Everyday things about Big Island life that make visitors go "Wha?" (Makaha: motels, buying)

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by DeirdreDedra

Vegetarian versions of manapua!!! I hope they have them on the Big Island.

Absolutely. Ones made with Okinawan (purple) sweet potato are popular, and also ones filled w/bean paste.

In general I think vegetarian food is easier to find on the Big island than many other places, because the many Asian cultures that blended with native Hawiian culture to produce "island taste" all were used to preparing dishes without meat.

Wandering around downtown Hilo, checking out the many plate lunch and bento places is fun. Think I'll go do that now.

[hotzcatz]

When the "mixed vegetarians" visit for the Merrie Monarch they always get Korean take out from the Korean place up in Waimea. It's in the same parking lot as KTA (or McDonald's which is probably easier for mainland folks to recognize.) They manage to find loads of food which they generally leave in the refrigerator when they go and even though I don't know what it is or where it came from it's generally pretty tasty. They are the "mixed" vegetarians since one of them will eat cheese if it's goat cheese and the other one won't eat cheese at all but will drink milk. One of them won't touch eggs, but the other one will - but only if the eggs come from happy chickens. I can't figure it all out, but I let one of them pet the chickens for a bit and then she will eat breakfast. The other one has leftover Korean take out and coffee for breakfast and seems happy enough. The first time they came to visit, I stocked the refrigerator with vegetables figuring being vegetarians they'd want to eat vegetables. Nope. Far as I can figure they don't eat vegetables. I just take them to whichever store they want to forage at and let them put things in the refrigerator and pet the chickens and everything works out fine. I don't know if they got Merrie Monarch tickets or not this year, since I haven't heard from them crowing about getting tickets, I'm guessing not.

[henry1]

I have never got this whole thing about the Vegetarians and how and what they will eat at times ..I make a rice dish with chicken and beef and pork flavored TVP meat cubes mixed into the rice with a sweet and sour sauce as a meal dish and i get is this real meat and i tell them it TVP flavored or meatless meat and they go yeah right and the two socalled Vegan i work with will not eat it and everyone else is tearing into the dish and going this is good ..

I can cook some socalled Vegan dish useing the TVP products that i find at one place and i get this comments from a vegans about the some of the dish no matter what you put into it some people will not eat it ..

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by henry1

I have never got this whole thing about the Vegetarians and how and what they will eat at times ..

It's not you, Henry, it's them. There are many diverse reasons people become vegetarians... from health concerns to philosophical viewpoint to food phobias and neuroses... so there are many diverse personal interpretations of what a proper vegetarian diet is. Some eat eggs, some avoid honey. Some eat fish, some avoid all cooking. There is no single definition, no single approach. There are no Vegetarians, only "vegetarians." Same same for "vegans," who set themselves off from other "vegetarians" by virtue of avoiding animal products altogether. But one of the most amusing things I read last year was an essay by a practicing vegan who argued that oysters were ok for vegans to eat because they are not considered animals by any common criteria.

I tried vegetarianism for several years, trained to cook macrobiotic food, and had a vegetarian partner for many years. But my health suffered, and I immediately improved once I went back to eating meat. Still, years later, when I entered a new relationship, with a raw food vegan, I tried it, quite seriously, even becoming an apprentice chef in a raw food restaurant so I could learn to make delicious meals for my sweetie. Again, I did not prosper, and in fact she was eventually forced to add meat back into her diet because of rising health issues. I've since learned that vegetarianism does not work for all body types, and that certain diet related health issues are quite common among vegetarians.

Then I read "The Vegetarian Myth," and that sealed the deal for me personally. Today I eat a fresh local produce centered diet, but with judicious amounts of fresh fish and meat added at times. Kinda like the native Hawaiians did. That's what works best for me, and for my health.

But I remain "vegetarian friendly," doing my best to serve my friends and guests whatever they consider best for them. I don't have to understand it, or even agree with it, I just have to accept it. That's Aloha Spirit at work. The primary ingredient in the food I make is love.

OpenD

[henry1]

I try to eat pretty healthy with chicken or turkey and very little red meat in the diet along with fresh fuits and vegs in the lifestyle and i make up a few socalled vegatarian friendly dish and some of the socalled vegan i know will eat it and there is nothing left of the dish and others will not touch it .

So i try and think to serve them when i have a cook out or a dinner party where they are comeing to the event and try to make sure that they have food on the menu that they can eat is also on the menu ..

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by henry1

I try to eat pretty healthy with chicken or turkey and very little red meat in the diet along with fresh fuits and vegs in the lifestyle and i make up a few socalled vegatarian friendly dish and some of the socalled vegan i know will eat it and there is nothing left of the dish and others will not touch it .

As the saying goes, "different strokes for different folks." BTW, some red meat in your diet is desirable according to the majority of nutritional health experts. After all, our distant ancestors evolved the bodies we inhabit eating what is now called a "Paleolithic Diet": tubers and root vegetables, meat, insects, nuts, seeds. Very little fruit or green leaves or grains. No dairy. This is what our teeth are configured to chew, this is what our digestive tract is configured to digest, this is what our body is configured to run on. Many say that civilization really began when agriculture was invented, allowing us to eat a lot of grains instead of scampering around the savannah trying to dig up some dinner, then adding dairy as a way of extending food availability into northern winters, etc. But look at all the folks with health complications from grains and dairy foods today. Care for some fresh termites?

Originally Posted by henry1

So i try and think to serve them when i have a cook out or a dinner party where they are comeing to the event and try to make sure that they have food on the menu that they can eat is also on the menu ..

So do I. I think it's just part of being a gracious host. And I love that it is so easy to do on the BI. We have a real cornucopia of abundance here, all year long.

OK, back to the saimin...

[OpenD]

"OK, so I get what 'plate lunch' is, and I get what 'manapua' is. But what's 'saimin'? I see signs for it all over the place."

Saimin is another uniquely Hawiian comfort food which came out of the blending of different Asian tastes during plantation days.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say:

"Saimin is a noodle soup dish unique to Hawaii. Inspired by Japanese udon, Chinese mein, and Filipino pancit, saimin was developed during Hawaii's plantation era. It is a soup dish of soft wheat egg noodles served in hot dashi garnished with green onions. Kamaboko, Char siu, sliced Spam, linguiça, and nori may be added, among other additions."

In other words, it's easily adaptable to "your taste," just by whatever you add to it. Every place that sells it has a slightly different taste, and every subculture has its favorite ingredients. Convenient tubs and septipaks of fresh saimin noodles are available in every supermarket for home preparation. But don't look for saimin in Japan, or China, or Korea, or the Philippines. They don't have it.

Saimin is Hawaiian!

[henry1]

I try to eat red meat on the weekend with a monday through thurs is basic healthly meals with chicken and turkey meals dureing the week and the weekend is for pizza and red meat is sat nght meals like eating out a home town buffet with steak dinner night and sunday is pot roast sunday meal

[henry1]

I used to love spicey food intill about four years ago when one day i found out i can no longer eat or have some foods that i love to eat ..So it pretty bland in a way of spices in the way i cook now after haveing the talk with the doctor and he basically layed out what is good for me and not good for me at this time of my life

[MickeyE]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

but only if the eggs come from happy chickens.

This made me grin because when my wife was running her wedding cake business, her dairy products and eggs were delivered by a company called Happy Chicken and Merry Milkmaids!

Mickey