The Hawai’i depicted on tv and in film, on people’s Instagram accounts during and post-vacation, in advertisements and commercials—that Hawai’i does not exist. Hawai’i is wildness and scent and taste, smoke and lava and sweat and the pounding of poi, Hawai’i is the wai, the water, thrusting through valleys, Hawai’i is a collision of flavor born of the cultures that arrived there over the past centuries.

I’m the first to admit that the Hawai’i I grew up in, daughter of recovering hippies on Maui, was just one whitewashed version of the state. My upbringing never encompassed the full scope of Hawai’i’s richness, the density of its flavor palate, the power of its communities and intersectional identities. Sure, we grew liliko’i and papaya and apple bananas, but I didn’t taste many of Hawai’i’s most distinctive local foods (like lomi salmon, squid luau, and Spam) until I was in my thirties—thanks to chef and photographer Alana Kysar.

Which brings me to today—a world-altering day, in my opinion. Today Alana’s book Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai’i is born. Alana—also a daughter of the slopes of Haleakalā, where I grew up—has crafted a work of encyclopedic value in its ability to catalog and represent the diverse culinary voices that comprise local Hawai’i cuisine. A book like this one does not exist for Hawai’i, and let me be the first to tell you that you must own it.

The book opens with stunning vistas of Hawai’i’s backyards and shorelines, a rallying call to the local lifestyle its pages so effortlessly embody. Alana describes:

“The aloha spirit, as defined by a state statute, ‘is the coordination of mind and heart within each person. It brings each person to the self. Each person must think and emote good feelings to others. Aloha must be extended with no obligation in return, and to live aloha, you must ‘hear what is not said, see what cannot be seen, and know the unknowable.’ … This way of life—placing the aloha spirit at the core of relationships and actions—is what truly makes Hawai’i a special place.”

Aloha Kitchen carries the potency of this charge to live, forge relationships, and cook with such intention. We discover Alana’s Japanese American and European heritage even as we delve into the Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Filipino, and Western influences that shape the food that fills local plates statewide. With a deft and generous history lesson, Alana illuminates the distinction between local food (the food resulting from an amalgamation of the influences above) and Native Hawaiian cuisine—while forever abolishing the incorrect fetishization of “Hawaiian” food as anything containing ham or pineapple (shudder).

Aloha Kitchen introduces 85 recipes spanning the dining table and kitchen, from pantry staples like pickled mango, hurricane popcorn, and li hing mui (a salty-sweet-tangy delicacy you can’t wait to have in your life, trust me) to a wide range of pūpū (appetizers), meats and seafood, noodles (hello saimin!), and luscious desserts (liliko’i chiffon pie forever, please). While the book is certainly meat-heavy, many of the recipes can be easily adapted to your diet—as I did with these soy-glazed tofu musubi.

With the author’s permission, I subbed out Hawai’i’s iconic Spam for tofu. The recipe worked beautifully, with just an additional sprinkle of salt on the tofu as it fried. Though I attempted to use short-grain brown rice here, I don’t recommend it—you really need short-grain white rice to properly stick together for musubi munching.

Not only does Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai’i deliver a visceral experience of the islands through photographs, food, and stories, it also provides a much-needed reminder of the culinary legacy of colonialism and plantation life in Hawai’i, past and present. And, with requisite aloha, the book affirms the power food has to give voice to native cultures and transcend prejudice, creating a place for us all to thrive—and eat ‘ono grinds (delicious food) along the way.

Musubi molds can be purchased from Amazon, along with your copy of Aloha Kitchen: Recipes from Hawai’i by Alana Kysar, from Ten Speed Press.

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