SmokeJumper
is Blowin Smoke!
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I spent a few vacation weeks around Thanksgiving with my family on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. As is my style, I reached out to the local Brethren contingent to get insider tips and to arrange a get together. In the case of Kauai, there is only one Brethren, the fabulous Keale (Roy). Before we left, through a flurry of PMs Roy provided us with dozens of tips of where to stay, what to see, and most importantly, what to eat and where to score great local produce and fish. His tips made our trip a very special one.
Most thrilling to me, Roy and his son Joshua spent a half day with us at our condo. I knew we would hit it off when he arrived with a cooler full of beer and a giant batch of guacamole made with the amazing local grapefruit sized avocados. It made us laugh because I had made a batch of guacamole and had a cooler full of beer as well. As it always is with brethren we talked about all things BBQ, family, work, and other hobbies. We found out we had so much in common beyond BBQ and plan to do a fishing trip and cookout next time we are out.
Here is a pic of us by the pool. Me on the left and Roy on the right.
Next a picture of Joshua and my daughter Tessa - Joshua is an amazing kid who radiates island happiness and so graciously played with our younger daughter Tessa for much of the visit.
One thing that stumped Roy was a question about where to find great Huli Huli chicken as I wanted to get some local BBQ/Grill beyond the classic Luau Pig. Throughout our trip, I asked many people the same question and it came to light that the roadside Huli Huli stands have disappeared in recent years due to a crackdown by the Island health department. I searched high and low and on the very last day a few hours before we flew out we stumbled upon an amazing Huli Huli chicken stand run by an old local with a great story (4 miles north of Kapaa in the craft fair right adjacent to Kuhio Highway). The guy, Keo was his name if my old head recalls right, has made huli huli chicken for decades and fought to keep his traditional roadside stand for years. When the health department refused to give him a permit and he was not permitted by the craft fair to be on the grounds, he protested by continuing to operate his pit just on the other side of the fence 10 feet from the highway. All the locals supported him and his amazing food and after several years of protesting and continuing to make his outstanding food the health department broke down and granted him a permit - he speculates it may have been a local official who was a fan. I ate a whole 2 pound half chicken myself - it was lightly smokey, super succulent, and had a nice salt bite with sweet asian flavor profile and an amazing bite through skin. I may go so far to say it was one of the best helpings of chicken I have ever eaten and my wife and daughter agreed.
When I tried to pick up some of his secrets he told me the smoke wood was a type of Mesquite that wasn't Kiawe (I believe most smoke wood on the island is Guava or Kiawe) that he harvests himself every year.
Some pics:
The Pit
The woodpile - he said that would last him about 10 cooking days. Roy, hepl with the name of the smokewood!
Keo rests the chicken for 10 minutes in a cooler and sells it out of foil bags - I asked him how long he holds it for and he said he's sells each batch out in less than 30 minutes.
The man posing with his pit.
Keo used a mixture of Shoyu, Ginger, garlic and a few other spices that he wouldn't disclose. The one thing he did tell me was that he adds brown sugar near the end of the cook to get that beautiful sweet and caramelized bite through skin. And it was a great time chatting with another local about BBQ and hear such a great story about someone fighting the good fight to keep such a great local food tradition going.
This was a great trip and I can't wait to hang with Roy and family again and go in search of some more great BBQ. Thanks again Roy.
Most thrilling to me, Roy and his son Joshua spent a half day with us at our condo. I knew we would hit it off when he arrived with a cooler full of beer and a giant batch of guacamole made with the amazing local grapefruit sized avocados. It made us laugh because I had made a batch of guacamole and had a cooler full of beer as well. As it always is with brethren we talked about all things BBQ, family, work, and other hobbies. We found out we had so much in common beyond BBQ and plan to do a fishing trip and cookout next time we are out.
Here is a pic of us by the pool. Me on the left and Roy on the right.
Next a picture of Joshua and my daughter Tessa - Joshua is an amazing kid who radiates island happiness and so graciously played with our younger daughter Tessa for much of the visit.
One thing that stumped Roy was a question about where to find great Huli Huli chicken as I wanted to get some local BBQ/Grill beyond the classic Luau Pig. Throughout our trip, I asked many people the same question and it came to light that the roadside Huli Huli stands have disappeared in recent years due to a crackdown by the Island health department. I searched high and low and on the very last day a few hours before we flew out we stumbled upon an amazing Huli Huli chicken stand run by an old local with a great story (4 miles north of Kapaa in the craft fair right adjacent to Kuhio Highway). The guy, Keo was his name if my old head recalls right, has made huli huli chicken for decades and fought to keep his traditional roadside stand for years. When the health department refused to give him a permit and he was not permitted by the craft fair to be on the grounds, he protested by continuing to operate his pit just on the other side of the fence 10 feet from the highway. All the locals supported him and his amazing food and after several years of protesting and continuing to make his outstanding food the health department broke down and granted him a permit - he speculates it may have been a local official who was a fan. I ate a whole 2 pound half chicken myself - it was lightly smokey, super succulent, and had a nice salt bite with sweet asian flavor profile and an amazing bite through skin. I may go so far to say it was one of the best helpings of chicken I have ever eaten and my wife and daughter agreed.
When I tried to pick up some of his secrets he told me the smoke wood was a type of Mesquite that wasn't Kiawe (I believe most smoke wood on the island is Guava or Kiawe) that he harvests himself every year.
Some pics:
The Pit
The woodpile - he said that would last him about 10 cooking days. Roy, hepl with the name of the smokewood!
Keo rests the chicken for 10 minutes in a cooler and sells it out of foil bags - I asked him how long he holds it for and he said he's sells each batch out in less than 30 minutes.
The man posing with his pit.
Keo used a mixture of Shoyu, Ginger, garlic and a few other spices that he wouldn't disclose. The one thing he did tell me was that he adds brown sugar near the end of the cook to get that beautiful sweet and caramelized bite through skin. And it was a great time chatting with another local about BBQ and hear such a great story about someone fighting the good fight to keep such a great local food tradition going.
This was a great trip and I can't wait to hang with Roy and family again and go in search of some more great BBQ. Thanks again Roy.
