The Hawaii noodles and soup, Saimin, is a comfort food that has a light broth that is fairly clear with minimal cloudiness and an array of toppings. With its history from the plantation and immigrant families who shared what they could to the bowl of soup made what we know today as Saimin, which was once a necessity for food to a preference that brings the feelings of home. In its process the saimin noodles are boiled in a pot, while another pot held the broth that would simmer away and not boiled, and famed for its large amount of add on toppings to make for a delightful meal.
Every island has their own variations of regional saimin as well as their top favorites for types of saimin, but what was once a commonplace recipe has vanished from most families recipe books and gone to the grave with those who departed from the world of the living. So, who holds the secrets? The businesses that still are alive with the dish carrying sale being the most vibrant and the families that have a recipe hidden away somewhere with a story, somewhere through recipe cards, or somewhere with their most elderly and wise of cooks. With each family crafting their own blend of broth, noodles, and flavoring there are overlapping recipe types that go under flavor categories of: alaea, shoyu, mushroom, shrimp, and beef types. While there are a few unique variations that use different carcasses or bones to make stock from like: chicken, pork, seafood, and vegetables. There are even types of saimin based on noodle sizes and richness of the broth. For example Dry Saimin is known for having a much stronger tasting broth than typical light flavored Saimin. Documentation has been tricky, since people in the islands were taught to be humble and not bring widespread attention to their families, which is polar opposite of todays social media scene and technology. Eldars, Middle Aged, and even youngsters all have a prepared speech to remain anonymous, even more so if they reveal their families way of doing the secret broth. When asked, some people said “Because im not one chef or professional saimin maker”, another answer was “It is peaceful when no one bothers you or your family”, or “my mom would roll in her grave if she knew i let out the family recipe, since it was specially made just for our family and no one else”. With the trust of sources being stayed anonymous and no direct profit group for selling the recipes there have been many stories that have emerged from the islands. It can be explained as dishes that had made their mark in the families they were cooked by, but have finally flown the nest for everyone else who lives in Hawaii to see. Dishes that are unique to certain areas and are different enough and tasty were listed in the highlighted groups of Saimin. Learning from the old stories that some do indeed include recipes are important for preservation and necessary to understand the ingredient limitations of the time period for certain dishes to maintain a taste of the era to respect the old while moving forward with the very close limitations. In regards to Saimin this hits especially hard with knowing that many of the Maui Saimin shops that were really good had shut their doors like: Hanaduda Saimin, House of Saimin, Suda Kihei Store, and The Nagata Store, just to say a few. There was also an urgency from the strength of Ramen shops had in its trendiness taking over the noodle soup wars, so it made an increased need to explore what is left of Saimin before there was no one left to reference from the time period.
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