ASIAN FOOD IN HAWAII: THE FILIPINOS AND THEIR FOOD IN THE BIG ISLAND

Main Article Content

Rodney C. Jubilado

Abstract

Hawaii is the most Asian state in the United States of America. The majority of its Asian population is composed of the Filipinos and the Japanese due to their migration history. Since tourism is the number one industry in Hawaii and that the majority of the tourists are from Asia, Asian food is part of the gastronomical space in the archipelago. This paper presents a study on the Asian cuisine and the Filipino food in the Big Island of Hawaii particularly in the city of Hilo. As an interdisciplinary study, this paper analyses the Asian food by using the approaches from the humanities and the social sciences. It aims to provide an analysis of Asian cuisine in Hawaii with a focus on Filipino food and the Filipinos, particularly the young Filipino Americans who are heritage learners. This study makes use of ethnography, experiential approach, and heritage studies to find out the state of Filipino food, and the cultural identity of the young Filipino Americans in Hawaii. Findings show that the majority of the Asian cuisine in Hawaii is represented by the Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Indians. Filipino food is mostly confined to the home, and it functions as a marker of loyalty, allegiance, and solidarity for the young Filipino Americans, thereby establishing their Filipino cultural identity. 


 


Keywords: Filipino cuisine, heritage learners, Filipinos in Hawaii, migration, Asian food

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Article Details

Section
Articles

References

Ashkenazi, M., & Jacob, J. (2000). The essence of Japanese cuisine: An essay on food and culture. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press.
Burroughs, B., & Burroughs, W. J. (2014). Mahimahi Musubi: Cosmopolitanizing strategies in Hawaiian regional cuisine. Pacific Studies, 37(3), 147-171.
Chang, T. L. (1988). Sailing for the sun: The Chinese in Hawaii, 1789-1989. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Chopra, R. (2018). Global food, global media, global culture: Representations of the new Indian cuisine in Indian media. In K. LeBesco, & P. Naccarato (Eds.), The Bloomsbury handbook of food and popular culture (pp. 40-53). London: Bloomsbury.
Chung, H. K., Yang, H. J., Shin, D., & Chung, K. R. (2016). Aesthetics of Korean foods: The symbol of Korean culture. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 3(3), 178-188.
Costa, L., & Besio, K. (2011). Eating Hawai'i: Local foods and place-making in Hawai'i Regional Cuisine. Social & Cultural Geography, 12(8), 839-854.
Danico, M. Y. (2004). The 1.5 generation: Becoming Korean American in Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
De Leon, A. (2019). Sugarcane Sakadas: The corporate production of the Filipino on a Hawai‘i plantation. Amerasia Journal, 45(1), 50-67.
Do, H. D. (1999). The Vietnamese Americans. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Dubey, K. G. (2010). The Indian cuisine. Delhi: PHI Learning.
Dusselier, J. (2009). Understandings of food as culture. Environmental History, 14(2), 331-338.
Duus, M. U. (1999). The Japanese conspiracy: The Oahu sugar strike of 1920 (B. Cary, Trans.). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Fernandez, D. G. (1988). Culture ingested: Notes on the indigenization of Philippine food. Philippine Studies, 36(2), 219-232.
Fernandez, D. G. (1996). Palabas: Essays on Philippine theater history. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Fernandez, D. (2000). Palayok: Philippine food through time, on site, in the pot. Makati City: Bookmark.
Fernandez, D. G. (2002). Chinese food in the Philippines: Indigenization and transformation. In D. Y. H. Wu, & S. C. H. Cheung (Eds.), The globalization of Chinese food (pp. 183-190) Abingdon: Routledge.
Fernandez, D. G. (2019). Tikim: Essays on Philippine food and culture. Leiden: Brill.
Fleischman, R. K., & Tyson, T. N. (2000). The interface of race and accounting: The case of Hawaiian sugar plantations, 1835-1920. Accounting History, 5(1), 7-32.
Gardner, A. L. (1970). The Koreans in Hawaii: An annotated bibliography. Honolulu: Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii.
Glick, C. E. (1980). Sojourners and settlers: Chinese migrants in Hawaii. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii.
Hussin, H. (2018a). Gastronomy, tourism, and the soft power of Malaysia. SAGE Open, 8(4).
Hussin, H. (2018b). Branding Malaysia and re-positioning cultural heritage in tourism development. JATI-Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 75-92.
Hussin, H. (2019). Buwas kuning (yellow rice) and its symbolic functions among the Sama-Bajau of Malaysia. SAGE Open, 9(4).
Hsu, F. L. (1951). The Chinese of Hawaii: Their role in American culture. Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences, 13(6 Series II), 243-250.
Kai, P. (1974). Chinese settlers in the village of Hilo before 1852. Honolulu: Hawaiian Historical Society.
Kibria, N. (1995). Family tightrope: The changing lives of Vietnamese Americans. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kim, J. S. (2005). Universalizing Korean food. Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture, 20(5), 499-507.
Kimura, Y. (1992). Issei: Japanese immigrants in Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Lee, E. J., & Mun, K. C. (2012). Globalization of Korean cuisine through Korean sauces-Focusing on the success of world-wide sauces. Culinary Science and Hospitality Research, 18(3), 108-120.
Lee, E. J., Kim, T. H., & Kim, D. R. (2008). Globalization of Korean cuisine through the Korean food items promotion-focus on marketing strategy of Korean food items. Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture, 23(6), 729-736.
Li, Z. (2019, March 2). Which country has the best food? CNN. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/world-best-food-cultures/index.html
Malasig, J. (2019, March 20). Several reasons why Filipino cuisine is among least preferred worldwide. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://interaksyon.philstar.com/trends-spotlights/2019/03/20/146043/several-reasons-why-filipino-cuisine-is-among-least-preferred-worldwide/
Mallari, F. (1974). The Mindanao cinnamon. Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society, 2(4), 190-194.
McKeown, A. (2001). Chinese migrant networks and cultural change: Peru, Chicago, and Hawaii 1900-1936. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Min, P. G. (2011). Koreans' immigration to the US: History and contemporary trends. New York: The Research center for Korean community Queens College of CUNY.
Montero, D. (2019). Vietnamese Americans: Patterns of resettlement and socioeconomic adaptation in the United States. New York: Routledge.
Muangasame, K., & Park, E. (2019). Food tourism, policy and sustainability: Behind the popularity of Thai food. In E. Park, S. Kim, & I. Yeoman (Eds.), Food tourism in Asia (pp. 123-142). Singapore: Springer.
Nandy, A. (2004). The changing popular culture of Indian food: Preliminary notes. South Asia Research, 24(1), 9-19.
Nguyen, T., & Heino, T. (2017). Vietnamese fusion restaurant business plan. Theseus. September 26, 2020, from https://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/127942
Okamura, J. Y. (2011). Imagining the Filipino American diaspora: Transnational relations, identities, and communities. New York: Routledge.
Okamura, J. Y. (2014). From race to ethnicity: Interpreting Japanese American experiences in Hawai‘i. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Padoongpatt, M. (2017). Flavors of empire: Food and the making of Thai America (Vol. 45). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Pettid, M. J. (2008). Korean cuisine: An illustrated history. London: Reaktion books.
Pham, T. B., & Harris, R. J. (2001). Acculturation strategies among Vietnamese-Americans. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 25(3), 279-300.
Quarterly Statistical & Economic Report. (2020). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://dbedt.hawaii.gov/economic/qser/tourism/
Quintero, D. A. (2017). “Tiyula Itum” and pangalay: Suluk anthemic expressions in Sabah, Malaysia. Borneo Research Journal, 11, 118-132.
San Buenaventura, S. (1996). Hawaii’s “1946 Sakada”. Social Process in Hawaii, 37, 74-90.
Seligman, L. (1994). The history of Japanese cuisine. Japan Quarterly, 41(2), 165-176.
Smith, M. (2019, March 11). Italian cuisine is world's most popular. YouGov. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://yougov.co.uk/topics/food/articles-reports/2019/03/12/italian-cuisine-worlds-most-popular
Sunanta, S. (2005, October 14-16). The globalization of Thai cuisine. Paper presented at the Canadian Council for Southeast Asian Studies Conference, York University, Toronto.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2012). Asian population: 2010. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2012/dec/c2010br-11.pdf
Wu, D. Y., & Cheung, S. C. (2002). The globalization of Chinese food and cuisine. In D. Y. H. Wu, & S. C. H. Cheung (Eds.), The globalization of Chinese food (pp. 1-18) Abingdon: Routledge.
Yu, E. Y. (1977). Koreans in America: An emerging ethnic minority. Amerasia Journal, 4(1), 117-131.
Zialcita, F. N. (2000). Why insist on an Asian Flavor? Philippine studies, 48(4), 523-548.