THE STEAMED HAWAIIAN CULINARY BOMB! DA LAU LAU

I've blogged about the Hawaiian Lau Lau before, but I can never stop talking about it. It's one of my favorite native dishes of all time. But it has to be done right, it can't be dried out, for crying out loud, the lau lau is a wrapped dish, wrapped with plant leaves, not dried up plant leaves, green leaves from the taro plant (luau loo ow) leaves, and ti leaves. And the inside is filled with juicy meats, like beef brisket with marbled cuts, or pork with a tad of fat for flavor & cod or butterfish. Sometimes it is filled with 3 large cuts of chicken thighs with skin on, so Yay Yay :).

I don't think I've met one local out here in Hawaii that doesn't love lau lau. It's like going to New York and finding a guy from there that doesn't love pizza. Or a Japanese from Japan that hates sushi. Growing up here, lau lau was served at every Hawaiian wedding, at retirements, and of course THE FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY OF A CHILD. I remember when my brother got married years and years ago, everyone trimmed meat, trimmed taro leaves, sliced ti leaves, and everyone in unison, like a factory, began wrapping the lau lau. Understand this, traditionally, lau lau is cooked underground in an imu (ee moo), but most back yard chefs utilize multi tiered aluminum steamers or woks. So if you pass by a subdivision where locals live, and you see the garage filled with leaves and lots of steamers on gas burners there's a good chance a party is happening that night. Stop by introduce yourself and maybe get invited, just keep in mind, most locals own pit bulls that attack!

But if you can't get to a local Hawaiian party here on a vay cay, here's some places in the islands you can get them.

On the Big Island of Hawaii

Hapa Mama's in Hilo town 

330 Kamehameha Ave. H

Hilo HI 96720

808 969 3323

Kaaloa's Super Js

83-5409 Mamalahoa Hwy

Captain Cook, HI 96704

808 328 9566

On Maui

Da Kitchen

2439 S Kihei Rd

Kihei, Hi 96753

808 875 7782

On Oahu

Kapahulu Poi Shop

3110 Winam Ave

Honolulu, HI 96816

808 737 8014

On Kauai

Koloa Fish Market

5482 Koloa Rd

Koloa, HI 96756

808 742 6199

Here's more pics of the lau lau, all pics are from Google the same engine that drives this blog, until next time or next blog, have a good one.

         

© 2014

Note: I do not own the copyrighted pictures and am not capitalizing on them, I do own my trade name only.