Introduction to SaiminThe growth of Saimin is a trail of houses with kama'aiana secret recipes, stories of closed establishments, and those who survived the noodle wars of ramen and pho. As people may mention the good old days with nostalgia of living during a time period of various Saimin stands it is important we also figure out what many of those variations were and where they came from. No one should forget about the light tasting warm soup that is perfect during the day or the night with a air conditioner and many sides. There are many variations of Saimin shops that are still on the island of Oahu as well as on other islands, so it can be difficult to figure out which might be the essential expected saimin versus a regional or specialty dish. Hopefully this list will help those who wish to know the difference of the many types. Saimin stands eventually turned into small saimin shops that tended to be not to hard to find with a line of people and a limited counter seating arrangement. There was a noticeable passion for saimin that had slowly vanished with the globalized competition bringing deeper flavored broths, light broth competitors, and noodle variations to the soup wars in hawaii. But, there are still some saimin shops that survived and continue to grow its following of people following them with their additions of miso, curry, and kimchi flavored broths. This change is what would start getting people interested back into local Hawaii cuisine in its changes to adapt to the competition of global cuisine dishes that entered the market. The exploration of those who hunger for Saimin have turned to the elderly, the internet, and the everyday working man for stories of what was and what still is in the noodle scene. In Oahu it seems that the list of variations had grown in the homes and began being experimented with at restaurant establishments to make saimin shops feel a renewed energy of enthusiastic saimin eaters. The steaming delicious bowls of tasty toppings will soon be understood in the collection of articles within this growing list. Hawaii Saimin VarietiesA bowl of saimin consists of several elements: the broth (dashi), the sauce, the noodles, and the toppings. The broth tends to have a mixture of poultry carcasses, meat bones, fish bones, shells, and/or mushrooms. Many variations started off with shellfish of clams, shrimps, or scallops as a bases for the broth or the looked down upon shellfish free soups. Diners use specific categories as simple terms that broadly describe the basis of a flavor, because many shops will specialize specifically on a particular saimin-style: alaea, konbu, shrimp, beef, and pork. Alaea Saimin (Hawaiian salt) Alaea (salt) is the Salty seasoning used with dry shrimp. The beginnings of saimin was built from the dried seafoods eaten as snacks in the plantation fields, but none more than dried chicken, dried shrimps, dried ginger, and sometimes dried mushrooms. Flavorings: Shoyu Saimin, Garlic Saimin (shoyu garlic), Mustard Saimin (shoyu chinese mustard). Konbu Saimin Dried Seaweed Kelp. Using the kelp of the ocean makes for a light shade of green, and seafood is added to make another category of saimin. There are few places that specialize in this style, many shops offer it as just saimin with a secret recipe that offers a blend of seafood mixtures that tend to include dried scallop and fish bones. Flavorings: Shoyu Saimin (), Teriyaki Saimin (), Wasabi Saimin (). Shrimp Saimin Fermented shrimp paste (mam tom shrimp paste), dried garlic, pork bones, tomato paste, and shrimp shells. The name comes from the primary after taste of the broth that is the savory shrimp. Flavorings: Ginger Saimin (wonton mein, chicken ginger), Prawn Saimin (Fermented Shrimp Paste), Sesame Saimin (tan tan) Beef Saimin Beef bones from all over the animal. As many other varieties it is based on a key ingredient in which its name is derived from. Flavorings: Beef Curry Saimin (beef curry), Miso Beef Saimin (white miso), Kimchi Beef Saimin (gochujang and/or tobandjan) Pork Saimin Pork bones. The ingredient of roasts and the oils that can be saved in the form of kalua, char siu, and sweetened black vinegar gives shops many variations of possibilities with pork saimin. Flavorings: Kalua Saimin (smoked), Charsiu Saimin (charsiu), Vinegar Saimin (vinegar) Hawaii Regional SaiminRegional Hawaiian Cuisine- Saimins
As There are the beginnings of categorized broths there are Saimins that have their regions. Kahuku Saimin On the North Shore of Oahu is a town called Kahuku, the freshwater aquafarms were there for many years. They have tanks for different phases of shrimp life from birth to the end of the road that is their sell size. In 1993, there was the Shrimp Truck craze that swept the island with Garlic Shrimp and many other dishes, so many farms that raised shrimp had take out plates that became fairly popular. The fresh, tasty, and buttery experience was something that met well with the Hawaii residence palate. During the Shrimp Truck craze in the 90's, a family went to Romy’s Prawns & Shrimp Stand to eat and had some leftover shells from their large prawns. The family threw the throw away shrimp shells and whole prawns into a pot to simmer and made it into some left over warm saimin to warm the heart during Hawaii’s rainy season of winter. The family wasn't trying to develop a Saimin, but by throwing in some saimin noodles to finish up some left overs it just turned out to be that way. A dish made out of stretching an already eaten meal by with the goal of having a cheap snack in a bowl. Variation: Shrimp Saimin Toppings: Grilled Shrimps, scallions, portuguese sausage, sliced sesame kombu, baby clams, roasted garlic, Shops: Closed Chinatown Saimin Near the Chinatown market place there was a old chinese lady who would provide meals to family that was made up from left overs from a chinese butchery. The recipe was a ancient chinese secret from the plantation time and was not to be told. But anyone who saw her in the market would notice the roasted pork bones with scraps of chicken feet and duck carcass in the see through grocery bag that she would put in her folding two wheeled shopping cart she would have with her. Chinatown was already famous for its wonton mein that they called wonton saimin, but it never really impressed many who were in search for saimin. The secret saimin broth ingredients that left the market would end off at home in a simmering pot for the working family of the meat market. It would add another bowl of saimin that would be chinatowns discovered ancient chinese secret. Variation: Alaea Charsiu Saimin Toppings: Charsiu Pork, shredded cabbage, scallions, wontons, bok choy, garlic scallion, hard boiled egg Shops: Closed Kaneohe Saimin Saimin noodles were available in the plantation days of picture brides there was a Japanese wives club of go to soups. If there were ever some left over fish heads it would be easy to know what to do with them. Go to a noodle maker on the island of Oahu and get some saimin. The soup was served up by those in the Japanese community in Kaneohe with a saltier and sweeter broth that was made of many parts of the salmon that could make use of all the bones and meat that was stuck to them. Nothing would go to waste back in those days, because everyone would have to eat and there would be the one who would prepare the food for the family when they came home. Saimin and saimin just seemed like an unlikely mixture with a dash of teriyaki sauce or shoyu and miso to a salmon bone konbu dashi soup would make good use in absorbing the flavoring of other simmering ingredients. Variation: Konbu Teri Saimin Toppings: Teri Salmon, shredded cabbage, scallions, grilled onion, mussels, sliced shiitake, hard boiled egg Shops: Closed Waimalu Saimin A chef that came from the travel industry and then over to the Kapiolani Community College culinary would open up a saimin stand like none other. It started in Aiea and made its mark in Waimalu shopping center... it was rumored the chefs name was mistah saimin (Franz Shiro Matsuo) who made a broth that smelled like dried clams and was the signature taste of a saimin made in Waimalu (aka. Dondonpa Saimin). Many locals from Aiea and Pearl City would drive on over to eat the tasty saimin as well as other featured saimin at the so called mecca of saimin. The same establishment made what would be recognized as Leeward-Style Saimin noodles from its noodle factory. It was said the mistah saimin saved saimin from dissapearing along with Forty Niner Restaurant and Sato's Saimin stand being the some of the most notable areas to eat saimin on Oahu. Variation: Clam Konbu Saimin Toppings: Roast Pork, shredded cabbage, charsiu, grilled mushroom, imitation krab, egg roll, luncheon meat Shops: Shiro's Saimin Haven Aiea Saimin The Chagami family opened in Aiea in 1947 at the restaurant Forty Niner that was known for a special sort of saimin that sparked the imagination of its clientele that had a nice after taste of earthy tones. Many military residents who worked on base would be repeat customers as well as many old timers in the small neighborhood near the sugar cane fields near the lower parts of the mountains. Residents in the area decorated their left over Saimin at home with a many local favorites and even added some modifications to the original dish. The people who originally came for the hamburgers and saimin that took them home would see the restaurant as more then a place for just for food. But later they came for the familiarity of the owners and it became sort of a community center with even the fishing club celebrating at the eatery. Many knew it as the best saimin in the town of Aiea and is marked as the towns signature must eat saimin. No one ever really knew what the secret ingredient was, but many makers of soup stock pondered if it was some sort of mushroom like dashi using shiitake. Thus it got the name the Mushroom Saimin in Aiea. Variation: Shiitake Alaea Saimin Toppings: Roast Chicken, shredded cabbage, scallion, grilled button mushrooms, shiitake, kamaboko, spam Shops: Forty Niner Restaurant Kapahulu Saimin Most saimin histories point at the dry foods that were kept for its longevity to transform into delicious soup. Many of these ingredients came from Chinese traders and drying preservation methods from fisherman from the multi-ethnic plantation. As Kalihi mastered the techniques of saimin, Liliha worked on variations of saimin by introducing fish, Honolulu would expand with different types of fish. Kapahulu was no exception in being within the southside of the island where not only seafood was used, but also shellfish, and in the case of Kapahulu it was scallops and snapper fish bones. Near the 1940s one such place that created this style was Takiguchi Saimin run by Takiguchi family: Momi Takiguchi, Daishiro Takiguchi, and Eloise Yoshie Takiguchi Yano to name a few. They would recieve wooden crates with full-size dry scallops that were large as well as other ingredients like konbu and dried shrimp. Variation: Seafood Konbu Saimin Toppings: Roast squid, baby scallops, shredded cabbage, scallions, cod, kamaboko, sliced egg roll, spam Shops: None Wahiawa Saimin After some nice sets of waves and the easy going attitudes there would be an antidote to that would help them complete their day, Saimin! In the North Shore area there was a noodle that gripped residents with its thunderous savoriness in its dashi that tasted of beef. This was due to Fujimatsu Shigeoka and Yoshie Nakai in the 1930s were seen as the Fujin and Raijin of Saimen (aka. The Saimin Duo). Those who drove far distances to the beaches from other parts of the island would begin calling it the original North Shore Saimin. However as Ross Shigeoka opened Shige's Saimin Stand in the 1990s there was the next generation bringing people to Wahiawa and popularizing the seasoning techniques of miso saimin and curry saimin. By keeping the old plantation machine in the back for people to watch the noodles being made allowed for people to begin identifying the unique taste of Wahiawa-Style Saimin Noodles. Variation: Beef Saimin Toppings: Roast Beef, shredded cabbage, scallions, charsiu, kamaboko, bean sprouts, sliced egg roll, spam Shops: Shige's Saimin Stand (aka.Shiggys) Liliha Saimin Not quite chinatown and not quite nimitz was a road of Saimin. If you were to travel back in the day of Saimin glory you would most likely have gone to Liliha to Kalihi for your fix. While overlooked from the aged streets the devoted followers of the past will surface walking past Okahara's Noodle Factory and listing the saimin shops that made their mark like: Janes Fountain (Nakasone Family), New Uptown Fountain, Hall Saimin, Old Saimin House, Palace Saimin, Jeans Saimin, Liliha Saimin, and many more that lined the area with Saimin stands. Ancestors from the Okinawan parts of the plantation village had made their way into okazuyas and saimin stands that would be in the area. The mixture had a faint taste of dried shrimp, rich taste of dried konbu, and dried sardines (iriko). Variation: Iriko Alaea Saimin Toppings: Sliced Fishcake, shredded green onion, grilled saba, sliced egg roll, spam, luncheon meat. Shops: None Honolulu Saimin The maritime ports were near Kalihi and Honolulu down town where many soup stocks would depend on seafood for its taste. Originating from the Liliha style of saimin the soups would be a mixture and inspiration of other islands stocks. However a common theme among recipes in the Honolulu area would include bonito flakes for a traditional Japanese dashi. Other soup stocks that were brought from other islands included saimin dashi that was made with: dried skipjack (bonito) and/or dried abalone. Most notable of the Honolulu Saimin style was Washington Saimin that paved the way at its last days in business. Other establishments at the time would try to use dried salmon, dried wahoo, dried akule, and/or dried cuttlefish to mix with the bonito flakes. Some saimin dashis that were made at home were from Japanese families that brought their recipes over from the Big Island, like: dried opelu, dried marlin, dried aku, and dried dried ahi. These were often times mixed in with the bonito flakes for a complex soup base. Many saimin stands with this style were the first to vanish during the globalization of cuisine that brought many other noodle soup competitors due to its light flavor. Variation: Konbu Saimin Toppings: Roast Beef, shredded cabbage, charsiu, egg roll, grilled spam, hard boiled egg Shops: None
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