![hawaiian electric pork watercress soup hawaiian electric pork watercress soup](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/1c/2d/67/1c2d676e742382ba8e1f2f6b183cef52--souper-bowl-fresh-seafood.jpg)
So, while the idea of local Hawaiian food may seem synonymous with gorgeous fresh seafood & tropical flavors to non-locals or mainlanders, there’s really a lot more to it than that. This is very much so reflected in Hawaii’s local food scene. Something important to understand about Hawaii is it’s a melting pot of people, cultures, & traditions from all around the Pacific Rim. It’s an easy-to-make one-pot meal & I know you’ll love it as much as we do! She rarely measures anything when she cooks, though, so I referenced a recipe in my grandpa’s Hawaiian Electric cookbook & tested, tweaked, & retested until it tasted like Mom’s. This particular recipe is based on the shoyu chicken my mom always makes. It’s a total staple in Hawaii, & it’s one of my all-time favorite comfort food meals. The chicken braises until it’s totally fall-apart tender, soaking up all of the salty-sweet flavor of the shoyu sauce. It’s essentially a braised chicken dish made with chicken thighs & a shoyu-based sauce with brown sugar, garlic, & ginger. If shoyu chicken is new to you, you’re in for such a treat. Sure, we ate plenty of meat & potatoes, but we also had many of the local-style foods near & dear to my mom’s heart – Grandpa’s beef stew, stir fried noodles, SPAM musubi, teriyaki everything, &, of course, shoyu chicken. As a born-&-raised Midwest kid with a Hawaiian mom, though, my favorite childhood comfort foods stray a little bit from the Midwest norm.
![hawaiian electric pork watercress soup hawaiian electric pork watercress soup](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/32/e1/1d/32e11debf0364758bb3731c672050995.png)
As a born-&-raised Midwest kid, comfort food holds an extra special place in my food-loving heart.