Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 7, 1 Iulai 1992 — Plate lunch contest proves ʻono is pono [ARTICLE]

Plate lunch contest proves ʻono is pono

by Ann L. Moore Six entrants took up The Great Hawaiian Plate Luneh Challenge on Saturday, June 6, sponsored by the Office of Hawaiian Health, a branch of the state's Department of Health. Judges were Trustee Louis Hao of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, state Sen. and Mrs. Miehael Crozier, Dr. John C. Lewin, the state health director, and Catherine Enomoto of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Ka Hale Mea'ai prepared taro elam chowder and fresh curry tuna salad sandwich. Hale Kealoha Caterers prepared lomi tomato with limu, fish stew, palula (blanched sweet potato leaves), poi and fresh banana with iced mamaki tea. Haili's Hawaiian Foods prepared la'au fish curry, papaya-mango salsa, pickled limu salad,

banana and iced lemon grass tea. The Beachside Grill prepared ehieken long rice and ehieken laulau stuffed with wild rice and poi. The Ahuimanu preschool kitchen prepared island fruit salad, lomi limu, squid lu'au, mahimahi with inamona and limu kohu, sweet potato and poi. The Aiea Taro Patch prepared ehieken in a taro patch, tomato-fern salad, 'opae long rice, fresh fish poke with limu and banana. Judges graded the entries on visual presentation and taste. They also had to consider certain criteria; specifically the lunches had to be high in fiber and carbohydrates, have moderate salt/sodium content, contain less than two teaspoonsful of added oil per serving, and emphasize one of four cooking methods; steaming

(hakui), baking (kalua), broiling (pulehu or lawalu) and boiling (puholo). After an hour of tasting, the Ahuimanu PreSchool Kitchen was declared the best overall plate luneh. The second plaee overall winner was Aiea Taro Patch. The Ahuimanu Pre-School Kitchen tied with Aiea Taro Patch for the best use of traditional foods, and Aiea Taro Patch won the most tasty award. Contributors to the The Great Hawaiian Plate Luneh Challenge were Claire Hughes, branch chief of the Department of Health Nutrition Branch, with Sharon Odum and Mitsuko Kodama, both public health nutritionists. Brochures entitled: "Hele Mai 'Ai (eome and eat the foods of our ancestors) and 'Ai Pa'a Mua No Kamaiki (Baby's first foods), among others, are available from the Nutrition Branch of the DOH at 586-4671. The plate luneh challenge was part of the ho'olaulea at Kapi'olani Park following the Kamehameha Day floral parade. The plate luneh contest was inaugurated last year by the Office of Hawaiian Health.