Plate lunch

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Plate Lunch (Hawaiian: pa mea 'ai) is a syncretic menu item that is part of local cuisine of Hawaii. The standard plate lunch consists of two scoops of white rice, a scoop of macaroni salad (taken by an ice cream scooper), and a meat entree. Many plate lunch outlets also sell "mini-plates" which come with the same food items in smaller portions. Various meat choices are typically available, and they include a wide range of Asian and American dishes. Some dishes come from as far as Puerto Rico or Portugal.

A Hawaiian plate lunch is roughly equivalent to a Southern US meat-and-threes plate, although the inclusion of pan-Asian components elevate it to something more exotic than most typical American cuisine. Still, it can feature things as prosaic and familiar as a loco moco or chili and beans.

[edit] Popular items

• American: Hamburger and Beef Stew
• Chinese: Lemon Chicken and Char Siu Pork
• Filipino: Chicken Adobo and Longanisa
• Hawaiian: Lau lau and Kalua Pork
• Japanese: Chicken Katsu and Beef Teriyaki
• Korean: Galbi short-ribs and Beef Jun
• Items from other culinary backgrounds: Portuguese sausage, Curry

[edit] Images

Plate lunch

Shrimp plate lunch

Hawaiian Plate

Ahi poke, lomi lomi salmon, kalua pork, pork lau lau two scoops rice, and haupia

[edit] External links

• History of the Hawaiian Plate Lunch
• The Plate Lunch Critique
• Southern California Plate Lunch Connection
• Origins of the plate lunch story from KHNL
• Politics of the Plate Lunch, 1997 exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum