Top 10 Hawaiian food you need to try at least once

1. Poke

   - Main Ingredients: Tuna, onion, scallions, sesame seeds, hot peppers, soy sauce, sesame oil.

   - Description: Fresh, raw fish or seafood mixed with vegetables, herbs, and seasonings. Traditional versions use ahi tuna or octopus, but variations include salmon, mussels, and vegetarian options made with avocados.

2. Malasadas

   - Main Ingredients: Flour, milk, eggs, sugar, yeast, butter, vegetable oil.

- Description: Fried dough balls, yeast-raised, perhaps sprinkled with sugar or cinnamon. Brought to Hawaii in the 19th century by the Portuguese as workers.

3. Kalua Pig

   - Description: A whole pig lotion-rubbed Hawaiian rock salt, wrapped in banana of ti leaves and then steamed to perfection in an earth oven-along with hot lava rocks. At parties, it is also served with rice and poi, which is a paste of taro root.

4. Spam Musubi

- Main Ingredients: Spam, rice, nori.

   - Description: Fried Spam on a wedge of rice, wrapped in nori seaweed. Popularized in Honolulu in the 1980s.

5. Plate Lunch

   - Main Ingredients: Pork, beef, sausage, rice, macaroni, mayonnaise, onion, pickled cucumbers.

- Description: Two scoops of rice, macaroni salad and a meat entree. Said to have originated from the plantation workers who put rice and meats together in metal tins_.

6. Saimin

   - Main Ingredients: Noodles, dashi, kamaboko, scallions, Chinese BBQ pork.

   - Description: Noodle soup often thought of as Hawaii's national dish, bringing together many Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino influences into this popular soup. May add shrimp, poultry, and/or egg.

 7. Loco Moco

- Main Ingredients: Rice, ground beef, eggs, butter, onion, Worcestershire sauce, ketchup.

   - Description: Comfort food with rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and gravy. Originated in Hilo in the 1940s.

8. Lomi-Lomi Salmon

   - Main Ingredients: Salmon, tomato, onion, scallions.

- Description: Salmon massaged with salt, mixed with tomatoes, and onions. Traditionally served as an appetizer or side dish at luaus.

9. Pu Pu Platter

   - Description: A variety of small dishes and appetizers such as spare ribs, chicken wings, egg rolls, crab rangoon, etc; usually comes with a small hibachi grill.

10. Macaroni Salad

- Main Ingredients: Macaroni, carrot, onion, mayonnaise, milk, sugar, black pepper, salt.

    - Description: Tangy, sweet, cold salad with overcooked macaroni to absorb the dressing. A staple in Hawaiian plate lunches.