ROAD FOOD

Hawaii's roadside stands offer up a smorgasbord of onolicious grinds

Illustration by Kevin Hand
By Catherine Kekoa Enomoto
Star-Bulletin

To wit, fresh-picked corn, pickled mango, the ubiquitous huli-style chicken and, as the summer fishing season gains momentum, more and more freshly caught aku and ahi.

The Star-Bulletin recently took a couple of drives around Oahu and compiled a top 10 list of roadside food finds.

If you go driving for grinds, be advised that some of these food vendors may or may not be where we found them - they move around or sometimes take a day off. We suggest you take along a cooler to keep produce fresh and perishables safe, bottled water to cleanse the palate and slake the thirst, a roll of paper towels or napkins to mop up drips and a trash receptacle for wrappers, peelings and miscellaneous. And, of course, a big or little wad of small bills, depending on hunger level.

Ready, set, "go and grind!"

From left, Sam Osborne, Danny Sadenio and Darrell Bajo go for the burn of hot and spicy shrimp in Kahuku.

The North Shore, from Haleiwa to Kawela, is a hotbed of fresh fruit and vegetable stands. And the best buy, day in and day out, is big, luscious, field-ripened pineapple for $2 each. Also, harvest papaya, especially the rare sunrise variety for $1.25 apiece at Aunty 'Berta's stand fronting The Mill in Kahuku.

No. 9: Pickled mango.

It's a pervasive product during this peak of green mango season. One taster's choice is li hing pickled mango sold from a truck parked on the beach across from the Nanakuli 7-Eleven store. These lightly pickled mango strips are white with a tinge of pink and a subtle li hing flavoring - just right as a namasu-like condiment. Cost: $5 per one-pound (resealable plastic) bag.

If you prefer a sweeter, stronger li hing taste, then Kawika and Noe Lopes of Nanakuli Homestead are just down the road, opposite the Hakimo Road sign. They make and sellout 15 pounds daily. Cost: $6 a pound bag.

Also, "Mango Willy" Herron of Haleiwa claims to have the best. His version has sharper vinegar and mango flavors, at $6 per pound bag across from Haleiwa Beach Park.

Dorothy Oga, just townside of Waimea Bay, says people come from all over the island for her $5 pickled mango - give it a try.

No. 8: Waimea mango bread.

Although we didn't try her pickled mango, we did sample Oga's moist, rich homemade mango bread, at $2 a mini loaf. She and her 'ohana also offer homemade corn, pineapple and pumpkin breads, besides assorted cookies and 25-cents-a-pair earrings.

Jerome Freitas' pork or chicken lau lau is a must if you're going through Hauula.

No. 7: Hauula laulau.

A must-eat on any culinary crusade is Hauula laulau at $2.50 each. The bundles are juicy, still hot from the pot at noontime, wrapped in ti leaves (not foil), and bursting with Waihee Valley luau leaves plus pork or chicken. Fresh poi and kulolo sell out quickly. Proprietor Jerome Freitas is parked opposite Hauula Beach Park every other weekend. His 140-pound Rottweiler is as stoic as Freitas is loquacious.

No. 6: North Shore smoothie.

A funky white Kahuku Shave Ice Co. lunchwagon offers Island Tropical Fruit Shakes at points along the road between Haleiwa and Kawela. Proprietor Jay Hix whips up a papaya-banana-coconut model that's wonderfully creamy and nectareous for $3.

No. 5: Nanakuli pastele.

Linda Seals' pasteles are a sumptuous combination of grated green Chinese banana, pork chunks, mild spices and black olives. She makes the labor-intensive Puerto Rican specialty out of sheer creative expression. It's her mother-in-law's revered recipe and worth the drive to Nanakuli; $2 each, next to Kawika's pickled mangoes (No. 9).

No. 4: Kahuku tomatoes.

Ingenious vendor Rick Troutman of Wahiawa has amassed a panoply of produce, such as Punaluu bananas, Kahuku cucumbers, spoon-soft or hard coconuts, Waialua oranges, Wahiawa plain pineapples and - the most delectable treasure on this visit - vine-ripened Kahuku tomatoes for 75 cents each. He dispenses one-liners with Haleiwa avocados, at the end of Kunia Road between Wheeler and Schofield bases.

Rick Troutman has a tent to keep his fruits and vegetables - and himself - cool between Wheeler and Schofield bases.

No. 3: Waimanalo corn.

The back of a Golden Melon Farm pickup brims with freshly harvested ears for sale in the parking lot of Frankie's Drive Inn at Waimanalo. It's a popular hub from 9:30 a.m. daily during corn season. Regular sweet corn is $2.50 for a bag of five large or up to 12 small ears.

No. 2: Kahuku corn.

Nos. 2 and 3 may be interchangeable, depending on the tides, the alignment of the stars or one's taste. Kahuku kernels appeared bigger and yellower than the Waimanalo strain's. The succulent ears are good raw or cooked, at about $2.50 for four ears. Several roadside stands preside from Turtle Bay to Kahuku.

And, No. 1: Hot and spicy shrimp.

OK, Road Warriors, this adventure separates the macho from the meek. You may think you've tasted hot in your lifetime, but on a scale of 1 to 10, Giovanni's "We really mean it" hot and spicy shrimp rates a 12! These hellish morsels are Kahuku shrimp with Mozambique chile spicing.

Giovanni also features a dozen shrimp scampi-style (marinated in lemon, garlic and white wine) and grilled (flavorful and crispy), at $10 a plate including two scoops of rice.

"It's worth it," said Darrell Bajo of Wahiawa, who downed a hot and spicy plate between quick intakes of breath to cool his seething palate.

Mr. and Mrs. "G," the New Jersey transplant proprietors, operate their white shrimpmobile fronting The Mill in Kahuku, and just opened a second shrimp wagon at Waimea Bay on a trial basis through June.

The Waimanalo corn lady's truck is a regular stop for folks such as Eleanor Dowling of Kailua.