Luau Food

With all of their pageantry, luaus sell the idea of Hawaii to tourists, says ACF Chef Steven Nakata, culinary arts program coordinator at the ACFaccredited Kauai Community College. More than 8.5 million tourists visited the islands in 2022, according to the Hawaii Department of Economic Development & Tourism, making tourism the state’s biggest industry by far.

Students at Kauai Community College learn how to prepare the standard luau dishes, which students serve to visitors who sign up to attend the college’s fine dining lunch. Chef Nakata describes a few of the standard dishes served at luaus throughout the islands.

Kalua pig is a whole pig wrapped in shredded banana stump to lock in moisture, and then wrapped in banana leaves or the leaves from Hawaiian ti plants, followed by a burlap wrap. The pig is traditionally steamed overnight in an underground imu, or 2- to 4-foot deep pit dug into the ground packed with kindling for fire and rocks on which the food is placed. When it’s done, the tender pork falls off the bone and is shredded. to the islands were limited. While Spam’s popularity in Hawaii is well known, other canned meats like corned beef, Vienna sausage and canned tuna are equally craved, Namkoong says.

Lomi lomi salmon is a simple salad of raw salted salmon chunks mixed with tomatoes and onions. Though salmon is not found around the Hawaiian islands, the dish is still popular as tourists are already well familiar with it.

Chicken long rice is actually not rice at all, but mung bean glass noodles combined with chicken and flavored with ginger.

Poi, a Polynesian side dish, is made from taro, a staple crop of Hawaii. Poi may be the most-talked about but least-favorite item on luau menus to the untrained palate, Chef Nakata says. The taro is typically steamed alongside the pig in the imu, then peeled and pounded into a smooth sticky paste.

ACF Chef Steven Nakata, culinary arts program coordinator at the ACF-accredited Kauai Community College, calls Spam a lifestyle. Back in plantation days, workers sharing their lunches introduced all their Spam preparations. It was something they could all afford, he says. He proudly embraces Spam as part of his personal diet. “I’ve worked everywhere — France, Italy and South America — in some beautiful hotels, but when I come home, I’m going to have me some Spam,” he says.

For mainland chefs who might like to add a touch of Hawaii to the menu, Chef Nakata offers a simple hack that he employed while heading up food operations at a hotel in Hawaii. “I said, everything on this menu is going to have a Hawaiian name,” so he set out to get the translations. He notes that sea bass sold especially well with the Hawaiian translation Hapu`upu`u. He suggests other chefs could add some Hawaiian vibes to a tropical LTO with the Hawaiian translations.

With the right ingredients, flavors and dish names, you can delight guests with the essence of the Hawaiian tropics.