Battle Of The Food Trucks
Here at Holo Holo Charters, we’re always looking for ways to support and give back to our community. Also, we love food. So, when the Rice Street Business Association called to ask if we’d be interested in sponsoring their recent event, the Battle of the Food Trucks, we just had to say yes.
It was a rainy Kauai Sunday afternoon but that didn’t stop the sold-out crowd from gathering on Kress Street in downtown Lihue. Event goers were greeted with stainless steel sporks and enjoyed music by Kawaiola Productions and local band Kauai Kollab while roaming truck to truck, sampling food from Shakalafel, Kauai Sushi Station, Pineapple Express Kauai, Japanese Grandma’s, Uncle Stoney’s, Taco Libre, Ha Coffee, Hanalei Taro, and Kanak Attack.
Each truck was required to use at least two Kauai-made and/or Kauai-grown ingredients in their dishes, to showcase their culinary skills. Eight Kauai farms were supported by the Battle of the Food Trucks: Sakda Farms, Dang Farms, Weeraphon Farms, Lin Farms, Watchara Farms, Funing Farms, Sangkhom Farms, and Hole in the Mountain Farms. Meat and fish were supplied by Bone-Wild, Wailua Meat Company, Kauai Shrimp, and local westside fishermen.
The food was unlimited! People were welcome to visit the trucks as many times as needed to decide who they would vote for, by QR code. In the end, Japanese Grandma’s won the title of Kauai’s 2022 Best Food Truck. Their dish was an Ahi Poke Wonton Taco, made with ahi tuna, sea asparagus, green onion, cucumber, tobiko, and yuzu kosho aioli sauce. Light and crispy and fresh and clean and just a little bit spicy—deserving of every vote! We also loved Hanalei Taro’s “Pina Kalo-da” dish—a cold and refreshing sweet treat of kulolo (traditional Hawaiian taro dessert), haupia (sweet coconut pudding), fresh pineapple, chocolate, and mint.
Hopefully, some lasting connections were made between the farmers and the food trucks!
Hats off to Dr. Addison Buloson, President of the Rice Street Business Association, for organizing a community event giving us Kauaians a fun and delicious opportunity to support small businesses and local agriculture.
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