Where to find fresh lamb and hala leaves in Hilo (Honolulu: for sale, buy)

[clueless001]

Hi everyone,

It has been almost 6 months since I last posted. Thanks for everyone's contributions to my earlier questions. Things are going well in Hilo for us.

Got a few more questions for you guys. The last country we were based in was Ireland. We could find good nice fresh lamb easily. Really missing it. We can only find frozen ones in CostUless and fresh occasionally in Foodland. Does anyone here know a reliable source?

Another thing, I can't find screwpines aka pandan leaves in Hilo Farmers Market. I gather it is called Hala leaves here. I tried asking some of the Hawaiians here but in vain. Probably I pronounced it wrongly

Thanks a million

[Honolulu21]

Originally Posted by clueless001

Another thing, I can't find screwpines aka pandan leaves in Hilo Farmers Market. I gather it is called Hala leaves here. I tried asking some of the Hawaiians here but in vain. Probably I pronounced it wrongly

Thanks a million

I think you meant lauhala leaves. I sometimes dabble in cooking malaysian recipes that use pandan leaves. I was only able to find them in chinatown, and only if I went early in the morning.

The vendor told me that pandan and lauhala leaves may look similar, but they are not the same. He also said there weren't many sources for pandan leaves in Hawaii, which is why he sells out fast.

[Lucywe]

I know this suggestion is not Hilo, but Costco carries nice good tasting lamb at nice prices. Have you checked there? Call ahead to make sure before you go.

[hotzcatz]

How about asking Kulana foods if they have a list of the folks who send their animals in to be processed? Otherwise, put a note on the bulletin board at the feed store? I may have a phone number or two, but PM me since I shouldn't post anyone else's phone number online.

THere are lauhala in some of the beach parks, although I don't know of anyone who eats them, they are usually used for weaving. (Note: "lau" in Hawaiian means "leaf" so "lauhala leaf" is redundant.)

[Honolulu21]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

THere are lauhala in some of the beach parks, although I don't know of anyone who eats them, they are usually used for weaving. (Note: "lau" in Hawaiian means "leaf" so "lauhala leaf" is redundant.)

Oops, my bad. Just say lauhala instead of hala leaves then. To me pandan has a more "vanilla-ish" aroma than lauhala does. (After the vendor told me they were different, I went to the Honolulu Academy of Arts and picked some lauhala for comparison, LOL)

The pandan leaf is tied into a knot, then used as a flavoring agent much like the way bay leaf is.

[clueless001]

Thanks for everyone's contribution. Will check out my favourite vendor in Hilo Farmers' Market about lauhala. Less vanilla-ish is better than using those yucky artificial pandan flavouring. I also tried the only asian store here but they don't stock it and also looked confused when I asked them

As for the lamb, I will try Costco the next time we head over the way. Hotcatz, I have sent you a pm.

Thanks again, everyone

[hotzcatz]

On your way to Costco, there is a place in Waimea in the Parker Ranch Shopping Center called "Village Burger". They have a lamb burger that's really good! Actually, ALL their burgers are great and the wasabi french fries are yummy, too. They use local beef and local lamb, haven't a clue where they get the wasabi from, though.

I was chatting with the fellow who supplies them with lamb and apparently a lot of the folks who used to grow meat lambs in places like New Zealand aren't doing sheep anymore but have switched over to cattle or some such. He thinks lamb prices are going to go up since worldwide there are less sheep, however, I dunno if he's gonna sell his lamb for more or not. I generally buy wool from him since his sheep have fleeces which spin up into some really nice yarn.

[Honolulu21]

Originally Posted by clueless001

Thanks for everyone's contribution. Will check out my favourite vendor in Hilo Farmers' Market about lauhala. Less vanilla-ish is better than using those yucky artificial pandan flavouring. I also tried the only asian store here but they don't stock it and also looked confused when I asked them

I think I went to same asian store you did when I was in Hilo. Isn't it called Kilauea Market located on the corner of Kilauea Ave. and Kekuanaoa St.? My friend that I stay with when I'm visiting the BI always wants me to make her Nishime (a mostly vegetarian Japanese Stew using different types of root veggies, kelp and konnyaku) when I'm there.

I estimated that I saved about 50% more than if I had bought the same ingredients at KTA (a store that I love, BTW).

The owner of Kilauea Market is Chinese from Taiwan and the ingredients I saw in that store cater to mostly Chinese, Korean and Japanese cuisines. Maybe that accounts for the confused looks you encountered there.

Out of curiosity, I googled pandan Hawaii, and found a few blogs about it. It's confusing, since some of the blogs say that lauhala and pandan are and same, and others say it's different.

In this blog if you scroll down and read the 10th, 12th and last comments in the comments section, you'll see what I mean.

'Ono Kine Grindz: SHF - Serikaya (Egg Custard)

[Razzbar]

Originally Posted by Honolulu21

I think you meant lauhala leaves. I sometimes dabble in cooking malaysian recipes that use pandan leaves. I was only able to find them in chinatown, and only if I went early in the morning.

The vendor told me that pandan and lauhala leaves may look similar, but they are not the same. He also said there weren't many sources for pandan leaves in Hawaii, which is why he sells out fast.

"Lau" means "leaf", so "lauhala" means "hala leaf". I didn't know they were any different from pandanus or screwpine.

There are tons of hala trees along the Puna coast. I've never seen them for sale, and didn't even know they're edible. I now the fruit is, but...

[clueless001]

Honolulu21, thanks for looking up about pandan. I had also tried to find out more about pandan online before and got even more confused.

Yeah the Asian market is the same one you mentioned. I thought they were Cantonese from the dialect they speak (I cant speak the dialect but can differentiate it)

I haven't tried looking for the leaves in the Hilo Farmers' market yet. Been frantically reading up stuff about computers. Not my cup of tea. My notebook just went nuts. Sigh!

Originally Posted by Honolulu21

I think I went to same asian store you did when I was in Hilo. Isn't it called Kilauea Market located on the corner of Kilauea Ave. and Kekuanaoa St.? My friend that I stay with when I'm visiting the BI always wants me to make her Nishime (a mostly vegetarian Japanese Stew using different types of root veggies, kelp and konnyaku) when I'm there.

I estimated that I saved about 50% more than if I had bought the same ingredients at KTA (a store that I love, BTW).

The owner of Kilauea Market is Chinese from Taiwan and the ingredients I saw in that store cater to mostly Chinese, Korean and Japanese cuisines. Maybe that accounts for the confused looks you encountered there.

Out of curiosity, I googled pandan Hawaii, and found a few blogs about it. It's confusing, since some of the blogs say that lauhala and pandan are and same, and others say it's different.

In this blog if you scroll down and read the 10th, 12th and last comments in the comments section, you'll see what I mean.

'Ono Kine Grindz: SHF - Serikaya (Egg Custard)

Razzbar, I hope you haven't tried eating the leaves. It is usually used in cooking for its fragrance but it is not used for consumption.

Originally Posted by Razzbar

"Lau" means "leaf", so "lauhala" means "hala leaf". I didn't know they were any different from pandanus or screwpine.

There are tons of hala trees along the Puna coast. I've never seen them for sale, and didn't even know they're edible. I now the fruit is, but...