Pu Pu Platter as Cultural Icon

[Chris Amirault]

Fake crab meat and cream cheese aren't staples of Burmese cooking, insofar as I'm aware. However, as examples of "stuff we think Americans will like" given goofy "exotic" names, they're impeccable.

[teagal]

Born and raised in Hawaii, I had NEVER heard of crab rangoon till I moved to Missouri--definitely not an "authentic" Chinese food.

Pupu, I think they are now referred to this way, as one cannot just tack on an s to make a foreign word plural; however growing up they were commonly referred to as pupus. This is due to the increased interest/revival of the Hawaiian language.

Cocktail party invitations I remember my parents getting would specify heavy pupus for a lot of appetizers being served or lite pupus--eat before coming! So it was the local way and still is of being another word for appetizer/hor d'eurve (I know that's not the correct spelling).

[Chris Amirault]

In response to a fact-check question, I typed up a few notes on what I found about the etymology of the word "pu pu" as used in this context. My several albeit hinkey sources (menus, books, and various anecdotes collected hither and yon) indicate that the Hawaiian word "pu pu" was a word that meant a lot of different things. Wikipedia does a pretty good job of explaining what I've come to believe is the Hawaiian version, with a U of Hawaii definition I've seen referenced all over the place:

the word "pupu" is Hawaiian in origin; pūpū is similar in meaning to a relish, appetizer, canapé, or hors d'oeuvre according to the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary published by the University of Hawaii Press.

The problem is that the word was borrowed from Hawaiian and applied to these appetizers by "Polynesian" restauranteurs like Don and Vic, and no one believes that "pu pu platters" are related to Hawaiian food at all. (Or to Polynesian food, of course.) The earliest reference I can find is 1962: I have a menu from the Islander restaurant (my notes are unclear but I think it's the one in Stockton CA) that heads its first page with "Puu Puus (Appetizers)," giving the parenthesis to explain what the word meant to the uninitiated.

This use of "pu pu" wasn't restricted to stateside restaurants. The archivist at the Johnson and Wales Culinary Archive found two community cookbooks from Hawaii that mentioned "pu pu": one church in Honolulu had items like "chex mix" under their "pu pu (snacks)" category in 1955; another from a Kalahikiola church explained that pu pu were "hors d'oeuvres" in 1961. That suggests that the word was being used by Christian-church-going cooks for "appetizers" even before the word was widely used in restaurants.

Like so many transformations of one word to another, the shifts are sloppy, uneven, multidirectional, and hard to track. In addition, usage of the word in colloquial Hawaiian appears to have shifted as well -- there's a Hawaiian bar pidgin dictionary that apparently lists pu pu as "appetizer" -- making the question of "authenticity" even harder. Finally, the English transliteration of "pu pu" can apparently mean other things in Hawaiian involving snails, sleeping, etc. depending on inflections and other pronunciation shifts.

I think that this mess is worth bearing in mind when talking about the origins of the phrase "pu pu platter," as it seems the phrase cannot be clarified without oversimplification.

[chappie]

My sister and I definitely used to "cook" our pu-pu delights over the flame. It was perhaps one of the first times I ever cooked, come to think of it: burning already well-done food over a glowing blue flame and loving it. Long live the pu-pu platter.

[Beth E.]

I've been to the Kowloon -- even though I live in NJ. It was many years ago with a boyfriend on a vacation. We had the PuPu Platter and I had one of those drinks that comes in a glass shaped like a tiki head.

Memories!

[handmc]

The Kowloon, man I miss that place. I happen to be driving down the north shore of Mass last week and had a chance to stop by Tripoli Bakery in Lawrence. Still cranking out the best italian bread and pastry. I then drove by the China Garden, in Andover where I used to get the Pu-Pu platter when we were too tired to drive to the Kowloon. They made a real good one as well. We used to cook the red cooked pork on a stick over the flame. The paper chicken (foil wrapped) was incredible as well.

I stopped at the Clam Box in Ipswich for fried full belly clams and oysters. Man I was in heaven.

I have to hit the Kowloon when I come back in town 5/16.

Thanks for the memories!

Edited April 4, 2008 by handmc (log)

[weinoo]

Just wanted to give a bit of a shout out to Chris, who's piece is in the current (May, 2008) issue of Saveur magazine. Chris writes/reminisces about pupu platters, the Kowloon Restaurant outside of Boston, and the slate gray rental tuxedo that he evidently wore to his junior prom.

There's a nice recipe for Chinese barbecued spareribs as well - I plan on giving them a try tomorrow night as one course of a multi-course Chinese style banquet dinner I'm cooking .

[Lindacakes]

I have to thank everyone on this thread for the pupu inspiration. I just got back from Hawaii, where I made it my mission to consume and draw (colored pencil) as many ridiculous drinks as possible. The drinks were sometimes accompanied by pupus.

The best drink: a serving bowl full of various rums and fruits, centered with a little cup in which 151 rum was set aflame by a waitress who put the lighter back in her bra.

The best pupus: served poolside, coconut shrimp, egg rolls and fried wontons. The coconut shrimp had a creamy coconut dip. Nice touch.

The best discovery: I like a nicely built Mai Tai.

[Chris Amirault]

Thanks, Mitch!

As for the nicely built Mai Tai, I think that the Surf Room Mai Tai that I mentioned here is a triumph. I've been tweaking the recipe a bit and would suggest the following. Note that the orgeat is homemade; this is a drink that showcases good orgeat.

1 oz demerara rum (Lemon Hart)

1 oz dark Jamaican rum (Cruzan blackstrap)

1 oz light PR rum (Flor de Cana)

1/4 oz curacao (MB triple sec)

1/4 oz orgeat (homemade)

1/2 oz lemon

1/2 oz lime

1 oz pineapple

1 oz orange

3-4 dashes bitters (Hess house if you've got 'em; Angostura if not)

Shake, strain into a large tiki mug with fresh crushed ice in it. Float some Lemon Hart 151 on top. If you're making it for someone else, make a wacky garnish; if not, skip the kitsch and enjoy.

One additional note. I finally grabbed a copy of one of Trader Vic's cookbooks and got an electric fryer, so I think I may be proposing some pu pu party planning to my perplexed partner.

[Lindacakes]

You are my best friend.

I have Fee bitters -- okay?

Thank you for the calls on all the rums. I'm not familiar with rum, I use Meyer's Dark when I need it for baking.

Orgeat? Help me out. How do you make it yourself? Liqueur making is a new hobby of mine.

Do you have music for the pupu party? You need pupu music.

[weinoo]

The spareribs were calling the other day after reading Chris' piece in the latest Saveur mag. And I was having a bit of a dinner party, so, with a slight variation on the recipe in the article (I eschewed the red food coloring for a bit of ketchup), here's what I ended up with...

Served up on a nice appetizer plate with some dan dan noodles...it wasn't a pupu platter exactly, but it was darn good.

[caroline]

In response to a fact-check question, I typed up a few notes on what I found about the etymology of the word "pu pu" as used in this context. My several albeit hinkey sources (menus, books, and various anecdotes collected hither and yon) indicate that the Hawaiian word "pu pu" was a word that meant a lot of different things. Wikipedia does a pretty good job of explaining what I've come to believe is the Hawaiian version, with a U of Hawaii definition I've seen referenced all over the place:

the word "pupu" is Hawaiian in origin; pūpū is similar in meaning to a relish, appetizer, canapé, or hors d'oeuvre according to the Pukui and Elbert Hawaiian Dictionary published by the University of Hawaii Press.

Just saw this thread and thought I'd jump in since no one from Hawaii seems to be doing so.

Pupu is widely used for snacks/appetizers in the islands and has been for some time. For example, a book published in 1986, called Pupus to the Max full of esoteric humor about the food that Locals (that is people born and raised in Hawaii) eat, could assume that its title stood as shorthand for Local Food (as opposed, say, to mainland food, Hawaiian food, Chinese food, etc).

Heavy pupus is a technical term for snacks sufficient to make a meal. It is common to be invited for heavy pupus which would be likely to include Local favorites such as poke, sushi, sashimi, spam wontons, teri anything.

Locals in Hawaii however do not eat flaming pupu platters.

Rachel

[Margo]

I made Chris's recipe from the Saveur article, too, and since I don't have a digital camera you'll just have to believe they looked as good as Mitch's. They were amazing!

While wolfing down the ribs, my husband and I had a nostalgic discussion about Polynesian restaurants in our pasts. I remain disappointed that my parents never stopped at the Kowloon on Rte. 1 north of Boston on our way to New Hampshire. Once, briefly, I worked as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant in Annapolis, MD where pupu presentation was a significant part of our training.

But I have question. Is there a recipe for the clear, pinkish, sweet and sour dipping sauce that my husband remembers going with the spareribs?

[Chris Amirault]

I haven't found a reliable recipe for that sauce, but you can get it at most large restaurant supply stores. And that rib recipe, tasty though it appears to be, isn't mine; my char siu recipe was left on the cutting room floor, sadly!