Eat, Shop, Enjoy: The Island Way
THIS PAGE: A bag of hot chips made fresh at the factory outlet, waiting to be snacked on. RIGHT: A juicy Bob’s BBQ pork slider on a fresh taro roll, topped with coleslaw and Kilauea Fire BBQ sauce.
Chips, Sliders & Sauce Tasty local snacks from the Hawaiian Chip Company By Jo Archibald Photos by Dave Miyamoto
If you’re sitting in a plane on your way to Vegas and you hear a crunching sound, chances are that someone’s omiyage, or gift for a friend in Vegas, just turned into a midflight snack. It’s also possible that the snack was made by the Hawaiian Chip Company. When it comes to local munchies, few can resist the healthier homegrown appeal of their chips. And these chips literally have local roots—they’re made from taro and sweet potato grown on the Big Island, O‘ahu and Moloka‘i. If you’re into nutritional value, you’ll appreciate 42 LasVegasBound
that these tubers pack more fiber, vitamins and flavor—and less starch—than their russet cousins. They’re also cooked in canola oil, so there’s zero trans fat. In contrast to the current trend of drowning food in seasoning, Hawaiian Chip Company prefers a light touch to let the natural taste of the chips come through. They come in an assortment of flavors: lightly salted Original, Zesty Garlic Sweet Potato, Kiawe Fire Sweet and Taro mix, and Kiawe BBQ Taro. The Hawaiian Chip Company started as an idea about twelve years ago when owner James “Jimmy” Chan watched Emeril Lagasse fry sweet potato chips. Chan found a few sweet potatoes lying around his kitchen, and the rest is history. Sort of. What followed were years of frying chips in his apartment kitchen, selling the chips at swap meets and craft sales and enduring the trials and tribulations of starting a business. Fortunately for chip aficionados, Chan persevered and today his prized products are available in Costco, Whole Foods, Longs Drugs, local supermarkets and will soon be sold in Japan. To complement the retail outlets, Chan recently opened the Hawaiian Chip Company Factory Outlet on Nimitz Highway. Located midway between Honolulu International Airport and Waikiki, it’s the perfect pick-up place if you’re traveling either way. And you can’t miss it—it’s been painted
Chan is looking forward to growth for the Hawaiian Chip Company, but even more importantly he’s set on taking other local businesses along for the ride. From Island farms to companies that support the outlet store, Chan hopes to market more local products under a larger company name that’s in the works. And to think it all started with a hankering to make one batch of sweet potato chips. Hawaiian Chip Company 1928 Republican Street Honolulu, HI 96819 808.845.9868 HawaiianChipCompany.com HOURS: Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fresh chips only Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fresh chips and Island Brew beverage bar open Saturday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sliders, fresh chips, and Island Brew beverage bar available!
bright orange. If you think the packaged chips are delicious, wait until you taste them hot out of the fryer. Light and crispy, they’re practically a work of art. Some of the taro chips are nearly four inches in diameter, and the orange and purple sweet potato varieties are almost too pretty to eat. Although purists will want little more than a sprinkling of sea salt, the outlet offers shakers with their custom seasonings: Spicy Garlic, Kiawe BBQ, Kilauea Fire as well as nori, salt and sugar. According to Chan, some customers have their own recipes—two shakes of this, one of that. Bam! Perfection. Although the chips are his first love, Chan sees a bright future for his Kilauea Fire BBQ sauce, which includes a HOT variety (it’s all capitals for a reason). The best time to taste it is on Saturday, when the outlet also sells three kinds of sliders to accompany the chips: kalua pork from Bob’s BBQ, slowroasted chicken and Chinese-style roast pork from Handy travel tip: Alicia’s Market—all served Six large bags (five for on fresh taro rolls from Ani’s them, one for you) fit Bakery. perfectly into a Hawaiian On Fridays and SaturChip Company carryon box that slides right days, the Hawaiian Chip under your airplane seat. Factory Outlet also feaSix 1.69 oz. bottles of tures Island Brew, a coffee Kilauea HOT sauce can and tea bar where the mere also be carried on the words “blended chocolate plane in a Ziploc bag. You haupia (coconut flavor) never know when you’ll frappe” bring heaven a little have a BBQ emergency. closer to earth.
Kiawe Broiled, Perfectly Prime Serving excellence for over 34 years
A USDA Prime Beef Specialty House Dinner Mon - Fri: 6:00pm - 10:00pm Sat & Sun: 5:30pm - 10:00pm Valet Parking Available Live Entertainment with Audy Kimura Wed - Sat: 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Reservations (808) 922-5555 2440 Kuhio Ave. Honolulu www.hyshawaii.com
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