7 March 2011 Dinner News – Hawaiian Volcano

Kilauea Volcano
Pu’u O’o crater floor collapses

Digging a pit and cooking a whole Kalua pig in the backyard may not be practical, but thanks to the wonder of the internet you can find scaled down dishes to bridge the distance and share both celebration and common daily Hawaiian dishes at home.

Discuss the volcano gods over dinner at your house tonight

(Lomi lomi, kalua pig & mac salad @ Ogo’s – Some rights reserved by kylehase)

The Meal

Entrée

Hawaiian or Mainland Laulau (Aloha Friends Luau)

Chicken, pork and fish wrapped in ti, luau or banana leaves and steamed.

Kalua Pig in Slow Cooker (allrecipes.com)

No pit in the backyard required!

Side Dishes

Lomi Lomi Salmon (Tyler Florence, Food Network)

Do you like lox on your bagels? That’s the best question I can think of to describe if this recipe is for your family.

Potato-Mac Salad (Aloha World)

Elbow macaroni salad meets potato salad with a cucumber twist.

Sweet Potato Poi (Recipe4Living)

Substitute casava root, parsnip or sweet potato (Gourmet Sleuth) if you can not find taro. Poi was made from breadfruit, sweet potato or banana as well as taro (HawaiiHistory.org)

Dessert

Haupia (coconut pudding) (Aloha Friends Luau)

Bright white pudding squares found on some Asian buffets in the US are also traditional luau treats.

Lilikoi Cake (food.com)

Substitute pineapple (Gourmet Sleuth), or guava (The Cook’s Thesaurus) if you can not find Yellow Passion Fruit (aka Lilikoi) but still want a local Hawaiian feel.  This is a special occasion cake with frosting and gel / glaze recipes to match.  Some sites recommend this for a luau themed wedding, but it could work for an advanced teen cooking day as well.

The View

Learn more about the rich history of Hawaiian native foods, the legend of the goddess Pele, and the modern technology of web cams:

• HVO Web Cams (Home Page for 7 cams)
• Hawaii Volcanoes Cultural Festival (July 11th, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park)
• Pele – Goddess of Fire (Coffee Times article detailing volcano goddess legend)

The Chatter

What did you Yahoo today?

• Lava spews 65 feet high after crater collapse (Yahoo News)
• Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (USGS HVO Home Page)

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