Ono Hawaiian Mac

While in Hawaii this past week I was inspired to include the local culinary delicacies in my mac.  With help from my trusty side kick Jenai (who you may remember from here, here and here) and Leighton,

I set out to prepare a savory Hawaiian mac.  Hawaii's culinary environment stems from early plantation workers and a strong military influence creating a wonderful blend of Asian, Polynesian, Portuguese and American flavors.  And because I am such an eclectic culinary creator, I added anything and everything interesting that happened to be within eyesight.

 We diced the spam (yum, spam),

Added some Velveeta cheese, chili garlic sauce (aka rooster hot sauce), mustard, chilli powder and seasoned with salt and pepper.

 Stir in the prepared elbow macaroni.

At the very end we added some fish cake.  It is important to add this at the very end because it can become soggy if added too early.  The fish cake adds a punch of color along with a wonderfully sweet flavor to the mac.

Mix well.

Serve as a fantastic side dish to grilled sausage and asparagus,

Steak and grilled onions.

Next time you want a taste of the islands, prepare a savory and oh so ono local mac and cheese.

Oh So Tasty Mac and Cheese Balls

 

I heart Trader Joe's. I really do. When I lived in Hawaii, I would come back to Cali to visit family and friends and would always go grocery shopping at TJ's before returning. You heard me. I would literally pack a bunch of TJ's food in my luggage for a tasty indulgence while on the rock.

TJ's rarely fails me. This is simply another example. As I am sure you can imagine, much to my savory delight, I stumbled across TJ's version of fried mac and cheese balls.  As we have already established, I love fried food and also love mac - if you are doubting my loyalty to the mac, you really haven't read enough of this blog.

Sorry, I don't have a pic of the box. Hubbs thought it would be a brilliant idea to delete half of my photos... So busted.

After a failed attempt to enjoy the balls at Fred62 (remember that blog entry?), I have to admit my standards were not very high when hubbs decided to make this treat. 

Four words sum up this experience:

THESE

LOVE that there are really macaronis stuffed inside the fried goodness. No false advertising here.

BALLS

My mouth is watering. Seriously.

ARE

Obviously we added some hot sauce to spice it up. Try a nice Louisiana style hot sauce. Yum.

DELIGHTFUL.