Hawai‘i's Rainforest
This course, which we call "Hawai‘i's Rainforest," is reflective of ingredients you would find in our rainforests, particularly along the Hāmākua coast, where Chef Brian spent lots of time at his grandparents' farm:
Kinpira Takenoko
There are over 50 species of bamboo (ʻohe in Hawaiian) found in Hawaiʻi, and two types are considered to be canoe plants.
For this course, bamboo shoots, or takenoko (bamboo child in Japanese), is served kinpira-style.
Kinpira is a type of Japanese simmered dish that typically incorporates vegetables that symolize strength, such as takenoko.
Pickled Kakuma
Kakuma is one of many "Hawaiian Japanese" words that resulted from the immigration of the Japanese during the plantation era.
Referring to the young tree fern shoot of the hāpu‘u, which was considered a famine food, kakuma is synonymous with kogomi, or ostrich fern (kogomi refers to how the fern resembles someone “bending over").
Although the ostrich fern and hāpu‘u tree fern have numerous physical differences, these two ferns are significant in their respective food cultures.
Kakuma is commonly eaten pickled as a side dish, as how it is served in our tasting.
Kuware Sida
Fiddlehead ferns have been a popular food source for millennia around the world. In Hawai‘i, there are several types of edible ferns called by various names.
The fiddlehead fern so often eaten locally in salads is an introduced, invasive fern named Kuware Sida, which is commonly mistaken for the native hō‘i‘o.
Locally, many Japanese refer to the introduced fern as warabi, but in Japan, warabi is actually the name for a type of bracken fern.
It is also known locally as pohole (Maui) and pako (Filipino).
The tasting showcases Kuware Sida with our signature Rainforest Dressing.
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