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I'll toot my own horn here and say that I'm far better than an average cook.

My youngest son's first birthday is coming up and if there's one thing my wife and I have learned from our oldest son, there's no point in making a kid's first birthday a big affair for the kid. They'll never appreciate it. Even his second birthday was a stretch to justify doing anything big "kid" thing. Better just to make it a smaller get-together and make it fun for the adults.

So my wife and I are having a mini luau-themed party on Memorial Day weekend and, of course, honoring Declan's first birthday. Tiki torches, Hawaiian shirts, a fun Rum drink or two, and poolside antics. I've cooked many types of food, but never Hawaiian. Anybody here familiar with Hawaiian food and can suggest what to make that wouldn't be too prep-heavy but would adhere to the theme?

Kalua pig.

It's doubtful you'll bury a pig underground, but you can easily replace it with pulled pork. I recommend buying a pork shoulder or butt, and either roasting it or slow cooking it in water. Takes a while, but slow cooking is almost impossible to bungle.

Let's see:

Chicken adobo, pretty easy.

Buy some sweet rolls.

Ah! Spam musubi! A slice of fried Spam wrapped in rice and nori.

Pancit. Long noodles cooked with chicken or pork.

You could also get some Ahi tuna steaks. Seared and served slice, they're pretty good.

Seems doubtful you'll find any poi, and I wouldn't recommend trying to make lomi-lomi or poke if you don't have a really good fresh fish source.

Lots of pineapple. Serve it however you want. People associate the pineapple and teriyaki combo with Hawaii, but I didn't see it more prevalent there than anywhere else.

So... pork, pineapple, seafood and Spam.

Thats tricky... beyond roasted pig, and poi, who knows?  I did see something once about a fish baked in a leaf.  Also you could go crazy and find an old 1960's tiki cookbook and go retro.

You could do SPAM... Rack of SPAM, SPAM Sushi... But thats not REALLY cooking more like irony.
-Ed

"Loco Moco" - I had it several times in Hawaii . . . in fact, it's popular even for breakfast.  It's a hamburger on a bed of white rice.  The hamburger has a fried egg on top of it and the whole thing is covered in brown gravy.  No wonder I had a heart attack at age 46.  But it was worth it.

I guess if it's only a small get-together, the roast pig is a bit much. Pretty easy for a large party though. Not sure how common it is where you are, but you can probably rent the rotisserie with a pig and somebody to set it up, all for one price.

I think it's already been said - add pineapple to anything and it's instantly "Hawaiian Style"!  If you put one of those little colorful toothpick umbrellas in it, you have yourself authentic Hawaiian cuisine!  Chop coconuts in half and use them as bowls and your party will be magically transported to the islands.

I'll second mofo's suggestion of barbecued pork, just make sure you use some "tropical" type barbecue sauce and add some pinnaple like paquita said and your good! This'll probably be the easiest to pull off.
Oh you could look up Three Men With Nothing Better To Do, they have some ideas for how to make a Hawaiwian pig (its for a whole pig, but I think it'll give some pointers).

Thanks everybody,

I think I'll go with Kalua pig using pork shoulder. Can't seem to go wrong with that one. And yes, Paquita, I'll dress it up nicely with some pineapple. Heck, I may even serve drinks in coconut husks.

 :cheers:

Maybe you can tiki it up some... i found these:
http://www.steviestv.com/Tiki.html