Browse Techniques

ʻOʻio (Albula vulpes) is the Hawaiian bonefish — a silvery, fast-running flats fish caught with nets. Popular food fish in ancient Hawaiʻi despite its many small bones (the name is apt). Traditionally netted in schools. The flesh is sweet and the many bones were managed by scraping the flesh from the bones rather than filleting.

The simplest and most Hawaiian preparation: a fresh fish grilled over kiawe charcoal with nothing but paʻakai. This entry represents not a specific fish but the technique itself — the Hawaiian approach to grilled fish that applies to ono, mahi-mahi, ʻopakapaka, aku, or any fresh catch. The kiawe (mesquite) provides a distinctive, slightly sweet smoke. The paʻakai provides the seasoning. The fire provides the heat. The fish provides everything else. Three elements: fish, salt, fire. This is the Hawaiian kitchen at its most essential.

Versatile: steamed whole, pan-seared, baked, or served as sashimi. The flesh is clean, sweet, mildly nutty, and takes well to both Asian and Western preparations. Ginger-crusted ʻopakapaka with plum chili sauce is a classic HRC-era preparation. Pan-seared with butter and herbs is the Western approach. Steamed in ti leaves (traditional Hawaiian) lets the fish speak for itself. The flesh holds its shape well during cooking, making it forgiving for less experienced cooks.

Raw (as poke or sashimi), dried (salt-cured, sun-dried), broiled, or fried. Modern Hawaiian fishermen smoke ʻopelu over kiawe. Deep-fried ʻopelu bones are a modern snack — the small, thin bones become completely crunchy when properly fried.

Imbrucciata is Corsica's open-face brocciu tart — a shortcrust pastry case filled with fresh brocciu, eggs, caster-sugar, lemon or cédrat zest, and a splash of eau-de-vie, then baked at 170°C until the filling is just set and the pastry golden. It is structurally a simpler preparation than fiadone (which needs no pastry case) and closer to a conventional tart or tartlet, but the brocciu filling distinguishes it from any mainland French tart. The pastry case is a basic pâte brisée — plain-flour, lard or unsalted-butter, water, sea-mineral-salt — rolled thin and blind-baked before the filling is added. The blind-bake is essential: brocciu's high water content would make a soggy base without a pre-set pastry. Imbrucciata is the everyday version of fiadone — found in every Corsican boulangerie and pâtisserie, sold by the slice at room temperature, the standard afternoon pastry of the island.

Helichrysum italicum (Immortelle or Curry Plant) grows wild across Corsican maquis and produces yellow flowers with an intense curry-like aroma. Used in two culinary contexts: (1) infused into warm Miel de Corse AOP to produce a perfumed honey for pastry glazing and cheese accompaniment; (2) added as a handful to wood-fire when roasting Cabri or Agneau to perfume the smoke. Infused honey: warm Miel de Corse AOP châtaigneraie variety to 40°C with 5g dried flowers per 250g honey, 30 minutes, then strain.

Tempura arrived with Japanese immigrants and adapted to Hawaiian ingredients: shrimp tempura (standard), sweet potato tempura (using Hawaiian ʻuala or kumara), green bean tempura, and fish tempura using local reef species. Hawaiian-style tempura is often served as part of a teishoku (set meal) at Japanese-Hawaiian restaurants or as a plate lunch option. The batter is lighter than most mainland American tempura — ice-cold, barely mixed, with visible flour lumps (correct technique, not laziness).

Josh Emett brought fine dining to Queenstown with Rata — modern Kiwi dishes spotlighting Central Otagoʻs produce (venison, pinot noir, stone fruit, Central Otago saffron). Five seasons judging MasterChef NZ, three cookbooks. His restaurants span Queenstown (Rata), Auckland (Onslow, Gilt Brasserie), and Waiheke Island (The Oyster Inn). Emett represents the South Island food identity: farm-to-table, wine-paired, seasonal, with European polish and Kiwi heart. For Garthʻs Queenstown connection, Emettʻs Rata is the benchmark for the Central Otago food story.

Kajiki is the Japanese-Hawaiian name for Pacific blue marlin (also aʻu, HI-52). The dual naming reflects the dual cultural claim: Hawaiian fishermen catch it; Japanese-Hawaiian fish markets price and sell it. Kajiki nairagi (striped marlin, Kajikia audax) is the smaller, more common marlin species in Hawaiian waters and is preferred for sashimi over the larger blue marlin. The flesh is more delicate, lighter pink, and has a finer texture.

Kalbi (already HI-35) in detail: flanken-cut beef short ribs marinated in soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, pear (the pear tenderises the meat enzymatically), and green onion. Marinated for a minimum of two hours (overnight is better). Grilled over high heat for two to three minutes per side. The sugar caramelises on the meat, creating the characteristic sweet-savoury char. Kalbi is the most popular plate lunch protein in Hawaiʻi.

Katsu sauce is the Worcestershire-based brown sauce served with chicken katsu and tonkatsu. Hawaiian-style: Worcestershire, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar, mustard. Simpler and sweeter than Japanese tonkatsu sauce. Every plate lunch counter has its own ratio. The sauce is the link between the British Worcestershire tradition (via Japanese adoption) and the Hawaiian plate lunch.

Kauaʻi food: Hamura Saimin Stand (the most famous saimin in Hawaiʻi), Hanapepe Salt Ponds (traditional paʻakai production), and the Garden Isleʻs agricultural character (taro, tropical fruit). Kauaʻi is the least developed major island and its food reflects proximity to source: small-scale, farm-driven, traditional.

Koko Samoa (Samoan cocoa) is present in Hawaiʻi through the large Samoan diaspora community. Pure, semi-refined cocoa balls are grated, dissolved in hot water or milk, and sweetened. It is richer, more intense, and less processed than commercial hot chocolate. The Samoan community in Hawaiʻi maintains this tradition — connecting the Samoan chapter of the trail to the Hawaiian chapter through diaspora food.

Kona coffee (Coffea arabica grown on the slopes of Hualalai and Mauna Loa on the Big Island) is the most famous Hawaiian agricultural product and Americaʻs only significant domestic coffee production. The volcanic soil, cloud cover, and microclimate of the Kona coffee belt (between 800–2,500 feet elevation) produce a mild, aromatic, low-acid coffee. Kona coffee connects to the broader Pacific coffee story: PNG produces world-class Arabica from similar volcanic soils, and coffee is PNGʻs second-largest export after oil palm.

Kona crab (Ranina ranina, spanner crab) is caught off the Kona coast of the Big Island. Flat, distinctive appearance. The meat is sweet and delicate. Usually steamed or boiled and served simply. Not as well-known as Dungeness or blue crab but prized by locals for its sweetness.

Korean banchan (small side dishes) arrived with Korean immigrants and became embedded in Hawaiian dining: kim chee (HI-61), namul (seasoned vegetables), japchae (glass noodles), and various pickled dishes. In Hawaiian-Korean restaurants, banchan is served automatically with the main dish. The banchan tradition reinforces the Hawaiian value of abundance — a table full of small dishes signals generosity.

Kukui nut (Aleurites moluccanus) oil was the primary cooking oil and lamp oil of ancient Hawaiʻi. The nuts were roasted, cracked, and the oily kernels pressed or rendered. Kukui oil has a rich, nutty flavour and a relatively low smoke point — it was used for finishing and flavouring rather than high-heat cooking. In modern Hawaiʻi, inamona (roasted, salted, mashed kukui nut) is the surviving culinary expression. The oil production technique itself has largely been replaced by modern cooking oils but represents a critical piece of the Hawaiian fat story: before coconut cream, before butter, before sesame oil, there was kukui.

Fresh taro is grated raw — not cooked first. Combined with freshly grated coconut meat, coconut water, and a small amount of sugar. Wrapped in greased ti leaves and placed in the imu, where it cooks alongside the pig and the laulau. After hours of sustained low heat, the sugars in the taro and coconut caramelise, the starches gel, and the texture transforms from batter to a dense, chewy, almost fudge-like solid with an amber-to-dark-brown colour. The flavour is deeply caramelised, warm, and satisfying — taroʻs earthiness and coconutʻs tropical sweetness fused by time and heat into something neither ingredient achieves alone. Waiahole Poi Factoryʻs Sweet Lady of Waiahole — warm kūlolo served with haupia ice cream — is the definitive modern expression. Taro-coconut pudding meets coconut ice cream: two forms of the Pacificʻs foundational crops, one warm, one cold, on the same plate.

Pan-fried whole (the traditional preparation), broiled, or steamed in ti leaves. Also eaten raw as sashimi or poke. The fish is small (5–16 inches) and typically cooked whole. The flavour is delicate and sweet — reef fish at their finest.

The Corsican spiny lobster — Palinurus elephas — is among the finest in the Mediterranean, fed on the rocky Atlantic-side reefs of the island's west coast and the granite shoals off Cap Corse. Corsican preparation is deliberately minimal: the live langouste is split lengthwise, the interior brushed with a mixture of Corsican olive-oil, fresh nepita (Corsican calamint), garlic, and sea-mineral-salt, then grilled cut-side down over wood embers for six to eight minutes before being flipped and finished shell-side down for a further four minutes. No butter, no cream — the dish is defined by the quality of the animal and the aromatic simplicity of nepita rather than by sauce. Nepita is essential: the herb's flavour — midway between mint and oregano, with a slight eucalyptol note — complements the sweet lobster flesh in a way that European mint or thyme cannot replicate. A wedge of Corsican cédrat (citron) serves as acidulation. This preparation is the summer special of every Corsican port village and the single dish most closely associated with the island's maritime identity.

Baked layered pasta using hand-rolled Triticum aestivum pasta sheets, Brocciu AOP, crumbled Figatellu IGP (Corsican liver sausage), fresh Mentha, Gallus gallus domesticus egg, and light tomato coulis. Figatellu sliced 5mm and pan-seared before layering — renders fat and crisps edges. No béchamel — Mediterranean, not northern-French. Three layers maximum. Baked at 180°C for 25 minutes covered, 10 minutes uncovered.

Fresh fish (reef fish, aku, ʻopakapaka, or any firm-fleshed species) is seasoned with paʻakai and wrapped in ti leaves. The parcel is placed on hot coals or a grill grate and cooked for ten to twenty minutes, turning once. The ti leaf chars on the outside while the fish steams inside. When unwrapped, the fish is perfectly cooked with a distinctive ti-leaf perfume.

Lee Anne Wong (Top Chef, Koko Head Cafe) brought Hawaiian brunch to national attention. Her cornflake-crusted French toast, kim chee fried rice, and mochi-crusted fish represent the playful, multicultural, unapologetically Hawaiian approach of the second HRC generation. Wongʻs contribution: proving that Hawaiian food can be fun without being frivolous.

Li hing mui gummy bears are the Hawaiian candy obsession: standard gummy bears (typically Haribo) are tossed in li hing mui powder and/or soaked in li hing mui syrup until every surface is coated. The result is a sweet-sour-salty chewy candy that is aggressively addictive. Every crack seed shop in Hawaiʻi sells their own version. The combination works because the gummy bearʻs pure sugar sweetness provides one leg of the stool, while the li hing mui provides the sour and salt. Tourists try them once and ship them home by the pound. Li hing mui gummy bears are Hawaiian omiyage (gift-giving culture, borrowed from Japanese).

The li hing mui margarita: a standard margarita with the salt rim replaced by li hing mui powder, and li hing mui syrup added to the tequila-lime base. The sweet-sour-salty trinity of li hing mui naturally complements the tequila-lime-salt structure of a margarita — it is the same flavour architecture, amplified. This cocktail has become the signature Hawaiian bar drink, served everywhere from dive bars to resort lounges. Some versions add li hing mui-infused tequila (dried plums steeped in tequila for days).

The entry point for li hing mui: fresh tropical fruit (mango, pineapple, guava, apple, watermelon) dipped in or sprinkled with li hing mui powder. This is how Hawaiian children first encounter the flavour. A bag of sliced green mango with a small packet of li hing mui powder is sold at every corner store, school snack bar, and farmersʻ market in Hawaiʻi. The combination of tart, unripe fruit with sweet-sour-salty powder is electrifying — the flavours amplify each other in a way that neither achieves alone. This is not a recipe. It is a habit, a memory, and an identity marker. If you grew up in Hawaiʻi, li hing mui on mango is your Proustʻs madeleine.

Li hing mui (travelling plum) is a salted dried plum (Prunus mume) that arrived with Chinese immigrants and became the single most distinctively Hawaiian flavour. The whole fruit is sweet-sour-salty with a deep, musky, almost funky plum character. Ground into powder, it becomes the universal Hawaiian seasoning — applied to fresh fruit, shave ice, malasadas, gummy bears, popcorn, margarita rims, and anything else that can absorb its sweet-sour-salty trinity. Li hing mui powder is to Hawaiʻi what Tajin is to Mexico, what furikake is to Japan, what Old Bay is to Maryland — the regional seasoning that defines a palate. No other stop on the Pacific Migration Trail has anything comparable. Li hing mui is uniquely Hawaiian in its ubiquity, even though its origin is Cantonese.

Loco moco (already HI-19) variations: the base is always rice + protein + egg + gravy, but variations include: ahi loco moco (seared ʻahi replacing the hamburger patty), kalua pig loco moco, Portuguese sausage loco moco, Spam loco moco, tofu loco moco, and breakfast loco moco (with bacon). The format is the technique — the protein changes, the architecture remains. Each variation tells a different Hawaiian story.

Loʻi kalo (irrigated taro terraces) are the agricultural counterpart to fishponds (HI-57). These terraced paddies channel mountain stream water through flat, flooded fields where taro grows. The flowing water keeps the taro healthy and produces the wet-land taro varieties that make the best poi. Over 300 named taro varieties were cultivated in these terraces. The loʻi kalo system is being revived by Hawaiian cultural organisations as both a food-sovereignty and cultural-preservation project.

Not a cooking technique but a food production system. The fishpond represents the highest expression of Hawaiian resource management — the ahupuaʻa system (mountain-to-sea land division) ensured that freshwater runoff enriched the fishponds, which fed the coastal communities, which maintained the ponds. Circular, self-sustaining, elegant.

Lomi-lomi salmon (already HI-6) in detail: salt-cured salmon is diced and “lomi” (massaged) with diced tomato, sweet Maui onion, and sometimes chili. The salmon was traditionally salt-cured because fresh salmon did not exist in Hawaiian waters — it arrived as salt-cured provisions on trading ships. The Hawaiians adopted this foreign ingredient through their existing techniques: the lomi-lomi massage is the same kneading action used to make poi. One technique, applied to a new ingredient.

The Affumicata variant of Lonzu applies a brief cold-smoking step (not present in standard AOP Lonzu) in specific mountain villages of the Niolu and Cortenais before the air-drying phase. Cold smoke produced by Castanea sativa wood and dried maquis herbs (Cistus, Rosmarinus officinalis, Erica) for 12 hours at 15–18°C, then the loin continues its 5-month air-dry above 800m. The result has standard Lonzu character layered with subtle resinous smoke. Village-produced and sold direct — not commercially available. Distinguished from smoked continental charcuterie by the maquis-herb fuel.

Lonzu is the cured pork tenderloin of Corsica — a lean cylinder of pale rose muscle that hangs in the cantina alongside prisuttu and coppa, completing the island's AOP charcuterie triad. The loin is trimmed of excess surface fat, rubbed with sea-mineral-salt and dried herbs of the maquis — principally nepita (Corsican calamint) and rosemary — then pressed and tied in natural casing before its five-month minimum hang. Because the tenderloin carries less intramuscular fat than coppa or prisuttu, the cure must be calibrated precisely: too much salt and the lean becomes chalky; too little and the centre fails to dry through. The finished lonzu is sliced almost paper-thin, revealing a gradient from ivory surface to blush-pink interior, with an aromatic profile dominated by the island herbs rather than the animal fat. On every Corsican plateau and in every village épicerie, lonzu is the introductory cut — the first thing a visitor is offered alongside a glass of Patrimonio rosé or Niellucciu. AOP since 2012.

Not a cooking technique but a harvesting knowledge system. The lunar calendar determined when to fish, what to fish for, and which methods to use. For example: certain fish feed more actively during the full moon (higher tides, more prey movement); others are caught more easily during the new moon (darker water, less visibility for the fish). Fishermen who followed the lunar calendar caught more and better fish.

Macadamia nut (Macadamia integrifolia) is the Hawaiian nut — originally from Australia, introduced to Hawaiʻi in 1881, and now synonymous with the islands. Rich, buttery, and versatile: eaten roasted and salted, used as a crust for fish (macadamia-crusted mahi-mahi or ʻopakapaka), in cookies, in ice cream, in haupia, and as an oil. The macadamia nut occupies the same “rich, buttery nut” niche that inamona (kukui nut) occupies in traditional Hawaiian cuisine. In a sense, the macadamia replaced the kukui as the Hawaiian nut of choice in modern cooking — kukui for tradition, macadamia for everything else.

Elbow macaroni is cooked two to three minutes past al dente until soft. Drained and mixed hot with grated carrot, a splash of vinegar or milk, and generous Best Foods mayonnaise. Seasoned with salt and white pepper. Refrigerated for several hours (overnight is best) so the noodles absorb the dressing. The final mac salad should be creamy, soft, and mild.

Malasada (already HI-27) variations: the original Leonardʻs malasada is plain, rolled in sugar. Modern variations include: haupia-filled (coconut cream custard inside), chocolate-filled, ube (purple yam)-filled, li hing mui-dusted (Chinese plum powder on Portuguese dough — two cultures in one bite), custard-filled, and guava-filled. Each filling represents a different Hawaiian cultural thread injected into the Portuguese dough format.

Mamaku (Cyathea medullaris) is the black tree fern — the tallest native tree fern in NZ. The pith of the trunk was eaten by Māori: cooked in the hāngi or roasted, it has a starchy, slightly mucilaginous texture. Fiso uses mamaku in modern preparations (purées, garnishes). The frond tips are pikopiko (NZ-9). The tree itself provides both food and medicine. Mamaku represents the Māori forest-as-larder philosophy: the same tree that provides building material provides food, medicine, and cultural identity.

Manapua (already HI-21) variations beyond the classic char siu filling: curry chicken, kalua pig, sweet potato, ube (purple yam), black sugar, pizza manapua (pepperoni and cheese — the Hawaiian-American hybrid), lup cheong (Chinese sausage), and vegetable. Baked manapua (golden-brown exterior, denser dough) versus steamed manapua (white, fluffy, softer) represents two schools. Royal Kitchen and Char Hung Sut in Chinatown, Honolulu, are the benchmarks. The 7-Eleven manapua (mass-produced, always available) is the baseline that every local judges against.

Mark Noguchi (formerly Pili Group, now Heʻe Nalu) represents the community-centred future of Hawaiian food. His focus: food sovereignty, feeding communities (not just restaurants), and using food as a vehicle for social change. He works with Hawaiian farmers, fishers, and cultural practitioners to build food systems, not just menus. His approach is the Provenance thesis made personal: the chef who understands where food comes from builds systems that sustain both food and community.

Maui food identity: upcountry farms (Kula produce, lavender, goat cheese), Lahainaʻs tourist-facing restaurant scene, the North Shore food trucks (garlic shrimp, shave ice), and the Central Valleyʻs plate lunch culture. Sheldon Simeonʻs restaurants (Tin Roof, Lineage) are Mauiʻs most significant modern Hawaiian food contribution. Maui onion (sweet Kula onion) is the islandʻs signature ingredient.

Menpachi (Myripristis spp.) is the nocturnal squirrelfish — one of the “red fish” alongside ʻaweoweo. Caught at night from reef crevices. Small (6–12 inches), red-skinned, with big eyes adapted for night vision. The flesh is firm, sweet, and excellent fried, grilled, or dried. Ancient Hawaiians prized menpachi for its flavour and for its nighttime availability — it was the fish you caught when day fishing was unproductive.

Civet technique applied to Merluccius merluccius (European hake) in a red-wine braising liquid. Fish cut in thick steaks (4cm), seared in Olea europaea, then braised 12 minutes in concentrated Niellucciu-based red wine reduction with Allium sativum, Mentha, bay leaf, Porcu Nustrale lardons, and island tomatoes. A fish dish that reads as a game dish — dark, intense, herb-driven. Served over Pulenda or alongside Pain de Châtaigne.

Migliacci are Corsica's everyday chestnut pancakes — thick, griddle-cooked rounds made from a batter of chestnut flour, water or ewe-milk, and sea-mineral-salt. They exist in two distinct forms that function in completely different culinary registers. The savoury migliacci (migliacci salati) are thick, substantial rounds cooked in a terracotta griddle or flat iron pan, served warm with fresh brocciu and a slice of lonzu or figatellu — the breakfast of choice in Corsican upland villages throughout the winter season. The sweet migliacci (migliacci dolci) incorporate a small quantity of caster-sugar, anise seed (or anisette liqueur), and sometimes lemon zest, and are served as a mid-afternoon treat or festival food. The difference in batter is minimal — the distinction between savoury and sweet versions is as much about context as recipe. Both are cooked slowly over moderate heat until the surface is matte and the centre set — a lid traps steam and prevents the exterior from hardening before the interior cooks through.

Minestra is the daily sustenance soup of the Corsican interior — a thick, hearty pot of seasonal vegetables, dried legumes, and maquis herbs that forms the single-bowl meal of the island's pastoral communities. The base is always panzetta: a cube of cured Corsican belly rendered slowly in a terracotta casserole before the vegetables are added. Dried haricot beans (soaked overnight), chickpeas, or fava beans form the protein anchor, joined by potato, leek, carrot, celery, dried tomato in winter, fresh tomato in summer, and a mandatory bundle of maquis herbs — nepita, rosemary, wild thyme — tied and removed before service. The soup simmers for ninety minutes to two hours until the legumes have given their starch to the broth and the consistency is between a thick soup and a stew. Unlike Italian minestrone, Corsican minestra is never finished with pasta — chestnut bread is torn directly into the bowl at table. In winter a thick slice of brocciu passu melts into the top of the bowl in the final minutes — the aged cheese rounds the vegetable sweetness and adds a saline, lactic depth.

Myrtus communis — myrtle — grows throughout the Corsican maquis and functions as both a culinary aromatic and a liqueur base on the island, giving Corsican food and drink a resinous-sweet signature shared only with Sardinia (where mirto is also the national liqueur). The berries are harvested in November — small, blue-black, with a fragrant, resinous-sweet skin and a pithy interior — and used in two distinct culinary registers. As a charcuterie aromatic: dried myrtle berries are crushed and added to coppa, panzetta, and figatellu rubs, where the resinous sweetness complements the cured pork fat. As mirto liqueur: fresh myrtle berries macerate in eau-de-vie for forty to sixty days, then the infusion is sweetened with a light caster-sugar syrup and bottled. The Corsican mirto has a slightly different profile from Sardinian mirto — shorter maceration, lighter sugar, and the Corsican maquis variety of Myrtus communis carries more volatile terpene compounds, giving Corsican mirto a more resinous, less jammy character. Both are drunk cold as digestifs.

Pan-seared, grilled, baked, or curried. The high fat content keeps it moist during cooking — more forgiving than lean fish like ono or ʻopakapaka. The flesh holds together on the grill and takes well to bold preparations (curried monchong with rice pilaf is a classic Hawaiian preparation). Alan Wong and other HRC chefs championed monchong specifically to diversify demand away from ʻahi.

Muscat du Cap Corse is Corsica's most internationally recognised wine — a vin doux naturel (naturally sweet fortified wine) made from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grown on the schist and granite terraces of the Cap Corse peninsula's steep northern tip. The grapes are harvested at high sugar concentration (minimum 252g/L natural sugar), then the fermentation is stopped by the addition of neutral grape spirit (mutage), preserving residual sweetness while fixing the aromatic compounds. The result is intensely floral and orange-zest sweet, with the characteristic Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains aromatics amplified by the island's granite terroir and Mediterranean microclimate. Muscat du Cap Corse is the traditional accompaniment to fiadone, canistrelli, and falculelle — the sweetness of the wine matching the restrained sweetness of the Corsican pastries rather than overwhelming them. It is also drunk chilled as an aperitif with fresh brocciu and chestnut honey — the floral wine against the dairy and mineral honey creates the quintessential Corsican afternoon.

Spam musubi (already HI-20) variations: the musubi format (rice block, nori wrap, protein on top) extends beyond Spam to include: bacon-egg musubi, shoyu chicken musubi, kalua pig musubi, furikake musubi (rice seasoned with furikake, no protein), ume (pickled plum) musubi, and even ahi musubi. Every 7-Eleven in Hawaiʻi sells multiple musubi varieties. The musubi is Hawaiʻiʻs grab-and-go food — the onigiri equivalent customised for Hawaiian tastes.

Nabeta (Iniistius pavo, peacock wrasse/razorfish) is arguably the best eating nearshore fish in Hawaiʻi. The Japanese name is used rather than the Hawaiian (laenihi). The flesh is delicate, sweet, and excellent fried. Modern Hawaiian shore fishermen specifically target nabeta for its superior eating quality.