Field Notes

Notes from the Pacific pantry.

Long-form notes on traditional Polynesian foods, the people who grew them, and how to put them on your table this week.

Shoyu chicken — bone-in thighs braised in a glossy sweet-salty soy, ginger, and garlic glaze, scattered with scallions over rice

Recipes

Shoyu Chicken: The Plate-Lunch Classic Every Island Family Makes Differently

Shoyu chicken is chicken thighs simmered down in a sweet-salty soy braise sharp with ginger and garlic — the plate-lunch standard of Hawaiʻi, and almost entirely hands-off.

2026-06-21

A loaded Hawaiian shave ice — fine snowy ice with mochi, haupia coconut cream, and a lilikoi passion-fruit drizzle

Recipes

Hawaiian Shave Ice (and the Loaded Dessert It Became)

Real shave ice is not a snow cone — the ice is shaved into a soft powder that drinks in syrup like fresh snow. Here's the difference, the modern loaded version, and how to get close at home.

2026-06-21

A whole fish grilled in a banana leaf parcel, opened to show the flesh with ginger, scallion, and lime

Recipes

Whole Fish in Banana Leaf: The Oldest Trick in the Pacific Kitchen

Wrapping a whole fish in a banana leaf before it meets the fire steams it in its own moisture and perfumes it faintly green. It looks like a lot of work and is in fact very little.

2026-06-20

A bowl of lomi salmon — cured salmon worked together with diced tomato, sweet onion, and scallion, served cold

Recipes

Lomi Salmon: Hawaiʻi's Cold, Bright Salmon-and-Tomato Relish

Lomi salmon is salted salmon worked together with tomato and onion until it becomes a cold, almost salsa-like relish. Here's the dish, where it came from, and how to make it at home.

2026-06-19

A bowl of kapisi pulu — Tongan corned beef and cabbage braised in coconut cream — served with white rice

Recipes

Kapisi Pulu: The Tongan Corned Beef and Cabbage in Coconut Cream

Kapisi pulu is Tonga's everyday comfort food — cabbage and corned beef slow-cooked in coconut cream until rich and silky. Here's the dish, its history, and how to make it.

2026-06-18

Ingredients

Inamona: The Kukui Nut Relish at the Heart of Hawaiian Poke

Before soy sauce reached the islands, real Hawaiian poke was seasoned with ʻinamona — roasted, pounded kukui nuts and sea salt. Here's what it is and how to make it.

2026-06-18

Whole and halved ʻuala Hawaiian purple sweet potatoes on a dark slate surface, showing their vivid violet interior

Ingredients

ʻUala: The Pacific Sweet Potato That Crossed an Ocean

Long before European contact, Polynesian voyagers carried the sweet potato across the Pacific. The purple-fleshed variety is now one of the most studied foods in longevity research.

2026-06-17

A bowl of fresh limu seaweed salad — bright green ogo strands dressed with sesame seeds and chopsticks resting alongside

Ingredients

Limu: The Seaweed That Seasoned the Pacific

Before soy sauce, before umami was a word, Hawaiians seasoned their fish with limu — fresh edible seaweed harvested from shallow reef waters. Here's what it is and how to use it.

2026-06-10

Mashed taro served in a bowl, garnished and ready to eat

Ingredients

What Is Taro? The Root Vegetable at the Heart of Pacific Cooking

Taro is one of the oldest cultivated plants on earth and the cornerstone of the traditional Polynesian diet. Here's what it is, how to cook it, and why it matters.

2026-05-21

A Hawaiian poke bowl — cubed raw ʻahi tuna over rice with sesame, green onion, and furikake

Recipes

The Poke Bowl: History, Tradition, and How to Make One at Home

Poke didn't start as a restaurant trend. It's been a Hawaiian staple for centuries. Here's the history, what makes a real poke bowl, and how to build one in your kitchen.

2026-05-20

Squares of haupia — traditional Hawaiian coconut pudding — served on a plate

Recipes

Haupia: Hawaii's Traditional Coconut Pudding

Haupia is a traditional Hawaiian coconut pudding made from just three ingredients. It's been served at luaus for centuries — and it's one of the easiest desserts you'll ever make.

2026-05-19

A halved fresh coconut showing the white flesh and clear water inside

Ingredients

Coconut Milk, Coconut Oil, Coconut Water, Coconut Aminos: What's the Difference?

Coconut appears in five different forms in a Pacific kitchen — and each one does something completely different. Here's a plain-language guide to which is which and when to use each.

2026-05-17

A spread of traditional Polynesian foods — fresh fish, taro, breadfruit, sweet potato, coconut, and tropical fruit

Longevity

The Polynesian Diet: Why Pacific Islanders Once Lived Longer

Before processed food arrived, the diets of Tonga, Samoa, and Hawaii produced some of the lowest rates of heart disease ever recorded. Here's what was actually on the table.

2026-05-12

A whole breadfruit on a wooden cutting board, sliced open to show the starchy white flesh

Ingredients

Breadfruit: The Superfood Hawaiians Have Eaten for 3,000 Years

Roasted, it tastes like a cross between a potato and fresh-baked bread. One tree feeds a family. Here's everything you need to cook with breadfruit at home.

2026-05-10

A bowl of traditional Hawaiian poi — smooth, lavender-grey fermented taro paste

Ingredients

What Is Poi? A Complete Guide to Hawaii's Original Superfood

Poi is fermented, mashed taro — Hawaii's original staple food. Here's how this traditional Hawaiian taro paste is made, what it tastes like, and why a probiotic Polynesian purée might be the most useful thing in your fridge.

2026-05-08

Notes

Why Pacific Nutra — A Letter on Launch Day

Three thousand years ago, a system of eating reached the islands of the Pacific that fed millions of people with almost no chronic disease. In two generations, it was nearly lost. Pacific Nutra exists to put it back on the table.

2026-05-05