luau menu / where to find poi

I'm helping with a family luau on Saturday, and had a late-breaking inspiration to bring poi, if I can find a mix or the right kind of taro to boil. Are you aware of any places in Chicagoland that have the starter (like this):



or taro? If you make it from scratch, how / do you add coloring?

In Lahaina they had both straight Hawaiian poi (to salt and pepper) and a sweeter version that still had taro but included mashed banana and coconut milk. I may go both ways.

Any other last-minute luau tips or recipes that have worked well for your own Hawaiian celebrations? We have lomi lomi, soy beef, grilled mahi mahi, and kalua pork covered. Thanks!

Santander wrote:Any other last-minute luau tips or recipes that have worked well for your own Hawaiian celebrations? We have lomi lomi, soy beef, grilled mahi mahi, and kalua pork covered. Thanks!

Sounds like it'll be a fun time!

I put together Spam musubi for a Hawaiian-themed 4th of July party...it was a cheap & easy dish (cost me under $20 in materials & took about an hour, working slowly & leisurely), and stood out nicely on the buffet table. Two cans of Spam yielded 16 musubis, and fed 16 people on average (half the folks at the party said "ew, Spam" and kept their distance, and the other half had two each & then complained when there weren't any left ).

A staple at most luaus I've attended, whether in the islands or on the mainland, has been haupia. I haven't bothered to google it but it's simple to make, "authentic," and downright delicious (and easy on the stomach) after such a feast. It's basically coconut milk pudding but it's so much better than it sounds. Oh man, just thinking about it sets my mouth to watering. If you need, I can probably dig up an old recipe, but it should be easy to find. And now that I think about it, my mind starts wandering: chicken long rice, malasadas (okay, not luau food but as Hawaiian as it gets), opihi, laulau (wid da kine butterfish, eh?), poke, maybe some char siu, kulolo, sweet potatoes.... Auwe! I want one full report, eh?

There is a fair bit of taro root available in most Asian ethnic markets. That pink poi in the photo looks interesting, but the poi I had in Hawaii was never that color -- it was more a pale gray. So you may not need to make it look pink.

A search for "how to make poi" turned up a load of responses, including this one: http://www.ehow.com/how_18585_make-poi.html

One resource that might be helpful is Bob Chinn of Crab House fame, if he's in town. (He splits his time between Chicago and his native Hawaii.) Back when he just had a little storefront carry-out place called House of Chan, he used to do luaus, and for several years, he ran the Kahala Terrace in Glenview. So he knows Hawaiian/Polynesian, and might be able to direct you to resources.

Thanks for the recs! I did slow-smoked kalua pig starting at 8 AM this morning (just plateauing now), spam and pineapple skewers, and scratch poi from malanga, a very closely related corm I got at Tony's in North Riverside and boiled down really nicely. I pounded out one straight Hawaiian version, and one Samoan with the addition of mashed banana and coconut milk. Both are very naturally purple-pink from the root. Pictures tomorrow!

Gypsy Boy - I made a small test haupia last night (cornstarch instead of gelatin), and it was fantastic. Ran out of time to make the full pan this afternoon but will be enjoying it tomorrow since I still have the ingredients.

Santander wrote:Gypsy Boy - I made a small test haupia last night (cornstarch instead of gelatin), and it was fantastic. Ran out of time to make the full pan this afternoon but will be enjoying it tomorrow since I still have the ingredients.

FWIW, I have always used cornstarch. All of my friends from Hawaii, the same. Which isn't to say that gelatin isn't used, but that the use of cornstarch is, I think, widespread. Did you grate the coconut from scratch?

Glad you liked it; I've always found it one of those dishes whose deliciousness belies the few, simple ingredients.

Some (tardy) shots from my contributions to the Italian-Hawaiian luau, thanks to all for the inspirations.

The two rubbed kalua-esque 4 lb pork shoulders, 7:30 AM:



Samoan poi before mixing, taro (malanga from Tony's, close enough), coconut, and ripe banana (that's a slice of the malanga on the corn starch canister for the haupia, not pictured):



Samoan poi after mixing:



About 10 people out of 50 would try it, and they all loved it. Another item I targeted for a small audience (my dad), Spam and pineapple skewers:



The finished pork (taken out at 4:30, thought two smaller shoulders would go faster than that, no dice), on Italian fried dough (pittuli):



What would be even more entertaining would be the pictures of what everyone else brought, which included pizza bread, Waldorf salad, antipasto, and canned pineapple slices dusted with cinnamon. The theme was followed more loosely than I projected. The hosts did at least make wonderful salmon teriyaki with a great haul from a Lake Michigan charter earlier in the week.

Mahalo!

Looks good. And how vastly more fun and interesting your more authentic offerings would be -- at least for most of us in this forum.

One great advantage to taking something amazing, like that pork shoulder, is that at least you know there will be something good to eat.

Santander wrote:What would be even more entertaining would be the pictures of what everyone else brought, which included pizza bread, Waldorf salad, antipasto, and canned pineapple slices dusted with cinnamon. The theme was followed more loosely than I projected. The hosts did at least make wonderful salmon teriyaki with a great haul from a Lake Michigan charter earlier in the week. Mahalo!

Cynthia wrote:Looks good. And how vastly more fun and interesting your more authentic offerings would be -- at least for most of us in this forum.

I agree. Not to put down anyone's offerings, but my heart kind of sank when I read "pizza bread...canned pineapple slices."

Spam and pineapple skewers are in the cards for me. That looks great (as does everything else).