21 Comments

Andrea...aloha from Kauai! As a long time resident, and avid amateur cooking enthusiast, obtaining ingredients, and cooking a lot of dishes has been a challenge. Thankfully many of the grocery stores and our local farmers have stepped up and we now have a a lot of depth in what is available. Let me say that among local grocery stores it has been the Hawaii based chains and the small independent grocery stores that have become the best source of niche asian ingredients. Times Supermarket in Lihue has in addition to its large asian section, a whole section of the store dedicated to Japanese ingredients. The Foodland stores, especially the Kapaa store has a large variety of SE asian ingredients. With our large filipino population there is a heavy emphasis on filipino ingredients. However Sueoka's store in Koloa has a wonderful assortment of Thai and Vietnamese ingredients. The farmers markets are excellent here as you have said as well. What so many of us have done though is turned to gardening for for our ingredients. With year round growing conditions, most of the time we just go into our garden for our vegetable needs, as well as for herbs. Our garden easily provides us with kafir lime, ginger, galangal, lemongrass, cilantro, la lot, diep ca, and ngo cai...as well as garlic chives, curry leaves, bay leaves,...and a good variety of chile peppers, citrus..(even yuzu!) avocados...and the list goes on. It's not as easy as going to the market and picking out your ingredients, we have to work with what we have available at the time. The farm to table movement took a while to take root here on Kauai...but now it's gone gangbusters. As we say here..."lucky we live Hawaii".

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Aloha and Mahalo for this detailed note! I'm so happy you shared your Kauai experience and insights. Yes to that Japanese corner of the Lihue Times market. I only had a brief moment there because we were on a time schedule and my pals put up with a lots when I'm going up and down the aisles.

Next time, I'm skipping the Princeville Foodland and heading to Kapaa. And Sueoka's is now on my list for the next trip to Kauai.

I've been incredibly impressed with what can be grown year round on your island. My friend Chan grows all the items you've mentioned. I'm incredibly envious, in particular, with the la lot bounty y'all have there. Yuzu too! The local oranges are divine right now. And, don't get me started on the bananas, rambutan, longans, mangos, pomelo, etc.

You are incredibly lucky to live in Hawaii and Kauai, to boot. Thank you so much.

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My husband and I vacation in Lihue every couple of years. So many of the stores and restaurants have closed since we first started visiting in the 1990s. Costco wasn’t there until more recently. I love the selection of local products and fresh fish, poke, and sashimi you can pick up there. Our funniest memory from the early days was going to the Long’s pharmacy to buy slippers (Hawaiian flip-flops) and finding the best selection of high end wines that I was having trouble sourcing in California!

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You do? How wonderful. I barely know the island. Next time, I'll poke around the Kauai Costco more thoroughly. We were in a hurry on this last trip to get home to cook dinner!

Love your Longs Drugs story. You never know where you'll find a gem or two in Hawaii.

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Quick local shout out for Marukai, in Cupertino. That is where I can sometimes find the pre-sliced Redondo’s sausage in perfect-for-musubi pieces (I.e. Spam-shaped, and even thickness) that I prefer when I am needing a little lift for my Aloha spirit. Even tho that location is not huge, it has a good produce and fish dept as well, and a decent Hawaiian items selection. I also find a good variety of koji items which I have used in marinades. On island, yes, for some reason the Foodland up in Princeville is not my favourite Foodland location. If we are staying in Poipu or Koloa, we always try to shop at Sueoka. And we also shop farmstands and the farmers markets there when possible.

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Irene -- Doh -- I totally forgot about the Marukai in Cupertino. It is small but there is a Daiso nearby. The people who work at the Princeville Foodland are always nice but it's a weird store -- kinda upscale but not. Thanks for the nod to Sueoka too!

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yes, there is something awkward about that Foodland I can't quite identify. Maybe I don't really understand the Princeville community. BUT, that is a great place to be if you happen to visit in November - that is when the Albatross are nesting. A tip from the docents at Kilauea Lighthouse, it turned out we were a block away from several marked Albatross nesting locations in the neighborhoods of Princeville, and people cone off and signpost the area to make drivers more cautious and aware. So there IS a sense of community, not just a resort, and I guess I treat that location like a funky Safeway. Not my favourite, but useful in a pinch.

with re to Costco in Hawaii, I find good representation of local items or growers (Hamakua Heritage Farm from the Big Island, local poi, and yes, indeed very good quality pineapples). Also, you can find beautiful salad greens from Kula Farms (upcountry Maui) at Foodland Farms (a slightly upscale offshoot of Foodland).

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Next time you're on Kauai, visit Hoku Foods Natural Market -- 2 locations.

https://www.hokufoods.com/

Wonderful, family-owned and operated market.

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Will do, Clarissa! Thank you so much for that tip. Yay!

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I love visiting grocery stores in new-to-me places! Such a great way to get a feel for local culture.

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Ain't that the truth! I always warn my travel buddies that I'll take a long time in a new store. 😆

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I live on the big Island. Don't forget to shop at KTA!

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OMG -- I hope to visit the Big Island some time. Mahalo for the KTA tip, Joan!

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Mahalo Andrea, I have a new appreciation for the grocery shopping options available on Oahu after seeing them described through your eyes. Farmlink (CSA boxes and locally grown a la carte items), Ma'o Organic, and the Saturday Kaka'ako Farmer's Market are all great options.

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I certainly enjoyed your grocery travelogue, even though I’ve never been to Hawaii and don’t necessarily plan to. One of me and my husband’s first dates was to 99 Ranch, and of course we met and still work in a grocery store. It seems like at least once a day I help someone who is stocking up on treats and snacks to take back to Hawaii, and I see a lot of Foodland bags! Regarding the salad dressing recipe, how similar is Taiwanese vinegar to Zhenjiang? Also, thanks for the nod to Cook Real Hawai’i because I’m now rereading it in bed.

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OMG -- that's so funny. On the flight to Kauai, the gal next to me said she checked in a suitcase full of Trader Joe's products.

Taiwanese black vinegar has sugar and vegetables (e.g., onion, carrot) in it and it tastes like a cross between worcestershire (did I spell that right?) and Zhenjiang. But the TW black vinegar leans more toward the worcestershire flavor. I put it on my to-write-about list!

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Thank you Andrea for the update from wonderful Hawaii. We hope Oahu folks are recovering from the horrible wild fires this past year.

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Maui folks had the fire. Things are not 100 percent I hear but people are visiting there. I've never been to Maui. Have you? I need to make friends there! ;-)

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Fun!

Although I’d like to bring you to one of the three Costcos within 7 miles of my house, the local H Mart sharing a parking lot with one of those Costco (there’s a Kura rotary sushi there, too) and my favorite, Naperville Fresh Market catering to Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European folks and where I cannot identify about one-third of the items. They also have Mexican, Middle Eastern and Asian food prepared to order at different “booths”.

I live in a Chicago suburb...

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Frank -- The suburbs of Chicago are magical for grocery shopping. I once went to an H-Mart that seemed to match the size of the Home Depot that was across the way from it.

Is the Naperville Fresh Market a giant "international" market? I adore those! They have a wide range of ingredients from all over. You're so LUCKY, Frank. Thanks for the tip.

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It’s a one-off. It was part of a chain (before I discovered it) but somebody bought the one store.

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