Hawaiian Saimin Recipe and History, Whats Cooking America (2024)

FAQs

What is the history of saimin in Hawaii? ›

Being popular on the Hawaiian Islands for more than 100 years, it started in the early 20th century among immigrant Asian laborers on sugar plantations. To this day, saimin can be frequently consumed in small noodle shops, or found in home cooking.

Saimin is a noodle soup dish that originated on the. sugar plantations of Hawaii and is similar to ramen. The name saimin comes from two Chinese words: sai, meaning thin, and min, meaning noodle.

Saimin and ramen broths are not alike. Ramen broth is usually made with fatty pork, so it's heavier and richer on the tongue than a saimin broth, which is light and sippable. Saimin broth is traditionally made with dashi, a combination of powdered kombu (dried sea kelp) and flaked dried bonito (a tuna).

In Hawaii's contemporary pidgin language, saimin has become a hyponym or blanket term for noodle soups, particularly instant ramen (e.g., "And one day, I come home from school and Blu and Maisie are eating dry saimin sprinkled with the soup stock").

The name saimin is the combination of two Chinese words: sai, meaning thin and min, which means noodle. It's believed that the dish originated during the early twentieth century plantation era as various Asian ethnicities – Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian and Portuguese — came together.

Narutomaki: If you've ever noticed a small white disc with a pink swirl in a bowl of ramen or even a picture of ramen, that's narutomaki or fish cake.

But trying to claim its name origin makes it a Chinese dish is perhaps too narrow a view. Saimin was born from the so-called “mix plate” culture of Hawaii's sugar plantations in the late-nineteenth century and draws influence from Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan, Portuguese and Filipino cuisine.

There are four general classes of ramen: shoyu, tonkotsu, miso, and shio. Here's what you need to know about these four types of ramen.

Malama ka 'aina i ke kai (take care of the land and ocean) is a deeply important Hawaiian tradition. Hawaiians protect the land as a source of knowledge, nourishment and inspiration.

Historically, Kalihi Kai was the site of the former Leprosy Receiving Station, where those suspected of leprosy were examined prior to treatment or being sent to Kalaupapa on the island of Molokaʻi.

What is the history of Waialua Hawaii? ›

Waialua was one of the six original districts of ancient Hawaii on the island, known as moku. Waialua is a former (sugar) mill town and residential area, quite different in its quiet ambiance from nearby Haleʻiwa, which is more commercial and tourist oriented.

Only In Your State on the oldest restaurant in Hawaii, which is in the Manago Hotel in Captain Cook. After your snorkel tour at the famous Kealakekua Bay, you may want to check out the oldest restaurant in Hawaii which opened in 1917.