While Fried Chicken isn't native Hawaiian there has been a fair share that have eaten it and call it "Local Fried Chicken" that has a bit of a mixed up charm of local culture. This can be seen with the adaptations from the competition to the variations on ethnic combinations that have made a regional style of chicken. Some islands have their own little claim to fame for specific methods and specific fried chicken dishes. Hawaii Chicken is the main fried chicken that is the star of the state and is associated as such and that would be crispy "Garlic Chicken". The next in line of the most famous fried chicken would be Mochiko Chicken which is different with its use of rice flour. Lastly would be the multiple spiced chicken or just called the standard Chicken recipe that tastes like a drive in. Sugoi's and Mitsuken were the particular establishments that popularized Garlic Chicken in Hawaii. The general process of prepping the chicken in rinsing the chicken and dry the chicken. Hawaii style chicken has a marinating batter that does two things at once it makes a extra crispy crunch of the chicken that its known for that is the consistency of a pancake batter. After the batter is made the chicken pieces are mixed well in the batter and left to marinate in refrigerator 4 hours (light taste), 8 hours (some taste), 12 hours (good taste), 24 hours (restaurant taste). American Fried Chicken Tradition When people are taking a bite into fried chicken it brings people together as a food and is one of Hawaii's best fried diplomats and I am sure others would agree. People may have an argument over some political issue, but if someone were giving away free buckets of fried chicken they maybe more interested in a break and a nice crunch then to continue going at one another. Everyone grew up with it and travelers like it, locals like it, and those new to the food culture like it. National Food of Fried Chicken is really american with its deep-fried crispiness that has its own following. The most traditional way would be the old fashioned american buttermilk dipped and spiced chicken that is seen in many states and they may too have their own regional types. It is a national food that people know from all over no matter which state in the United States you go they are aware of fried chicken. Many Fried Chicken chains had come to Hawaii from all over the world including, but not limited to: Raising Canes (Lousiana Fried Chicken), Popeyes (Louisiana Fried Chicken), Churches (Georgia Fried Chicken), Kentucky Fried Chicken, Jolly Bee (Philippines Fried Chicken). History of Fried Chicken The word Fried attached to a dish already meant it was most likely unhealthy to a persons diet, especially in Hawaii as it was seen as naughty to eat such foods, but they were all over the place and treated as special occasion eats. When fast food began thriving there was a large amount of interest in fried foods and one of these was fried chicken from mainland chains as well as from the Drive In scene. This would normalize the idea of: ala carte chicken (per/unit), fried chicken plates (several pieces), fried chicken boxes (3 pieces), and family-sized buckets of chicken and sides (12-14 pieces). On Oahu, chicken was really hitting it big all over the place and restaurants started making their own famous fried chicken. These would bring in several styles of fried chicken into the spotlight, such as: Mochiko Chicken, Karaage Japanese Fried Chicken, Korean Fried Chicken, and Broasted Fried Chicken. A few notable places were: Woolworth's, Chicken Alices (Kimchi Fried Chicken), Chunky's Drive In, Chico's Pizza, and Andy's Drive In. On Maui, Furikake Mochiko Chicken would be the fried chicken of choice and would use eggs and marinaded mixture that uses cornstarch and mochiko flour. Its a Maui style of mochiko chicken that mixes the marinade is also the batter while mochiko chicken in many other recipes separates the batter from the marinade as two separate mixes. Kauai would be working on a Ginger Fried Chicken. Big Island would have Nori Fried Chicken that would have the nori wrapped around the chicken either before or after it was fried. The nori sheets were prepared in different ways and would envelope the entire chicken. In its appearance it looked alot like a kakimochi nori-maki snack (rice cracker teriyaki seaweed rolled snack). Fried Chicken Plate Lunch The star of Fried Chicken Plate Lunch is the treasured Garlic Chicken which has been feeding hungry customers for years. It is said that fried chicken began becoming to come in its own as a plate lunch with those looking for a hearty bento in the morning that could last them the day. Customers would be looking for something high in calorie as they would drive out to the beach or the park to spend a time in the sun with their bento In 1990s, a small eatery in Kalihi would answer the call and have a food of garlic fried chicken, spam, barbeque beef, hot dog, bacon, american bacon, portuguese sausage, pickles, and eggs with a bed of fried rice or fried saimin. There would be the mini bento, the regular bento, fried saimin bento, and the sports pack. Each one having a mixture of the foods in their warmers that would be quickly made and ready to eat with the chicken taking a bit as it was always made to order. Kaneshiro Ohana & Garlic Chicken This would be the famous fried chicken plate lunch shop known to the world as "Mitsu-ken Okazu and Catering" was known in Kalihi for its long lasting garlic chicken legacy. They worked on the process of making their fried chicken with a 24 hour marinade, mochiko flour coating, and after-spray of garlic sauce. It would place the Kaneshiro ohana in a place of fried chicken history that made fried chicken plate lunch popular enough to be its own type of plate lunch. Fried Chicken Plate Lunch would distinguish itself from the Okazuya of its origins through an emphasis of its Fried Noodles, but particularly its Fried Saimin which would come in more varieties over time. Fried Chicken Plate Lunch wouldn't exclusively be specializing on the fryers, but also making thin sliced meat dishes like barbecue beef, along with other sorts of sausages and shaped meats (luncheon meat, spam). Fried Chicken Plate Lunch In the 90s, Sugoi's in Kalihi would really be pushing the Garlic Chicken and Fried Rice combo with Zack and Robb Lee who standardized the essence of what was in a Fried Chicken Plate Lunch. When cut down to the bear minimum of what was needed a Fried Chicken Bento would rely on its fried rice first, salad second, creamy salad third, and pickled things last. Takuan was the pickle of choice. Medium Grain Fried Rice would be a must and a needed replacement of white rice for the fried experience. Sugoi's also made the platform of lunch options bringing in different sorts of fish like: Garlic Ahi, Salmon, Saba, Mahi Mahi, and White Fish Katsu (hoki). Some say that it could have been inspired by the age old Zip Pack from Zippys, but with fried rice instead of furikake rice, but the reason for this ensemble of meats, rice, and pickles is unknown. The Watery Sauce vs. the Mayo-base Sauce With the origins of the colonial times with Lunch Counters and Drive Ins sauces became a normal way of eating fried chicken with mayonnaise-based varieties having region-defining styles. Mayonnaise has been core to Hawaii sauces for poke sauce, barbecue sauce, and yes sauce made in the innovations of fried food. There had been a growing debate in the 2010's in dipped watery sauces vs. creamy mayo-based and has been a local battle of the spears the more loyal the customer is to their type of fried food. For example some Okazuya may have served their fried chicken with optional side of: tempura sauce, ponzu sauce, shoyu mustard, chili pepper vinegar, or dark shoyu for those who love to pour it on everything. The debate began getting as high as a volcano shooting at the spout when a popular eatery of fried chicken opened called Queen St Cafe. They would end up making fried rice and fried chicken unbeatable, but more importantly make sauce on Hawaii fried chicken plate lunch a must. Queen St. Cafe, Sauces and Macaroni Salad Gwen Alejo-Herring and her ohana had opened in 2010's and had a following of the classic pairing of Hawaii garlic fried chicken or Fire Cracker Chicken with sauce going all across each piece. There would be an area in the end of the seating area with a small little sauce area in which customers would start to prefer one sauce over another for better or for worse and had people picking their favorites. Some of these stand outs would be: Spicy Sauce, Steak Sauce, Buttermilk Sauce (Ranch), and Wasabi Sauce (Aioli). Customers would take their garlic chicken home and add their own concoctions from areas like Pearl City, Aiea, and Halawa. These would consist of: mixing Avocado with the Wasabi Sauce, mixing Guava and liquid smoke with the Steak sauce, and Home-made Lilikoi (mustard barbeque). Customers identified Queen St. Cafe so much with its sauces that they would mix in in their macaroni salad. Sometimes they would spray more sauce than they really needed in the plate lunch so they could make extra macaroni salad at home. This would result in recipes being shared of: Spicy Macaroni Salad, Wasabi Macaroni Salad, Kiawe/Guava Macaroni Salad (steak), Sesame Macaroni Salad (creamy oriental), and Lilikoi Macaroni Salad (Mustard Barbecue). The Fried Chicken Cult Later on as more eateries specialized in this sort of style it would bring larger importance to the variety of Sauces. Which would place importance on Macaroni Salad as well as the Fried Rice selections. Swap outs for healthier options was a trend that would catch on with Green Salads or Poke would be options to replace Macaroni Salads to be apart of the healthier eating trend. Hawaiian-Style Fryer Sides
The Fried Chicken sides have always been apart of the way to eat fried chicken in Hawaii. If there was some fried chicken on the farm there was always some stew to go with it, or what if you were at the Okazuya there was some side dishes there too, and if you went eat a plate lunch it came with some good tasting rice and macaroni salad. So the sides are really what complete the feeling of eating at a place serving up some fried chicken, especially the local kine. The recipes of Hawaii Fried Chicken that brings a nice crunch has been vital to its success and the side offerings that go with it as a sort of nice match. Many of the sides are actually soft or mellow on the texture as vegetables or some noodles and rice too. It was not such a big deal to consider the sides of fried chicken until entire pot lucks were based on buckets of fried chicken from establishments like: Zippys (local), Pioneer (California), KFC (Kentucky), Popeyes (Louisiana), and Churches. With taking into account what was the mainland way to eat it versus the local way people took their fried chicken bucket sides into their own hands. Local Fried Rice Local fried rice comes from old chop suey joints that would be all over the place and is easily identifiable as one of Hawaii's to go fast food items. Got some fried Pork Lechon? chop em up and throw em in the fried rice, or maybe some Peppered Pork Chop? chop em and toss em in too! or what about fried chicken? throw em in too for good measure! The food has its history in going out to get some food and always associated to take out dish of those going to eat out as a filler. The flavor is already pretty tasty after the flavor of the "Wok", but a major flavoring is always added through a sort of sauce. The local fried rice which has its nice flavor of its own will have drizzled: garlic pepper vinegar, or garlic ginger shoyu, or sweet chili sauce. The rice that was used back in the day was "Caprese Rice", but nowadays it is "Jasmin Long Grain Rice". Hawaii Garlic Fries Hawaii Garlic Fries are always a must as they are often served with chicken tenders at stadium foot ball and volley ball games. They are nicknamed sometimes as Stadium fries which is because that is where they originally got popular and associated with fried chicken. The fries have a nice seasoning that is in the flour and is quite strong with minced garlic. The not so secret special seasoning is used in many fried chicken recipes. It includes: flour, onion powder, garlic salt, dried parsley, white pepper, and after its fried it has olive oil, minced garlic, green onions. It can be used on crinkle cut fries like the old drives ins in Hawaii or the popular large cut Potato Wedges at national chains for the premiere cut. Pork Nishime/ Sari When going to get some fried food the first thing that hits you isn't the old Okazuya plantation Nishime that grandma use to make or the Sari Sari. One thing that many of these broth cooked foods have in common are the strong broth that can be made with the left over bones and with a place with no left overs this can be and has been a secret at some pot lucks. Ever wonder why there are people at the Okazuya who are getting some Nishime or Sari Sari with their Fried chicken? Pork and contrast are words we will be expaning on. These simmered vegetables go well with their softness as they are bitten into and make a stark contrast to the crunch of the chicken. When biting in the chicken itself and taking a bit of different vegetables adds to the taste as well, especially when the local variations involve cooking with pork fat. That secret is in the pork fat! it is also a great excuse to state that vegetables are apart of the meal! Hawaii Macaroni Salad No such thing as having something fried without the macaroni salad on the side! yes there are no greens in the macaroni salad and it is full of creamy carbs, but its a must to eat it with any plate lunch, especially with fried chicken. This became popular as many plate lunch places have served both fried foods and macaroni salad together with rice. As a staple to those who want a meal for themself it is expected that an eatery having fried chicken bring their Macaroni salad as a side contender. The texture of the Macaroni is soft and can feel a bit overcooked as is apart of its uniqueness. There is usually cmall bits of carrots and a large amount of seasoned mayonnaise (best foods) is for those who want it extra creamy. Some places add some pickles on the top that usually is pickled onions, pickled cabbage (tsukemono), or pickled radish (daikon). Hawaii Gravy and Mash Potatoes The home cook makes fried chicken one step above and comparable to plate lunch places when they add that nice Hawaii Brown Gravy. Pouring it on chicken is good and pouring it on mash potatoes is great, even if most may prefer to have gravy on rice, it still makes for a memorable dish either way. In Hawaii mash potatoes are not always the first thing to go and eat, so one of the few times a must have addition to the sides are mash potatoes are when people eat fried chicken. The gravy in Hawaii is made with beef bouillon and beef broth or sometimes pork broth and some butter. The salt added is shoyu, black pepper, garlic powder, and sometimes a small amount of cream as well. The mashed potatoes that goes good with fried chicken and are old fashioned have dashi powder and refined chicken broth to make a more creamy mash potatos. Hawaii Chili and Rice Chili with rice is a bowl is a defining dish of Hawaii thanks to the chain Zippys in Honolulu that popularized it. There is beanless and with beans and the beans they like specifically is Kidney beans that has been apart of the recipe for many years and is one of the times people may actually eat kidney beans. When chili is served with chicken it will be common to be asked with or without rice, because something locals like to do is dip their crispy fried chicken in the chili as a sort of chili dip and if extra cheese is there its even better. The restaurants that have chili seem to never miss a chance to add it with fried chicken as its probably one of the most famous combinations with even "fried chicken moco". The Chili and Rice is a side that has grown with many and is seasoned with furikake as those do so at home. It is seen as a must have especially when its added with a bite of Macaroni sald and the crispy chicken skin and an added hot dog or two. Garlic Cheese Bread Garlic Cheese Bread is a oldie and a classic with eating all sorts of American influenced dishes and was eaten alongside fried chicken from Lunch Counters in Hawaii. Restaurants would have their own version, some would have some toast and garlic cheese on top, another would take mini loaves and slice evenly vertically and horizontally for a checker board with the butter garlic cheese in between each cut, or they would be in the shape of balls. These bread pieces could be eaten in a variety of ways depending on the patrons tastes as they bite into a soft, delicate, and buttery consistency. These would be popularized by eateries that served both rice and garlic cheese bread or even chili spaghetti on a plate in case customers didn't like macaroni salad. They could order some stew and dip it right in or have some extra butter to dip it in or even a bowl of Chili. In this case garlic cheese bread makes for a delightful side to dip into some Chili or Brown Gravy while taking a bite of chicken afterwards.
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