Eat, Shop, Enjoy - Hawaiian Chip Company

Eat, Shop, Enjoy:
The Island Way
THIS PAGE: A bag of hot chips made fresh at
the factory outlet, waiting to be snacked on.
RIGHT: A juicy Bob’s BBQ pork slider
on a fresh taro roll, topped with
coleslaw and Kilauea Fire BBQ sauce.
Chips,
Sliders
& Sauce
Tasty local snacks from the
Hawaiian Chip Company
By Jo Archibald
Photos by Dave Miyamoto
If you’re sitting in a plane on your way to Vegas and you
hear a crunching sound, chances are that someone’s omiyage, or gift for a friend in Vegas, just turned into a midflight snack. It’s also possible that the snack was made by the
Hawaiian Chip Company. When it comes to local munchies,
few can resist the healthier homegrown appeal of their chips.
And these chips literally have local roots—they’re made
from taro and sweet potato grown on the Big Island, O‘ahu
and Moloka‘i. If you’re into nutritional value, you’ll appreciate
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that these tubers pack more fiber, vitamins and flavor—and
less starch—than their russet cousins. They’re also cooked in
canola oil, so there’s zero trans fat.
In contrast to the current trend of drowning food in seasoning, Hawaiian Chip Company prefers a light touch to let
the natural taste of the chips come through. They come in
an assortment of flavors: lightly salted Original, Zesty Garlic
Sweet Potato, Kiawe Fire Sweet and Taro mix, and Kiawe
BBQ Taro.
The Hawaiian Chip Company started as an idea about
twelve years ago when owner James “Jimmy” Chan watched
Emeril Lagasse fry sweet potato chips. Chan found a few
sweet potatoes lying around his kitchen, and the rest is history. Sort of. What followed were years of frying chips in his
apartment kitchen, selling the chips at swap meets and craft
sales and enduring the trials and tribulations of starting a
business. Fortunately for chip aficionados, Chan persevered
and today his prized products are available in Costco, Whole
Foods, Longs Drugs, local supermarkets and will soon be
sold in Japan.
To complement the retail outlets, Chan recently opened
the Hawaiian Chip Company Factory Outlet on Nimitz
Highway. Located midway between Honolulu International
Airport and Waikiki, it’s the perfect pick-up place if you’re
traveling either way. And you can’t miss it—it’s been painted
Chan is looking forward to growth for the Hawaiian Chip
Company, but even more importantly he’s set on taking other
local businesses along for the ride. From Island farms to companies that support the outlet store, Chan hopes to market
more local products under a larger company name that’s in
the works. And to think it all started with a hankering to make
one batch of sweet potato chips.
Hawaiian Chip Company
1928 Republican Street
Honolulu, HI 96819
808.845.9868
HawaiianChipCompany.com
HOURS:
Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fresh chips only
Friday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fresh chips and Island Brew beverage bar open
Saturday: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sliders, fresh chips, and Island Brew beverage bar available!
bright orange.
If you think the packaged chips are delicious, wait until
you taste them hot out of the fryer. Light and crispy, they’re
practically a work of art. Some of the taro chips are nearly four
inches in diameter, and the orange and purple sweet potato
varieties are almost too pretty to eat. Although purists will
want little more than a sprinkling of sea salt, the outlet offers
shakers with their custom seasonings: Spicy Garlic, Kiawe
BBQ, Kilauea Fire as well as nori, salt and sugar. According to
Chan, some customers have their own recipes—two shakes
of this, one of that. Bam! Perfection.
Although the chips are his first love, Chan sees a bright
future for his Kilauea Fire BBQ sauce, which includes a HOT
variety (it’s all capitals for a reason). The best time to taste it
is on Saturday, when the outlet also sells three kinds of sliders
to accompany the chips: kalua pork from Bob’s BBQ, slowroasted chicken and Chinese-style roast pork from
Handy travel tip:
Alicia’s Market—all served
Six large bags (five for
on fresh taro rolls from Ani’s
them, one for you) fit
Bakery.
perfectly into a Hawaiian
On Fridays and SaturChip Company carryon box that slides right
days, the Hawaiian Chip
under your airplane seat.
Factory Outlet also feaSix 1.69 oz. bottles of
tures Island Brew, a coffee
Kilauea HOT sauce can
and tea bar where the mere
also be carried on the
words “blended chocolate
plane in a Ziploc bag. You
haupia (coconut flavor)
never know when you’ll
frappe” bring heaven a little
have a BBQ emergency.
closer to earth.
Kiawe Broiled, Perfectly Prime
Serving excellence for over 34 years
A USDA Prime Beef
Specialty House
Dinner
Mon - Fri: 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Sat & Sun: 5:30pm - 10:00pm
Valet Parking Available
Live Entertainment with
Audy Kimura
Wed - Sat: 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Reservations
(808) 922-5555
2440 Kuhio Ave.
Honolulu
www.hyshawaii.com
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