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#CatTravels: Quick trip to Hanapepe

By Catherine Toth Fox • January 12, 2014 • #CatTravels, Food

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It’s a tough career, but one of the perks of being a freelance writer is getting to travel.

And even if I’m just going on a quick jaunt to a Neighbor Island, it’s still one of the best parts of my job.

The other day I flew to Kauai for the day, working on a story for a local travel magazine. I’m on Kauai at least twice a year, and every time I learn something new about this laid-back island.

Like how Hanapepe has two food items worth driving from Lihue Airport for: taro chips and lilikoi chiffon pie.

No joke.

So let’s start from the beginning.

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First things first, I needed food.

So I stopped at Menehune Food Mart in Lawai to pick up some manju (a Japanese pastry) and these UFOs (above). Only on Kauai will you find these Goteborg musubis, made with a slice of Goteborg sausage topped with a scoop of white rice and furikake.

You just pick it up and eat it — which is exactly what I did.

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Next stop was the Taro Ko Chips Factory right at the beginning of historic Hanapepe Town.

This little town — affectionately referred to as Kauai’s biggest little town — is located on the south shore west of Koloa and once flourished as one of the island’s largest communities. While it’s known for its farmlands and plantation-stye buildings now filled with coffee shops and art galleries, Hanapepe has been the backdrop for such movies as “The Thornbirds,” “Flight of the Intruder,” and “Lilo & Stitch.”

Today, there are fewer than 2,200 people living in Hanapepe. But it’s still a bustling little town, especially with visitors looking for an authentic Kauai experience outside the resorts of Poipu and Princeville.

And the lucky few stumble upon Taro Ko Chips Factory, a very small operation located at the bend in the road leading into Hanapepe Town. The marker? Look for the green plantation house next to an auto repair shop that may or may not be open. It’s hard to tell.

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The company started by the Nagamine family, which ran a fairly sizable taro farm not too far from the factory. The couple retired from farming and started selling the chips they would make for family and friends. They rented this space in Hanapepe — it was an old saimin stand — where they would cook and bake their chips. (Outside the building is a shelf, above, where farmers leave their vegetables and fruits and people buy them on an honor system. Gotta love Kauai.)

The Nagamines’ taro chips were so popular, it quickly became a viable business now run by their son, Dale.

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Dale Nagamine (above) churns out dozens of bags of chips — potato, sweet potato, taro — every day, seven days a week. He’s always here, frying up chips in the wok or baking them in the convention ovens next door.

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When Dale took over more than a decade ago, he added potato and sweet potato chips to the menu. A bag of taro chips is $5, the others are $4.50 each, and he often sells out by the end of the day.

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Dale works in what used to be Saimin Corner, a popular saimin stand decades ago. He makes his chips in its former kitchen, but the production takes place here, right in the main dining area. The menu is still up.

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And so are the seats, bolted to the floor.

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Next, I headed to Wong’s Restaurant and Omoide Bakery, just a few minutes from Taro Ko Chips Factory.

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At the counter there’s manapua, Portuguese sweet bread and the best butter mochi I’ve had, maybe ever.

While you can sit in the restaurant and feast on stuffed eggplant, kau yuk or roast pork with mustard cabbage, you don’t want to leave without a pie — or, in my case, the entire — lilikoi chiffon pie.

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The pies are located in the refrigerators against the wall — and they’re easy to miss. The pies, all in white boxes and labeled very plainly, are on the bottom shelf.

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I’ve had the lilikoi (passion fruit) chiffon pie at Hamura’s Saimin Stand in Lihue. While that was good, this was way better. Light, airy, with the perfect combination of tart and sweet. And you can buy the entire pie frozen ($14) to take home on the plane.

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Which is what I did. Because I never know when I’ll be back on Kauai. But after eating this, I might be back sooner than planned.

CatTravelsDale NagamineHanapepeKauaililikoi chiffon pietaro chipsTaro Ko FarmsWong's Restaurant
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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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14 Comments

  • Reply Eric January 13, 2014 at 12:52 am

    Oh that Lilikoi Chiffon Pie looks so ono! Reminds me of the days when Flamingo Restaurant’s bakery used to make a great Chiffon Pie back in the 80’s.

    BTW, i think those Kauai Nagamine’s are distantly related to the Flamingo Nagamine’s.

    • Reply Catherine Toth January 13, 2014 at 9:49 am

      I never had Flamingo’s chiffon pie… but I wish the restaurant still made them! Then I wouldn’t have to fly to Kauai for my fix!

  • Reply dbjack January 13, 2014 at 6:54 am

    Love the sign in the lower right hand corner that says if you don’t see a pie you want we’ll be happy to make it for you. Not much better than a fresh pie!

    • Reply Catherine Toth January 13, 2014 at 9:49 am

      Only in Hawaii!

      • Reply dbjack January 13, 2014 at 10:47 am

        Sigh… waxing homesick again.

  • Reply Dennis January 13, 2014 at 6:55 am

    Great blog! I haven’t been back to Kauai in 15 years! I need to taste that Lilikoi pie again. Have a great week!

    • Reply Catherine Toth January 13, 2014 at 9:49 am

      Thanks for the message! Glad you enjoyed the blog! Yep, I already have plans on going back! (Mostly for the pie, I won’t lie.)

  • Reply Annoddah Dave January 13, 2014 at 7:14 am

    CAT: Ever wonder why Hawaiian “plantation houses” were painted green with white trim?

    • Reply Catherine Toth January 13, 2014 at 9:49 am

      No, do you know why…?

      • Reply Annoddah Dave January 13, 2014 at 12:52 pm

        CAT: No I don’t but here is a website that gives some insight – http://www.colormatters.com/color-and-design/historical-color-matters. I just remember growing up that in our “camp” many were green and white or just with a creosote finish.

  • Reply Susan Inouye January 13, 2014 at 11:18 am

    Hey, Cat. Where did you stay? We’re heading there is couple of weeks for an overnight with my sister from the mainland. We’re still looking for a good spot. Recommendations?

  • Reply Glenn D January 13, 2014 at 12:07 pm

    Hi Cat, mahalos for a great read about Hanapepe. I have not been to Kauai in a very long time. Last time I was there, Hurricane Iniki had just passed thru and a lot of places were still trying to rebuild. Long time, yeah? Lilikoi chiffon pie….so ono. I have not had a real good one in a long time too. Last time, I got a slice, I had to settle (and I mean “settle”) for one from Foodland. Eh, I never heard of Goteborg sausage…

  • Reply M January 14, 2014 at 6:40 am

    Hello Cat!
    I never go to Kauai for a long time. It’s time to go pay a visit.

  • Reply KAN January 16, 2014 at 1:17 pm

    I’m pretty sure I had Goteborg musubi at Paine Cafe in Ward Warehouse. It’s not the original, but it’s pretty darned good.

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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