Hawaii Homestyle Mac Salad
SKU:
Mac salad is rice's partner scoop, and essential for a proper plate lunch. Note also this is Hawaii-food and not ethnically Hawaiian food specifically. (See notes below)
​Since forever, this has been the family's mac salad. A few easy add-ons held together by Best Foods mayo tastes like Hawaii, home, and happy.
​Since forever, this has been the family's mac salad. A few easy add-ons held together by Best Foods mayo tastes like Hawaii, home, and happy.
Ingredients
|
1-2 hard-boiled eggs
1-2 white salad potatoes 1 package of elbow macaroni ½ an onion, very finely chopped A few handfuls of shredded carrots Best Foods mayonnaise, at least 4-5 big dollops Hawaiian salt and black pepper, to taste |
Optional add-ins
A small dash of yellow hot dog mustard, like French's Frozen peas -->My sister's version, but I hate peas so they got nixed. Celery, finely chopped -->My mom's version, but my birdies nixed. Cooked baby shrimp -->Adds color and look pretty, but I'm allergic, so nixed. |
What To Do
Hard boil eggs. Peel, let cool, and dice. I run it through the egg slicer twice. Once on long axis and then rotated 90° to slice on the short axis.
In a pot large enough for macaroni, boil potatoes until just done. Remove potatoes, drain, and let cool. Pour in dry macaroni, and cook to al-dente. Drain and cool.
Cook macaroni, drain and cool well.
Chop cooled potatoes into roughly the same size as the cooked macaroni (eyeball it). Mix together potatoes, eggs, macaroni, shredded carrots, and onion. Add mayonnaise to hold the salad together. Salt and pepper to your taste.
Add the optional stuff. Or don’t.
In a pot large enough for macaroni, boil potatoes until just done. Remove potatoes, drain, and let cool. Pour in dry macaroni, and cook to al-dente. Drain and cool.
Cook macaroni, drain and cool well.
Chop cooled potatoes into roughly the same size as the cooked macaroni (eyeball it). Mix together potatoes, eggs, macaroni, shredded carrots, and onion. Add mayonnaise to hold the salad together. Salt and pepper to your taste.
Add the optional stuff. Or don’t.
Notes and Talking Story
- Why "Hawaii" Homestyle Mac Salad and not "Hawaiian" Mac salad? Mac salad is is not ethnically Hawaiian food (e.g., poi and laulau). It's a Hawaii-specific dish created by a the mixing different cultures and ethnicities in Hawaii.
- This is very important because being from Hawaii is not the same as being ethnically Hawaiian. You can be both, but many, many people from Hawaii are not ethnically Hawaiian.
- Back on the food front, even within families, mac salad can vary. Elbow macaroni, hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, onion, and Best Foods mayo define the base, with a few favorite add-ins.
- There are many deeply held mix-in opinions, for example, my mother-in-law swears by adding canned chicken, and a friend of our says French's mustard is an absolute requirement.
- Here's where we most agree: no sweet relish, no Hellman's mayo, no added sugar, no alternate macaroni shapes.