Plate 05 of 10

Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

Name: Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 14 min
Total time: 34 min
Yield: 8 to 10 side servings
Cuisine: Hawaii
Ingredients: 450 g Dry elbow macaroni; 25 g Coarse sea salt, for the water; 45 ml Apple cider vinegar; 45 g Maui sweet onion, grated fine with its juice; 120 ml Cold whole milk; 480 g Real mayonnaise, chilled; 60 g Carrot, finely grated; 12 g Granulated sugar; 6 g Fine sea salt; 3 g Black pepper, coarsely ground

The one cold scoop on every plate lunch, and nothing like a mainland pasta salad. Elbow macaroni boiled past al dente, drenched while scalding with cider vinegar and grated sweet onion so the acid goes into the pasta, dressed in two stages with mayonnaise and cold milk around a two-hour chill, with grated carrot and coarse black pepper and nothing else.

Prep: 20 min
Cook: 14 min
Serves: 8 to 10 side servings
Difficulty: Easy

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

Two scoops of creamy macaroni salad flecked with orange carrot beside white rice and shredded kalua pork on a plate-lunch plate.

No plate lunch is complete without two scoops of rice and one cold scoop of macaroni salad. Plantation managers brought potato and pasta salads to the sugar and pineapple camps in the early twentieth century, and the labourers remade them to their own taste and budget.

The Hawaiian version has no celery, no mustard, no peppers and no herbs. The macaroni is cooked deliberately soft, soaked while hot in vinegar and grated onion, and bound in a generous bath of mayonnaise and milk, so that it cools and softens the salt of kalua pig and the fire of chili pepper water beside it.

Ingredients

450 gDry elbow macaroni
25 gCoarse sea salt, for the water
45 mlApple cider vinegar
45 gMaui sweet onion, grated fine with its juice
120 mlCold whole milkdivided
480 gReal mayonnaise, chilleddivided
60 gCarrot, finely grated
12 gGranulated sugar
6 gFine sea salt
3 gBlack pepper, coarsely ground

Overcook on purpose

Two to three minutes past the packet time swells the starch fully and opens the surface. As the hot pasta cools, its contracting steam pulls the vinegar and onion juice into the pasta wall instead of leaving it on the outside.

Mayonnaise in two stages

Hot pasta breaks a mayonnaise emulsion into free oil. Half goes on when the pasta is only warm, with cold milk; the second half goes on cold after the chill, restoring the gloss.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is the heavily salted water and a teaspoon in the dressing. Fat is egg-yolk mayonnaise and whole milk. Acid is cider vinegar absorbed hot. Heat is raw onion juice and coarse pepper. Umami is a quiet background of egg yolk and wheat.

Equipment

8-quart stockpot
Colander
Wide non-reactive bowl
Ice-cream scoop, for serving

A big pot for the pasta and a wide bowl that can go into the fridge. An ice-cream scoop makes the plate-lunch sphere.

Method

Boil past al dente14 min
Bring 4 litres of water to a rolling boil with the coarse salt. Cook the macaroni 12 to 14 minutes, 2 to 3 past the packet time, until soft and plump with no chalky core.
Bring 4 litres of water to a rolling boil with the coarse salt. Cook the macaroni 12 to 14 minutes, 2 to 3 past the packet time, until soft and plump with no chalky core.
Drain, do not rinse1 min
Drain and shake the colander hard 10 seconds. No cold water; keep the heat and the surface starch.
Drain and shake the colander hard 10 seconds. No cold water; keep the heat and the surface starch.
The hot-acid soak1 min
Tip the steaming pasta into the bowl. Pour the vinegar and the grated onion with all its juice over it and toss 30 seconds until absorbed.
Tip the steaming pasta into the bowl. Pour the vinegar and the grated onion with all its juice over it and toss 30 seconds until absorbed.
Cool a little12 min
Rest 10 to 12 minutes, tossing now and then, until warm but no longer steaming.
Rest 10 to 12 minutes, tossing now and then, until warm but no longer steaming.
First dressing3 min
Whisk 60 ml milk, 240 g mayonnaise, the sugar, salt and pepper. Fold it and the carrot through the warm macaroni.
Whisk 60 ml milk, 240 g mayonnaise, the sugar, salt and pepper. Fold it and the carrot through the warm macaroni.
Chill2 hr
Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight, while the pasta drinks the dressing.
Cover tightly and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight, while the pasta drinks the dressing.
Second dressing3 min
The salad will look matte. Fold in the remaining 240 g cold mayonnaise and 60 ml milk until glossy and plush.
The salad will look matte. Fold in the remaining 240 g cold mayonnaise and 60 ml milk until glossy and plush.
Serve
Taste for salt and pepper. Scoop with an ice-cream scoop beside hot rice and the protein.
Taste for salt and pepper. Scoop with an ice-cream scoop beside hot rice and the protein.
09
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: plump pale elbows in a thick glossy white dressing, freckled with orange carrot and black pepper.
- Auditory: a wet, heavy slap as the salad is folded.
- Olfactory: cider vinegar, sweet onion, rich mayonnaise.
Look for plump pale macaroni coated in thick glossy white dressing with carrot and pepper flecks. Expect a heavy wet folding sound and vinegar, sweet onion and mayonnaise aromas.

Storing it

Keeps 4 days airtight in the fridge and is better on day two. Loosen with a spoonful of milk if it tightens.

Troubleshooting

Vinegar sitting on the surface.: The pasta was rinsed cold. Never rinse; the heat is what draws the acid in.
Hard, rubbery pasta.: Cooked al dente. Two to three minutes past, or it seizes when chilled.
It tastes like a deli salad.: Tuna, peas, celery or mustard crept in. Macaroni, vinegar, onion, carrot, pepper, mayonnaise, and stop.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Elbow macaroni	Cavatappi, ditalini or small shells	Must be small and hollow to trap the dressing
Apple cider vinegar	Distilled white cane vinegar or rice vinegar	Clean sharp acidity
Maui sweet onion	Vidalia, Walla Walla or yellow onion	Sweet juice when grated

Scaling

Half

225 g macaroni, 20 ml vinegar, 240 g mayonnaise in total; same two-stage dressing.

Double

900 g pasta in two pots, 960 g mayonnaise, chilled in wide pans so it cools evenly.

What to serve it with

Kalua pork, chicken katsu, loco moco or teriyaki beef
Two scoops of hot Calrose rice
POG juice, passion-orange-guava

Questions

Why insist on Best Foods mayonnaise?

Local cooks say its ratio of oil, whole egg and lemon makes a heavy, stable emulsion that coats swollen pasta without splitting.

Why grate the onion?

Dice leaves harsh crunchy pockets. Grating breaks the cells so the juice spreads through the hot vinegar soak.

How long does it keep?

Four days airtight, and it improves overnight as the flavours marry.