Beyond Kalua Pig: Chef Sheldon Simeon Shows Us How to Cook Real Hawai’i
These inspired, flavor-packed recipes from Sheldon Simeon will forever expand your notion of what Hawaiian food can be.
Reprinted with permission from Cook Real Hawai’i by Sheldon Simeon and Garrett Snyder, copyright© 2021. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
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When Sheldon Simeon was a kid growing up in Hilo, he’d help put together massive spreads of pupus for guests his dad had invited over at the last minute. Improvisation was key and delicious was a given.
Simeon, if you don’t know, is a two-time Top Chef veteran (and fan favorite), the chef behind Maui’s Tin Roof restaurant, and the author of the new Cook Real Hawai’i, a book that expands the popular definition of Hawaiian food beyond the clichés like kalua pig. (If you’re looking for amazing pork dishes, rest assured the book includes a killer recipe for Pork Belly Dinakdakdan, a tangy and rich chile-spiked dish that expresses Simeon’s Filipino-Hawaiian heritage).
As Simeon puts it: “Tom Colicchio said to me: ‘If you combine delicious and delicious, you’re going to get more delicious.’” Which is exactly what these dishes are. Whether it’s the nostalgic flavors of ranch-dressing-draped blistered shishito peppers or classic huli huli chicken enriched with koji paste, these are simple but smart combinations of a few good ingredients that will nourish you at home—until you can get to Maui and try Simeon’s food firsthand in the land where it came from.