Memorable Maui Munchies

Alright.... I know that you were waiting for the food portion of the trip ( even though I did mention some food in the last post), so here it is. I think that the prize for the most truly memorable food in Maui goes to Sushi Go. We wandered over to the Mall (Queen Ka'ahumanu) for a peek at this place once we were unable to get a table at the famed Sansei in Kihei. The guidebook said that it was cheap eats and it looked clean, and we were very hungry.

So we sat down at the counter in front of the rotating sushi belt. Unlike Tsunami Sushi in Vancouver, where the sushi rides on boats in a water canal , the sushi here resided quietly on plates covered with a clear plastic dome, placed on a white conveyor belt. Being as it was near closing time, we grabbed a number of plates and ate quickly. My nephew took as many unagi (eel) plates as he could and the rest of us took a bit more time to look at the sushi. Given that this was Hawaii, the sushi was a little different. We had nigiri sushi with cooked tuna in a mayonnaise sauce. They had spicy tuna, but they also had ahi poke. The latter is a Hawaiian specialty and can be bought by the pound in the fish case at the local Safeway. It is ahi tuna marinated in sesame oil and secret ingredients like kuy kuy nuts. I don't care what else was in there, it was delicious.

This has all been a build up to the most fascinating piece of sushi that I have ever eaten (and I have been to Japan). If you read the guidebooks, or have been to Hawaii, you will know that Spam is a common food item on local restaurant menus. I remember Spam: my mom very occasionally made school lunch sandwiches with it. While my brother, the glutton for punishment thought that this was a treat, I invariably tossed the sandwiches (sorry mom)- there was just no bartering to be done with the stuff. Well imagine our surprise, when these balls of rice topped with a pink non fish product passed in front of us. We turned to each other and said "Spam", and lo, it was. We just had to try it. I'm here to tell you that it tasted pretty good. Those sneaky sushi chefs fried the Spam and put it on top of seasoned rice (with nori-seaweed and sesame seeds). Completely and astoundingly edible. So much so, that when we returned two nights later, for the all you can eat night (at the urging of the aforementioned nephew), we sought out the canned wonder. Here , for the curious, is what it looks like.

Good news: I think that if I can get the rice right, I know that I too can make sushi at home .... with Spam!! If any of you are going there, I would be happy to provide you with directions.



p.s. I have tried five different ways to make this photo post straight up, but it refuses to cooperate. To get the best view, tilt your head to the left.