What’s Cooking at the 2020 Virtual Made in Hawai‘i Festival?

Maui Harvest’s Old Fashioned Potato Chips. PC: Made in Hawaii Festival.

The 26th Annual Made in Hawaiʻi Festival is presenting a free three-day virtual experience this year with culinary demonstrations from six Hawai’i chefs and live-stream entertainment from Aug. 21 to 23, 2020. Visitors who would like to attend the virtual festival can register online to access local entertainment and shop for products made in Hawai’i.

The festival, presented by Central Pacific Bank Foundation and Mahi Pono, is a virtual experience this year with cooking demonstrations and live-stream entertainment.  Also debuting is the new online, year-round Made in Hawai’i Festival Marketplace shopping site on August 21, featuring more than 1,200 Hawai’i-made products.

Chefs from six restaurants will put their talents on display as they demonstrate how to make local dishes featuring Hawai’i-grown and produced products. Viewers can follow along and can also download a recipe booklet with ingredients and instructions for each chef’s creation. The demonstrations will be archived on the festival website for on-demand viewing after the festival weekend.

Below are scheduled times for the cooking demonstrations, and the names of the dishes each chef will prepare. Chefs each were required to use at least three Hawaii-grown or produced ingredients, including potatoes and/or onions grown by Mahi Pono, a Maui farming company.

Friday, Aug. 21
4 p.m.: Chef Russell Siu, 3660 on the Rise
Pan Seared Filet of Maui Cattle Beef Tenderloin, Soy Butter Sauce, Mahi Pono white cream potato and Aloun Farms onion

6 p.m.: Chef Lance Kosaka, Fifty Three by the Sea
Made in Hawaiʻi Wasabi Salad – utilizing Mahi Pono Onions

Saturday, Aug. 22
Noon: Chef Lee Anne Wong, Hawaiian Airlines/Papaʻāina at the Pioneer Inn
Fish Stew with Mahi Pono Potatoes & Onions

2pm: Chef Chai Chaowasaree, Chef Chai
Creamy Lemongrass Soup with Chicken and Mushrooms

Sunday, Aug. 23
Noon: Chef Andrew Recca, Koko Head Café
Beef Lūʻau Skillet utilizing Mahi Pono Onions

2 p.m.: Chef Jason Ichiki, Roy’s Hawaiʻi Kai
Truffle Bacon Bubu Monchong with Mahi Pono Potato Gnocchi

“We are committed to realizing a thriving agricultural economy in Hawaiʻi,” said Shan Tsutsui, senior vice president of Mahi Pono. “And although the pandemic has presented the world with unprecedented challenges, through partnerships like the Made in Hawaiʻi Festival that connect local residents to the highest quality Hawaiʻi grown products, we reinforce the reality that we are all in this together, and that we don’t seek to do this alone. By working together to connect local, sustainably sourced Hawaiʻi products to domestic and global demand, we are helping to lay the cornerstone of a diversified and resilient food future for Hawaiʻi, a future we very much believe in.”

In addition to CPB Foundation and Mahi Pono providing support as presenting sponsors, the festival’s other sponsors and partners include Buy Local It Matters, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiian Air Cargo, Innovate Hawaiʻi and Ulupono Initiative.

Produced by the Hawaiʻi Food Industry Association, the inaugural Made in Hawaiʻi Festival opened its doors in 1995 with 61 exhibitor booths in the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Over the years, the festival has grown to become a premier emporium with more than 450 booths showcasing a diversity of locally made products.

PC: Made in Hawaii Festival