Most recipes which are named after a specific place aren’t simply associated with that particular place as a result of their popularity in that region. Yes, popularity has a lot to do with it, but by no means is it the only or main reason for this association. It’s a lot more to do with the availability of the ingredients in a specific region and for the most part it all turned out well in the end since the resultant dishes turned out to be deliciously nutritious and filling.

In focus today is the delicious Hawaiian chicken stir-fry recipe which has become so famous around the world that there are some frozen vegetable packing food companies offering pre-diced and packaged Hawaiian stir-fry as a conveniently packaged frozen food. Naturally they don’t make it quite as they would in Hawaii because no amount of quick freezing can replicate the goodness of fresh produce that comes straight from the land it thrives on and into the pot.

If you can source all the ingredients as fresh as possible from in and around your own neighborhood then that’s about as close as you can get to perfecting the delicious Hawaiian chicken stir-fry recipe. Otherwise in addition to the fresh ingredients which have a distinctive flavor to them as a result of the rich volcanic soil they grow in, in Hawaii, what really makes the Hawaiian chicken stir-fry you’d enjoy on the island itself unique is the chicken that complements the fresh ingredients.

A few decades ago this would have been wild caught chickens going into the pot, which admittedly are still around, but you’d have to make a whole adventure out of hunting wild chickens for your dinner. The next best thing would be free range chickens which taste way better than those mass reared chickens pent up in tiny chicken coop cages.

As the name suggests, stir-fry is ordinarily meant to be shallow fried in a pan and perhaps served as somewhat of a salad to complement what would usually be a rice dish with whatever choice in meat, but for this particular recipe the goodness of all the fresh ingredients is made into somewhat of a rich gravy.

The wider the variety of peppers you can find, the better (green, red, and yellow pepper) and all of these pepper varieties are to be chopped up into relatively big chunks so that they don’t disappear when cooked. Add only a handful of pineapples cut into small cubes, some green peas (optional), very finely diced onions and strips of carrots. Diced pickles are also optional, but you must add spring onions and just a little bit of red cabbage leaves as well.

Once the chicken which is to be cooked normally in a pot is almost ready, throw in all these fresh ingredients and add a chicken stock of your choice, preferably a spicy one. The fresh ingredients don’t take very long to cook and the aim is for their flavor to infuse into the water and make a gravy so good you might want to drink it!

Serve and enjoy hot with rice and if you really want to complete the dish you can add a helping of mashed potatoes, seasoned with thyme. Season with sea salt and enjoy!