Kohala Chicken Hekka
Looking over the architecture of the sugar camp is a look into the past of Kauai and its history left from Waimea Sugar Mill Co. Reminiscent are the times of having many wok cooked meals and a dish that really brought everyone together would be the chicken hekka that would leave an aroma. Apart of the flavor would be the really fresh ingredients that were going inside the Hekka along with the raw sugar, which was the usual back then. Raw sugar isn't all too common in many of the Hekka recipes, however, the ones made from the plantation days frequently have it as a must have ingredient.
Even the kids would get excited when they smell the nice aroma of hekka being cooked for the family right outside of the plantation-style architecture subdivisions. The food wasn't anything fancy by any means, because there were long hours of work for little wages that needed to be used carefully. Many of the workers would have their own little garden to grow vegetables if they could, so that it would help with the monthly expenses. |
Chiken Hekka near the Kohala Coast
Kohala Chicken Hekka is a regional variation of food that is from the plantation workers. When looking at the ingredients it may come off as something similar to a chop suey that had every part of the chicken that you could think of thrown inside. Working families would make meals from the hot oil that was thrown in the wok with the heat coming from a wood fire under neathe for a really hot meal. Back then it wasn't seen as something complicated, but simple and fast. The plantation families needed to get food on the table and cook for many hungry mouths. |
Food Characteristics
Kohala Chicken Hekka has an appearance of being all mixed up with a variety of chicken parts as well as vegetables. Long rice is the clear noodle that absorbs the mixture of sake, fish sauce, and dark shoyu that flavor the broth. When the Hekka was cooked in the wok there were sometimes a slightly smokey flavor from the charred ends of some vegetables that were sauteed before the simmering. Nowadays it isn't uncommon to add liquid smoke or smoked salt. |
Wood and Fire of the Wok
When families would cook outside in the plantation days they would sit around on the ground or on whatever they could find as a gathering spot. The wok was a sign of a gathering in its meaning of delicious food! If someone needed a stir fry the wok was there, or maybe a quick fried akule head, and in this case a nice family Hekka. After eating a large meal by the wok the families would have to get ready for another day awaiting them with the large sugar mill standing in the moonlight. |