Big Island Grinds

The best food on the Big Island cannot be found in restaurants, but at local family parties.

Last night I went to an open-to-all graduation party way down in Kalapana right before the lava flow took over the road, near Kalapana’s black sand beach. It was a beautiful place. The owner of the house is a very friendly pure Hawaiian man, and he fully represented with the food!

Hundreds of people were there, with great live local bands. I didn’t even know who graduated, but everyone was welcome. The vibe and the food was wonderful. Everyone was welcome to eat. This is why I love the Big Island; parties that are open to anyone with positive energy, amazing food, and great music. There was even an Awa bar!

I so wanted to take pictures of the awesome spread, but my camera still didn’t come in yet, so I took a plate home to take a picture of with a borrowed camera (well, I would’ve took a take-home plate in any case!). There was so much food. This plate was made at almost 3am and still had trays and trays of fresh poke, opihi, poi and so much other grinds left.

Here’s da onoz!

Clockwise from top left: Poke (raw fish seasoned with Hawaiian salt, seaweed and inamona), raw a`ama crab, opihi (a Hawaiian limpet), ake (raw bull liver seasoned with alaea), small piece of kulolo (sweet taro pudding), mac salad, some kind of spicy fried rice, steamed sweet potato, pork guisantes (pork and peas), some kind of grilled fish, and kalua pig!

The poke was so fresh and tasty. The opihi was so fresh and ono. One thing I tried for the first time was the ake, which I was told was raw bull liver. I never ate any kind of raw liver before, so I was glad I was told only after I tried it, because it tasted so good! The liver had a very different rich and creamy taste/texture and it was seasoned really well. Little bits of the alaea gave a lot of crunchy salty bits. The kalua pig melted in my mouth and had a wonderful smoky flavor. Everything else was so ono too.

On the side was a sour `ulu (breadfruit) poi.

This poi was delightful. I think poi is always the best a bit fermented, and this one was, which gave it a great sour taste. It was thick too. One finga kine brah! So good with da poke, opihi and crab!

For your viewing pleasure…

Broke da mout’ yea!!?? It’s good to live in Hawaii.