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Alicia's Market, a closer look
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Aloha!
3/2/11 - Yes, there really is an Alicia, and she's the sweetest little thing you can ever meet!
Well into her 8th decade of life, Auntie is still bubbling-over with enthusiasm and zeal, her beaming smile and energy even more infectious than her roast char siu ribs! Actually a bit shy at first, she was apparently surprised that someone would want her picture taken. Don't you love that kind of humility?! After all, one step inside her market, and you'll see that there's a whole lot to be proud of!
Born and married in China to the late Raymond Kam, they shortly thereafter moved to Hawaii and established Alicia's Market in 1949. Through hard work, determination, family, and doing what she loved (cook!), growth became so great that they've had to acquire more building space several times over the years. To this day, she still works each and every day the shop is open (closed Sunday except Superbowl Sunday!), whether in the kitchen, helping customers, or tending to shelves, because, as she says, "It's what I've done all my life!" Simple enough!
Inside, it's not nearly as large as a Foodland or Safeway, but for what it's been doing best for over 60 years, which is supply parties, get-togethers, or just lunch breaks for hungry locals, it's cram-packed with just about anything you'll ever need!
Chips, cakes, soda, beer, paper plates, utensils - it's all there, but even so, most folks head straight towards the back of the store first, where cases of freshly-made, delectible goodies await, both of the hot and cold varieties and also of the cooked or raw varieties.
As a poke stop, Alicia's Market is top-knotch, with fresh-made pupus of every type imaginable:
The great thing about Alicia's is their undeniable local-local flair, because we all know that there's local, then there's local-local! I mean, we can all go to our nearest supermarket and find varieties of poke and poke-like dishes of ahi sashi, teagu, lomi salmon, shrimp poke, kim chee crab, and various representations of ahi, tako, and imitation crab poke, but this store carries all the above and then some. There's Kauai kulolo, real pipikaula, salt beef, smoked salmon bellies, pastele, shoyu tripe, duck egg, turkey tails, opihi, squid luau, lumpia, taro mochi, marinated meat varieties - the list goes on and on!
The Chinese part of Alicia is still a big part of this market, with a set of hanging racks displayed just left of the main counter:
Unlike Downtown, where you'll be dealing with questionable sanitation issues and that pervasive smell everywhere, here you'll find roast pork, roast duck, char siu, and all your Chinatown favorites in a clean, well-kept, air-conditioned store that won't leave you with that uji feel crawling through your skin. Though parking can be tough and the outside of the building is seemingly as delapidated as any other store in this industrial/residential area of lower Kalihi, once inside, you'll be surprised at how bright, how orderly, how modern, and most of all, how fresh and clean everything is.
At our very own home hibachi nights, one friend in particular has a great habit of contributing dishes from this very window above:
Surprisingly tender for fresh-roasted turkey, these chunks of white meat also come with an oily sauce that may seem a bit much, but with the slightly blander taste of white turkey meat, is a very welcome addition, believe me. A good tossing every once in a while and a tiny bit of sustained heat, and it keeps reasonably well for quite a while.
Gotta say, though, that I recommend their prime rib even more! The large chunks of red meat, mixed with fatty pieces for more flavor, is best eaten quickly and with their awesome creamy horseradish sauce, which is mellowed to a perfect degree, just enough to enjoy all that creaminess and all that zing without burning a hole in your nasal passages. Both the turkey and prime rib are great ideas for your next party:
Individual plates are also available through a large menu posted right above the counter:
As you can see, it's not the typical plate lunch stuff like chicken katsu, teri beef, beef stew, and mahimahi, as it's more like an old-time collection of even heartier, meatier, almost outer-island-like items, of the type we still so very much need these days!
Prominent local entertainer/musician/tv guy Tony Solis has his own set of favorites, all made into his own plate:
Sounds fabulous! Kumi, who loves real Hawaiian food even more then I do, has her own set of favorites, only, they're already on the menu in the form of one of their Hawaiian plates:
She's pretty hard-core, too, not settling for white rice on the side, but poi. The entire plate of lau lau, kalua pig, lomi salmon, and poi went for a reasonable $10.95, and was just as good or better than any Hawaiian food restaurant. The meat inside was generous and juicy-tasty-good, moistened perfectly with the double-covering of luau and ti leaf. Fan-tastic!
Their kalua pig is also great, seasoned only with salt and a touch of liquid smoke (not always!), so it carries a slightly different taste than the pork in our preceeding lau lau.
I didn't much care for their lomi salmon, but to be fair, I haven't tasted a lomi salmon out there that impresses me anywhere. When you purchase giant beefsteak tomatoes yourself, then wait for them to age just past the point of fully-ripe, then add crispy sweet onions, green onions, and salted salmon - not fresh, not cooked, not even smoked - but salted salmon, with a little wash of water to get rid of some salt to taste, I tell you, you'll be hooked forever. There's not an eatery on the island that can always wait for the key ingredient, over-ripe tomatoes, each and every single day like you can afford to at home. Try it yourself; you'll be surprised at how easy it is and how great it tastes!
One of the more recent local transplants, showing its face predominantly in local-local areas like Kalihi, Waipahu, and the Windward and West sides in general, is the Puerto Rican specialty, pastele. We say puh-tele here, but the "S" is actually verbalized in the correct pronunciation.
All I can say is, you gotta try the pastele here at Alicia's Market, especially their spicy version! Not sure exactly what type or types of fruit or root they use for their masa filling, but dis' buggah was ono! The spiciness was apparent though not too potent (though I love too potent!).
Next is my plate, de-constructed. Beginning with sides, here's their version of mac salad, which was surprisingly good.
Much more labor-intensive than your typical mac 'n mayo, this one also contained a huge amount of other ingredients, from peas, carrot, potato, and onion to a touch of zinginess, either from horseradish or the large amount of cracked black pepper. A small pile of cucumber namasu/poke was complimentary.
And here's an option on every non-Hawaiian-food plate, for only about 50 cents more - a no-brainer for me!
Poke is mostly about fresh fish, and these giant chunks of bright-red ahi were as fresh as it gets! The sauce was a typical shoyu, only sweetened slightly, then tossed in onion, green onion, and a touch of chili pepper. What else do you need, right?
As for main dish items, check out these char siu ribs:
Not nearly as sweet, as red, nor as soft as a typical Chinese-style char siu, instead relying on the
taste of roast pork itself. Like I said, there's a certain old-school, country-style, man's-man type of deal here in many of their items, and the char siu ribs typify the genre perfectly. They are rough-cut in large, cube-like chunks, with lots of tendon, fat, and bones around. I mean, it's the kind of pieces that don't fall apart, but are ripped, sucked, and gnawed-off with lots of slurping noises and deep guttural rumblings. Hopefully, there's an ample supply of wet-wipes and dental floss at your disposal! It's no wonder you can arrive on any given day, and find a surplus of construction workers, truckers, and big, burly local bruddahs standing in line!
Much the same goes for their turkey tails, which are also notorious for fat, bone, and otherwise-sinuous tissue. Good protein fix, for sure:
And here's the entire 2-choice plate w/poke, for a very respectable $9.95:
Wow! There sure are some heavy hitters here at Alicia's Market!
Places like this are modern versions of the general stores of old, in the same mold as Tanioka's, Tamura's, and even Tamashiro Market. I love 'em all! I mean, even aside from the plethora of ono kine grindz, there's always that sense of nostalgia inherent, that sense of connection, that island-style charm. It's a certain kind of mom-and-pop attraction that helps keep you coming back year after year and just, I dunno, just makes you feel good, ya know? Who wouldn't be happy contributing to the heart-felt labors and blood, sweat, and tears of an institution built from the ground up by hard-working, cheerful, precious folk like Alicia Kam? It's all a family affair here, and the vibe clearly shows in the sincerity of their product and the positive energy of the store itself. For sure, for sure - check 'em out, brah!
Alicia's Market
267 Mokauea St. in Kalihi, below Nimitz Hwy.
841-1921
Monday-Friday 8am-7pm
Saturday 8am-6pm
Brand-new month, brand-new day! Hope it's all going well for ya!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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