What food to have for a Hawaiian Party/Luau???

[cheerbop]

Having a Family wedding party/shower with a Luau/Hawaiian Theme.
What food should I serve? Drinks? (no alcohol allowed at the location) and for dessert?

Anyone have any experience with this type of party for food and also for decorations, etc??????

Thanks for any help you may have to offer.

 

[Kath816]

Hi, friends of ours have a huge luau most summers. They serve sweet and sour items, i.e. ribs, meatballs, chicken. She'll usually visit a local Chinese restaurant and buy trays of lo mein also. Then there's rice. She also makes a ramen noodle dish which is yummy. Oriental Trading is a place you must check out for decorations, props, etc. They also have TONS of stuff that will help to make the party fun. Have fun!

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Fish-shaped finger sandwiches, goldfish crackers...those are the two that immediately come to mind. One of our neighbor's invited us to her daughter's first birthday party a few months after DS was born that was Hawaiin/Tropical themed and those were a couple of things that she had on her buffet table.

She also had Sukiyaki,IIRC.

I also found this on tropical parties, so I hope it helps.

TOV

 

[bettyann29]

I had a hawaiin themed birthday party for my daughter a few years ago and the thing that was the biggest hit was the fruit!! I took a few watermelons and cut them lengthwise.. I used my melon baller and made little balls out of it.. I put those in a container and then cleaned out the watermelon.. leaving just a little of the pink in there.. I then got canteloupe and made little balls with the melon baller and then got some fresh pineapple and cut into chunks, got strawberries and cut them in half and then grapes.. I put all of the fruit into the watermelon using it as a big bowl.. I made several of these and they were a hit.. I was surprised since it was all teenagers..

 

[highland3]

Hawaiian Pizza!!!!

 

[Robindianne]

http://www.hisurf.com/Luau/KaluaPork dot html

This is kalua pig like they cook underground in Hawaii. We just moved back to the mainland last year and making this helps me not feel too homesick. Also, serve it over cooked rice that has a layer of chopped cooked cabbage. Mmmmmmm salty yummy. Also, serve with a side of potato mac salad and you'll feel like you are in paradise. (she said, sick and missing my pink house on stilts in Kailua-Kona)

 

[Towncrier]

You definitely need banana punch (also called aloha punch). We made up a batch for the reception after my son's recent Eagle Scout court of honor. It's easy to prepare ahead of time and very tasty. The punch is made of mashed bananas, orange juice and lemonade concentrate, pineapple juice, sugar, and water. You mix it up and freeze it (we used Gladware containers). When you are ready to serve, you add lemon-lime soda. I found the recipe doing a google search. If you want me to post it here, send me a PM and I'll dig it up.

 

[ilovepcot]

Personally, I don't think you'll find more exciting, beautiful and delicious dishes than the ones I prepared this evening for the Tag Fairy. I posted pics of these wonderful dishes on the "Tag Fairy...Could I Have a Moment" thread.They'll blow your guests away!!!!

 

[mrsmom]

If you have a costco, they have a luau box of different appetizers. If fact, i had them and orange chicken for dinner tonight. But there is like 5 different ones in the box very yummy!!! Great for what you want.
Kim

 

[luv2nascar]

pineapple cut up on sticks to dip in carmel sauce
other fruit and pound cake cut up on sticks to dip in chocolate sauce

 

[snowwhitesmom]

How about SPAM?

 

[Robindianne]

Snowwhitesmom tells the truth! When we lived in Hawaii, many many places sold spam musubi. Like a sushi, including the sushi rice and the nori seaweed but w/spam instead of the fish. And, (yep, you guessed it) we ate it and loved it! Well, it's not as good as sushi but it is pretty dang good.

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

you need Poi(taro root), roasted pig, pineapple, rice, Huli huli chicken, banana bread, and for dessert Haupia (coconut pudding)

 

[cheerbop]

I have seen a huge list of different types of salads from hawaii...

Macaroni and seafood salads
Potato Mac salad
Hawaiin Coleslaw
Hot Seafood and Potato salad

These are only a few...was wondering how "Hawaiian" these salads actually are..have any of you had them?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks a million!

 

[Disneylovers]

Every year I host a Hawaiian Supper for close friends. It used to be a full blown luau, but it got to be too much work, so I downscaled it to just a supper for our dear friends. I usually serve teriyaki meatballs, macadamia cheese puffs, oven kahlua pork, sweet and sour chicken, fried rice, and Mahi Mahi. I order flowers directly from Hawaii, which is a nice touch if your budget can afford it. I go to Party City for decorations, and paper goods. We have hawaiian cd's that play in the background, and DH & I were our matching hawaiian outfits. We serve non alcoholic pina coladas (as well as the "real" ones and mai tais too.)

Have fun

 

[abogdan]

Kalua Pig recipe that I've used:

INGREDIENTS:

4-5 pound pork butt
2½ tablespoons Hawaiian salt (substitute kosher salt)
2 tablespoons liquid smoke
1 banana leaf (substitute 4-5 whole, unpeeled bananas)
4-6 ti leaves (substitute aluminum foil)
PREPARATION:

Trim any excess fat from the roast. Make several shallow long cuts along the roast or pierce liberally with a fork. (This allows the salt and liquid smoke to penetrate the meat.) Rub with salt and liquid smoke. Wrap the roast with banana leaf or in the absence of same, place whole bananas on top of meat .
Cut the ribs from the ti leaves and wrap over the banana leaf. Substitute aluminum foil, if ti leaves are not available. (Ti leaves can often be obtained from a local florist). Tie securely with twine.

Roast in a 325-350º oven for about 45 minutes per pound. When meat is done, remove ti leaves, banana leaf (or bananas) and shred pork.

 

[beachbunny]

A local-style Hawaiian luau will have some or all of the following dishes: poi, lomi salmon, kalua pork, tako poke, limu poke, white sticky rice, lau lau, pipikaula, fresh fruit (like sliced pineapple), potato-mac salad, and coconut cake for dessert. Yum!

 

[mommytotwo]

I have seen a huge list of different types of salads from hawaii...

Macaroni and seafood salads
Potato Mac salad
Hawaiin Coleslaw
Hot Seafood and Potato salad

These are only a few...was wondering how "Hawaiian" these salads actually are..have any of you had them?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks a million!

In Hawaii, you would usually have a macaroni/potato salad at a birthday party or a luau. You could also do a sweet potato like salad. I don't have the recipe, but you can do a search on the internet and one of the ingredients is coconut milk.

The items that beachbunny and UrsulasMyHero mentioned are things that you would typically see at a Hawaiian luau.

 

[nwdisgal]

Snowwhitesmom tells the truth! When we lived in Hawaii, many many places sold spam musubi. Like a sushi, including the sushi rice and the nori seaweed but w/spam instead of the fish. And, (yep, you guessed it) we ate it and loved it! Well, it's not as good as sushi but it is pretty dang good.

Spam Mushibi has quite a following. Then there is spam in Bento. You can't really enjoy spam until you've had it prepared 1000 different ways like they do in Hawaii.

What about loco moco? That is not very easy for a buffet, but it is tasty. Hamburger steak on a bed of white rice with a fried egg on top and brown gravy and onions over the top of all that.

For a wedding I'd suggest sushi trays. The kalua pork is as great suggestion, too, as it feeds a crowd well and can be served too with french or sandwich rolls.

You can do tropical fruit platters with dip.

Potato and macaroni salad are popular.

Chicken katsu is a popular local dish. Is chicken breast breaded in egg and panko and fried served with barbeque sauce for dipping.

Teriyaki beef or hui chicken is another dish that works well for a crowd.