Portuguese sausage, pancakes with macadamia nuts, fish and sticky rice. Only eat at local spots...

Check out this column, called "What's for Breakfast?"
http://hawaii.rr.com/leisure/reviews...fbreakfast.htm

Thanks for the referral! I am the food and restaurant columnist for Hawaii Roadrunner's "Around Town" homepage. Taro has an exquisite taste, either eaten plain after cooking, diced and combined in little Chinese cakes, or pureed, breaded and deep-fried as a dim sum dumpling. Anyone that has a different opinion should try a good restaurant for a change.

As for breakfast, there should be rice, fresh corned beef hash (with flecks of Portuguese sausage), toasted Portuguese sweetbread, pineapple slices, macadamia nut pancakes, guava juice, and sunny side up eggs with a splash of chili pepper water and catsup on the side.
You can have loco moco tomorrow, then a spam dish the next day. Fruits all the time. On a special day, oxtail stew with eggs and popovers to soak up the gravy.

Guava juice is mentioned above. Beware. Real 100% guava juice is delicious but more likely to be found is sugar water with 10% Guava juice.

When I think of "Hawaiian" breakfast, toasted Portuguese sweetbread always comes to mind (sometimes topped with fruit or fruit syrup). I personally like fried rice with a sunny side up egg on the top and Portuguese sausage on the side. A sweeter breakfast might consist of mango pancakes, guava juice, and bananas.
As for taro, I think that it has a definite taste, although a bit bland. Poi is wonderful and fun to eat. It also goes well with salty food. Some people like to add sugar to their poi to lighten the bitterness of the taro. Crisp taro chips are also a good one.

Oops! I forgot the coffee!! Kona coffee with breakfast, of course!

looks like some Hawaiians came on last night. WHERE DO I FIND MANGO PANCAKES???!!!

About Portuguese influence in the islands...they were recruited in large numbers to come work as laborers on the sugar and pineapple plantations, starting in the 1870's. I think for a while they were the second biggest foreign ethnic group in Hawaii, behind the Chinese.

The strong Portuguese influence is due to their very early immigration to Hawaii to work on the plantations. The Portuguese have been here so long that they are perceived as "native" rather than "foreign or Caucasian" -- it's really the strangest thing. By the time other ethnic groups (Japanese, Chinese, Filipino) were recruited as plantation labor, the Portuguese were already well established and by then were supervisory or management level.

One of the oldest local bakeries for Portuguese malasadas is Leonard's Bakery, straight up the street a ways from Waikiki Beach. The address is 933 Kapahulu Avenue (phone: (808) 737-5591). Other Portuguese specialities that locals love are their sweetbread (ummm, good for French toast!) and sausage (a spicy breakfast favorite).

Another local favorites is Spam musubi, which is a slice of Spam on a slab of pressed rice with a piece of dried seaweed (Japanese call this "nori) holding the concoction together. This is a kind of local equivalent to a sandwich and is great for a quick breakfast on the go, a beach snack, or on the golf course.

The pattern you might be seeing from all of these posts is that Hawaii is an ethnic smorgasbord and a Hawaiian breakfast could be a number of different offerings from all kinds of different ethnic groups. A single breakfast (or any meal for that matter) might include a mix of different ethnic favorites.

True true Burta...you always see meso soup on many hotel breakfast buffets. Don't think this is local but accommadates the Japanese tourist. Suppose to be calming to have a little meso soup in the morning and it is!!

I know this is not food-related, but I can see who dominates this forum...hee hee!

Emi Buffet! Are you related to Phoebe from "Friends"?

Speaking of buffets.....that is a great way to start the day. Try the one at the Hanohano Room on Saturdays!!

Emi buffet...quite true, quite true.
As for mango pancakes, I don't know what resteraunt serves them, but the simplest way i found to make it is to first dice the mango into inch-sized sqaures, then after you pour the batter into your pancake shape, stick the pieces of diced mango in the RAW side of the pancake, which is still facing up. After the other side is cooked, flip it. that way, when you cut it open on your plate, there are mangos inside!

I am lazy. I buy my pancake mix, with dried mangoes inside. There is also Kona Coffee flavored choco chip pancakes, too. Go to http://www.hulagirlthestore.com/ and click on their pancake mixes.

tttt

Don't know about tradition but "POG n' Grog" is pretty good, with pineapple of course !

I just got back from a weekend in SF and I finally figured out what my traditional "vacation breakfast" really is...3 aspirins and a lot of black coffee!
I seem to have that for b'fast in Kauai from time to time, too. ;^D
Mahalo,
Kal

Kal, where's the trip report? Where are all the sports bars in SF and did you find Steelers fans, as well as Niners and Raiders fans? We were helping friends move and just had it on in the background.

I hear what you are saying about breakfast on vacation. ;-) My friend swears by vanilla milkshakes, but I agree about the strong coffee and advil. Of course, if you're really on vacation you can opt for the bloody mary instead.

Sue'spike-just posted it. Too bad ya couldn't make it. We all had a good time. Had too much fun in Shanghai Kelly's (great locals) that we just perched there until it was time to say "Aloha" and move along.
Kal

topping for Carol