I’m a pretty simple guy. On Father’s Day when my kids would ask me what I wanted to eat, we always ended up at our local Hawaiian place for a brunch of Spam® and Eggs. Things haven’t changed all that much, so I guess you can’t take the islands out of me no matter how long it’s been since I’ve been back.
I do miss certain things though. I do miss hearing everyone talking “pidgin” everywhere you go. I do miss the sudden showers you get on a perfectly sunny day. I do miss being able to buy Huli Huli chicken on a random Saturday, at some school where they’re grilling it to raise money. I miss being able to tell how sweet and fresh the air smells when you get off the plane at HNL (probably not that hard to do when you’re coming in from LA), ha-ha! But most of all I do miss the food.
Although a lot of things have changed I’m sure, I’m guessing (and hoping) a lot of things about Hawaii are still the same. Food has grown more sophisticated everywhere, even in Hawaii, but I’m sure I can rediscover that local flavor if I go back for a visit.
This month I got nostalgic—for teriyaki sticks! Think about it; they’re much easier to eat this way and a lot more fun. Make sure you baste while you grill.
It’s convenient when you can bring the grill to your kitchen counter by the window LOL!
We grilled stacks of these and had them for lunch. We froze the rest for when I need a few to bring to work later on. Something to look forward to and easy to prepare; that’s a win for me.
Oh, and here’s another favorite of mine. Saimin with teriyaki sticks.
Sadly, we couldn’t get the real Hawaiian kine. They come in packages complete with the little packets of soup broth, but the noodles just weren’t the same. I thought these were too doughy and pasty for my liking, if you know what I mean. We shoulda got S&S brand, but my wife didn’t know about it at the time. I think next time I’ll have to order it online.
Saimin with teri sticks is an OK meal, but the best way to have saimin is with charsiu pork slices. Then you make sure you have some Chinese hot mustard handy and some shoyu, so you can dip the pork in the mustard/shoyu. Who else knows what I’m talkin’ about?
Next up I asked for fried rice on my Dad’s Day; of course! Leftover ingredients like white rice, brown rice, Portuguese sausage and to make up for some meat we needed, Spam®.
I don’t know why, but I never get tired of fried rice, whatever kind it is. We do ours in the skillet and dig in at the dining table.
If you want your kids to clean their plate, mold it in a bowl first for that authentic look. Hey, presentation is everything, right? Of course, with fried rice you may never have that problem, but why not make your Dad happy? He’s just a big kid anyway after all.
Speaking of kids, when I was growing up in Hawaii my Oba-chan (grandma) used to make butter mochi for all of us cousins. This is a fun dessert because of the mochi texture in cake-like form, so it’s almost like two desserts in one. For something different, my wife made mine with Hawaiian purple sweet potatoes, also known as Okinawan potatoes.
I learned something about these purple sweet potatoes—they’re not the same as the Filipino purple yams known as ube, although people often confuse them. They’re both sweet, but the skin is softer and edible on the Okinawan potato. This is what she used to make my mochi, using a recipe from Mochi Mommy.
It didn’t turn out as purple as the recipe, but the taste was there. And more importantly, the texture of the mochi was there.
Hey, whenever anybody in my family gets me something for Father’s Day, I’m not going to complain! How was your special day?
Products used in this post: Micom Toaster Oven ET-ZLC30, Indoor Electric Grill EB-DLC10, Gourmet d’Expert® Electric Skillet EP-RAC50
Please note that these recipes were not tested by Zojirushi America
All images by Bert Tanimoto ©2025
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