Food and Culture Chinese Restaurants in Hawai‘I Franklin Ng
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Food and Culture Chinese Restaurants in Hawai‘i Franklin Ng Franklin Ng, “Food and Culture: Chinese Restaurants in Hawai‘i,” first shipload of Chinese laborers aboard theThetis were pro- Chinese America: History & Perspectives – The Journal of vided certain foods. Rice, salted fish, sweet potatoes, yams, the Chinese Historical Society of America (San Francisco: Chi- sugar, cooking oil, lime juice, vinegar, water, coffee, and tea nese Historical Society of America with UCLA Asian American were among the provisions to be supplied on the ship.7 In Studies Center, 2010), pages 113–122. the years that followed, a continuous stream of migrants arrived from Guangdong Province to sustain the growing ood, they say, is the essence of life. Or, as Joseph R. Hawaiian economy in rice and sugar production. While liv- Conlin puts it, “food is third only to air and water as ing on the plantations, the Chinese obtained most of their a basis of life and, much more than the others, is an food from the plantation stores or grocery stores set up to F 1 important element of culture and social relationships.” cater to their needs. Many people delude themselves that they “eat to live,” com- On the plantations the Chinese had a varied diet. They ments Deh-Ta Hsiung, but he believes that the Chinese are were fortunate that the Hawaiian Islands had pigs, chickens, honest enough to admit that they “live to eat.”2 ducks, fish, taro, sweet potatoes, bananas, yams, and coco- Despite these observations about the significance of food, nuts in abundance.8 To these items, the Chinese added their surprisingly little has been written about food and human own, bringing dried, salted, smoked, or preserved shrimp, relationships. Anthropologists have only begun to study bean curd, cuttlefish, squid, duck, sausages, bêche-de-mer, this subject; Marvin Harris, Peter Farb, George Armelagos, seaweed, and eggs. To enhance their diet, those who came as Mary Douglas, and Jack Goody are some of the pioneers free labor not bound by term contracts went into fishing and in this field.3 Of the subject of food and Chinese culture there farming. Fishing brought fresh products from the sea, while has been even less treatment. Kwang-chih Chang, Eugene farming meant that fruits, vegetables, staples, and animals Anderson, and Lionel Tiger are among the few who have native to South China were raised for consumption. Chinese examined the topic.4 Historians have been comparatively taro, coriander, mustard cabbage, bok choy, star fruit, lichee, slow to analyze people and foodways; Thomas J. Schlereth longan, pomelo, apple, banana, bamboo, loquat, kumquat, comments that they have paid “scant attention” to eating persimmon, and lotus were reportedly introduced by the and food habits.5 However, John E. Schrecker and Arthur J. Chinese to Hawai‘i.9 Marder have edited or written forewords to cookbooks, while Those who were given garden plots on the plantations Daniel W. Y. Kwok has lectured on Chinese cuisine.6 or chose not to renew their labor contracts also raised their Foodways are an emblem of ethnicity and identity, and own animals, poultry, fruits, and vegetables. Moreover, since restaurants are an expression of foodways. In Hawai‘i’s histor- rice was not readily available initially except as an imported ical setting, Chinese restaurants have reflected the experience staple, many Chinese entered into rice production to meet of the Chinese as they evolved from sojourners to settlers and the needs of their fellow countrymen. The foods eaten by the permanent residents. Restaurants have been indicators of Chinese in Hawai‘i were similar to those of their counterparts change: change in diet and food preparation and presenta- in California. The latter also ate pomelos, oysters, shrimp, tion; change in the status of the Chinese in Hawai‘i; change bean curd, bamboo shoots, duck eggs, and mushrooms.10 in Hawai‘i due to the Chinese; and change resulting from But Hawai‘i had a subtropical climate much like that of national and international influences. Chinese restaurants Guangdong, and the migrants there were able to grow Chi- demonstrate that culture is not static and that people adapt nese vegetables and fruits like longan, lichee, and mangoes to changing circumstances. that could not be planted in California. During this period, many of the Chinese who worked Early Years: The Plantation on the plantations were organized into groups and camps AnD Rural Phase with cooks who prepared the meals for them. The Chinese, mostly bachelors or men who had left their wives in China, Chinese were recruited in 1852 to come to Hawai‘i and work found this a convenient arrangement. At the same time, on the plantations. Even as they voyaged to Honolulu, the those who married Hawaiian women became increasingly 113 114 Franklin Ng acquainted with the native diet. Romanzo Adams estimated During his career as an entrepreneur, he also operated a rice that as many as 1,200 to 1,500 Chinese men entered into plantation and mill, a hotel, a saloon, a dairy, and a black- marital relations with Hawaiian women before 1900.11 Off- smith shop. A creative cook, Chock Chin experimented spring of these interracial marriages ate meals consisting of with roast beef sandwiches and potato salad, baked papaya Hawaiian and Chinese foods. When Chinese food was pre- custard, coconut, and apple pies, and cranked his own ice pared, chopsticks and bowls were the utensils. When Hawai- cream. He also steamed and baked dian xin pastries such as ian food was eaten, poi and laulau were consumed with fin- shuai pi su bing (flaky tarts), guang su bing (crescent-shaped gers or spoons. The father dressed in Chinese clothes and tarts), tang bao (sweet bun), xian bao (salty bun), song gao spoke Chinese to the children, while the mother wore a (rice cake), and ji dan gao (sponge cake). Paniolo cowboys holoku and spoke Hawaiian.12 enjoyed eating chop suey, pickled pork, chicken, fish, beef Plantation work was demanding, and the opportunities curry, ham and eggs, rice, and bread, and drinking home- for higher wages or upward mobility were limited. Once roasted, home-ground coffee. For special dinners ordered their contracts expired, many Chinese migrated off the plan- in advance, Chock Chin elaborately garnished the dishes of tations and entered into other forms of employment. Some chop suey, pickled pork, boned duck, stuffed mushrooms, preferred to become traders and peddlers, domestic servants and chicken. Sometimes the customers brought fish as pay- or cooks, or fishermen or farmers. Others with more funds ment for their bills.17 started stores or restaurants. These enterprises might receive In Hilo, on Hawai‘i, the Hilo Coffee Saloon was owned operating money from the Chinese hui or rotating credit by Wong Kwon, who had been given the Hawaiian name associations.. While some were partnership arrangements, “Akana” by his neighbors and later married a Chinese Hawai- many were family businesses.13 ian widow. Akana’s business was a combination coffee shop Between 1850 and the turn of the century the Chinese and bakery. He advertised in the Hilo Tribune that the “best operated most of the restaurants in Hawai‘i. Caucasians and coffee, tea & chocolate” were available, along with cakes and Hawaiians were not as interested in opening public eat- bread. The restaurant was open every day from 4:30 in the ing places. The Chinese had 58 percent of the “victualling” morning until 9:00 at night. Old-timers used to gather there licenses in 1886 and 85 percent in 1889. They ran all of the at 5:00 in the morning to gossip and discuss politics amidst nineteen “coffee saloons,” forty-two of the restaurants, and the aroma of wonderful bakery smells and hot coffee. Just ten of the eighteen bakeries in Honolulu mentioned in the when the Hilo Coffee Saloon was opened is not certain, but it 1896 directory of the Islands. On the other islands, they was listed, with Akana as the owner, as early as 1888 in Hus- ran thirty-two of the thirty-nine coffee shops, nineteen of ted’s Directory of the Hawaiian Kingdom.18 the twenty-three restaurants, and seven of the eight baker- Another example was the business operated by Po Hee ies.14 The large numbers of Chinese employed in restaurants Hong. Born in 1882 at Anahola, Kauai, he moved to Hana- eventually led to the formation of the Cooks and Waiters pepe and started a small restaurant and bakery shop. He Guild in 1901.15 baked breads, pies, and Chinese dian xin pastries such Many of the first restaurants operated by the Chinese as jian dui and rice cakes. He even made his own noodles, were combination bakeries and coffee shops or coffee flattening the dough into thin sheets and cutting them into saloons. Others were dining areas attached to grocery stores strips with a sharp knife. He imported the Chinese merchan- or general merchandise stores. The menu items were often dise he needed from Honolulu stores such as Wing Sing Wo selected to appeal to both the Chinese and the non-Chinese and Wing Hong Yuen, and purchased other supplies from clientele. Some of the cooks for these restaurants had learned wholesalers such as H. Hackfeld Company, Theo. H. Davies about non-Chinese recipes and foods while working earlier and Company, McBryde Sugar Company, and Hofgaard. His as domestic servants or hired cooks. Helped by these expe- patrons included travelers, Filipino laborers, and members riences and insights, they later used their knowledge and of the Hanapepe community. In 1918 Hee Hong expanded skills to become independent businessmen. Others took the his business to sell groceries and general merchandise as path suggested by Diane Mark: they “made friends with the well.19 The Hew Store and Restaurant in Paia, Maui, opened Hawaiian people, learned luau food was ono and introduced by Hew Fat in 1906, operated in a similar fashion.