to the Islands from around the world, a reflection of the community.
Hawaiian haute cuisine has been developed by great chefs such as Roy Yamaguchi with his restaurant Roy’s-Pacific Rim Cuisine. He is regarded as an international culinary visionary and the creator of Hawaiian fusion cuisine.
In 1992, a new culinary movement began in Hawai'i called Hawaii regional cuisine. It refers to a style of cooking and the group of chefs who developed it and advocated for it as a distinct Hawaiian fusion style. This cuisine promotes the use of locally grown foods instead of produce imported from elsewhere. This new style of cooking draws from local ingredients (including seafood, beef and tropical foods), and is a fusion of ethnic culinary influences. Today, the cuisine of Hawai'i remains a fusion of foods and flavors brought to the Islands from around the world, a reflection of the community.
Hawaiian haute cuisine has been developed by great chefs such as Roy Yamaguchi with his restaurant Roy’s-Pacific Rim Cuisine. He is regarded as an international culinary visionary and the creator of Hawaiian fusion cuisine.
Poké Bowl derived from Poke
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Poke (Hawaiian for "to slice" or "cut crosswise into pieces », sometimes stylized Poké to aid pronunciation) is diced raw fish served either as an appetizer or as a main course and is one of the main dishes of Native Hawaiian cuisine. The traditional Hawaiian poke consists of tuna fish that has been gutted, skinned, and deboned. It is served with traditional condiments such as sea salt, candlenut, seaweed, and limu.
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Ahi tuna poke
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According to the food historian Rachel Laudan, the present form of poke became popular around the 1970s. It used skinned, deboned, and filleted raw fish served with Hawaiian salt, seaweed, and roasted, ground candlenut meat. This form of poke is still common in the Hawaiian islands.
PokeBowl
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Beginning around 2012, poke became increasingly popular in North America. From 2014 to mid-2016, "the number of Hawaiian restaurants on Foursquare, which includes those that serve poke," doubled, going from 342 to 700. These restaurants serve both traditional and modern versions of the dish. The modern version is sometimes called poké bowl, and has the ingredients arranged in a grouped way rather than mixed. Variations may include avocado, ponzu sauce, teriyaki sauce, mushrooms, crispy onions, pickled jalapeño, sriracha sauce, cilantro, pineapple, or cucumber.
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In Paris, more than a hundred restaurants serve only the modern version of the dish (PokéBowl). The Hawaiian Poké restaurant mixes traditional with modernity by serving both versions.
Shaved ice
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Japanese immigrants imported it to America. They brought it along with them when they came to Hawai'i to work in sugar plantations. A similar dessert already existed in Japan called kakigori. After leaving plantations, they took up new professions. But by then Shave Ice & Snow cones had become immensely popular and part of Hawaiian culture.
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Rainbow shaved ice
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