I love poi. Small kid time, we would get poi once in a while. At first, I had to be coaxed into trying it with milk and sugar (I’m not proud that I used to eat poi with milk and sugar but give me a break, I was just a kid). Then an old uncle (no relation) taught me to eat kalua pork and poi. I was hooked. “Kalua pork and poi, mo bettah den rice” he would say . But then the taro fields began to disappear (read with “Big Yellow Taxi” in the background). And poi became scarce and expensive.
Cue to the present. My neighbor at the farmers market makes and sells poi, kulolo, haupia, and haulolo (a hybrid of kulolo and haupia, I think their own creation). While still a little pricey, it’s not so prohibitive for a treat once in a while. While the sweet stuff (kulolo, haupia, and haulolo) are okay, for me, it’s all about the poi. I’ve resisted buying poi for a couple of weeks, I didn’t have anything that would go with it. Unlike rice or bread, for me, the food that goes with poi is somewhat specific. Meat, especially salty meat (kalua pork is a perfect example).
So the other day, (see https://l2ee2l.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/charsiu-on-my-mind/) when I bought the charsiu and roast chicken and the roast pork and roast duck plates, I also bought an order of roast pork end cuts. There was a sign in the restaurant “roast pork end cuts $5.00”, which is much cheaper than the regular roast pork order.
Roast Pork End Cuts
I had my salty meat! Bring on the poi!
Poi
This poi is thick, freshly made, and not so sticky. The taro is run through a grinder, not pounded. This may explain the texture, not as sticky as I remember. Still very good though. And yes, the socks came off.
Old uncle’s way to eat was to dip the meat into the poi and coat the meat, scarf and repeat. No utensils, fingers. Can of beer in the other hand. He ate until he was tired, then he took a nap (maybe the beer helped). 😀
Chinese Roast Pork and Poi
Works for me. 🙂
The container of poi costs $5.00, good for about three servings, or two if I’m hungry. A little pricey but not bad.
I can get my poi fix for now. Maybe next time, I’ll go look for some good Kalua pork, or maybe take out some pipikaula short ribs from Helena’s Hawaiian Food (drool).
On a similar note, another vendor uses taro and poi to make dips and sauces. He gave me a sample of his cocoa coffee poi bar.
Poi Cocoa Coffee Bar
Cream cheese, dark chocolate cocoa powder, Kona coffee, poi, and I forget what else. Very intense flavors, wonderful (that’s The Cat’s bite mark in the bottom left corner).
Sorry, I got so excited about the poi, I forgot to get the company information for both vendors. Will update later.
The Mouse had a very happy dinner.
Enjoy.
The Mouse
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