Cook Real Hawai'i: A Cookbook

Product Description
The story of Hawaiian cooking, by a two-time Top Chef finalist and Fan Favorite, through 100 recipes that embody the beautiful cross-cultural exchange of the islands.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Taste of Home • Vice
Even when he was winning accolades and adulation for his cooking, two-time
Top Chef finalist Sheldon Simeon decided to drop what he thought he was
supposed to cook as a chef. He dedicated himself instead to the local Hawai‘i food that feeds his ‘ohana—his family and neighbors. With uncomplicated, flavor-forward recipes, he shows us the many cultures that have come to create the cuisine of his beloved home: the native Hawaiian traditions, Japanese influences, Chinese cooking techniques, and dynamic Korean, Portuguese, and Filipino flavors that are closest to his heart.
Through stunning photography, poignant stories, and dishes like wok-fried poke, pork dumplings made with biscuit dough, crispy cauliflower katsu, and charred huli-huli chicken slicked with a sweet-savory butter glaze,
Cook Real Hawai‘i will bring a true taste of the cookouts, homes, and iconic mom and pop shops of Hawai‘i into your kitchen.
Review
“An incredible primer on the delights of Hawai‘i’s food, and a heartfelt portrait of Simeon’s own family history there.”
—Eater, “The 17 Best Cookbooks of Spring 2021”
About the Author
Sheldon Simeon lives on Maui and is the chef and owner of Tin Roof, where he serves local Hawai’i favorites. His restaurant Lineage was named one of
Bon Appétit’s top 50 new restaurants. Simeon was a finalist and voted Fan Favorite on seasons 10 and 14 of
Top Chef.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
I’m local: L-O-C-A-L!
As brown as one dollar size ‘opihi shell
I’m as local as the ume in your musubi
As one spaghetti plate lunch with side order kim chee
I’m as local as the gravy on the three scoop rice
As all the rainbow colors on da kine shave ice
—Frank De Lima’s Joke Book
What is the food of Hawai‘i? Ho boy, that’s one question I’ve been asked many times. I always have an answer, but every time it leaves my mouth I wonder if I captured the whole truth, in all its splendor and complexity.
Hawai‘i has been home my entire life. I’m sure many people say this about where they grew up, but I believe there’s no place on earth more beautiful than our islands, home to swaying palm trees, sugary white sand beaches, and impossibly green mountains streaked with waterfalls. The Hawaiian Islands form one of the most visited yet most remote archipelagos on earth, a tiny scattering of green surrounded by the blue vastness of the Pacific. We’re the fiftieth state, but, as we joked in school, the guy who drew the map always stuck us way in the corner. About 1.5 million people live in Hawai‘i, a number dwarfed by the 10 million who came as visitors last year. How does a place that has so long been defined by the outside world define itself? The answer is the reason why I set out to write this book.
After competing on two seasons of
Top Chef, I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate to have a kind of national exposure. When I was younger, I saw these opportunities as a way to gain recognition and validation from the mainland, looking to restaurants in L.A. and New York for inspiration.
During my first season on the show, most people knew me as the chill Hawaiian guy. It took me a while to get across that I was not actually Hawaiian—as in native Hawaiian—but a third-generation Filipino from Hawai‘i. Big difference. See, in Hawai‘i we identify ourselves ethnically rather than geographically, which may tell you something about our cultural influences. On the mainland people might say “I’m a New Yorker,” but here it’s “Betty is second-gen Japanese Korean,” or “Lyndon? He’s Portuguese Chinese Hawaiian,” and so on. More on that later. The Hawai‘i-Hawaiian thing was the tip of the iceberg, though. On the show I found