Christmas Eve on the North Shore: Leonard's, Matsumoto's & Duke's!

To get a more authentic sense of Hawaii and its modern local culture, you have to drive far from the sunny south shore of Waikiki and head due north to Haleiwa and the North Shore.

   

The Chew		The View
A Famous Leonard's malasada		The North Shore

So the wonderful Leonard's Bakery is still southside, but it really marked the highlight of my food journey for the day--thus making it the day's Chew. This local Portugese bakery is famous for their fabulous malasadas.

• Malasada: A Portugese dessert donut that is fried and rolled in sugar. The more elaborate types include fillings, and various subsitutes for sugar, like cinnamon and li hing.

We ordered a variety, for culinary tasting purposes of course. 2 original, 2 macadamia nut custard, and 1 li hing.

• Li Hing Mui: A Chinese preserved plum, the flavor is often shorted to li hing. It's a sweet-savory mix, as the sweetness of the plum is combined with salt to create a distinct flavor used in sugars and syrups. 

Hawaiians love li hing, another testament to the mixed food culture and strong Asian inspiration. There is great Chinese, Philipino, and Japanese influence on the food here, creating favorites like the li hing malasada. The red sugar was a little off-putting, but it tasted almost like a berry sugar coating--not quite the quintessential malasada experience, but certainly worth a try.

The macadamia nut custard malasada was heavenly. I feared the artificiality of most flavored custards, but this one proved to be more subtle and focused on the milk flavors.

But the heavy-hitter was, of course, original. Nothing beats biting into a piping hot malasada and reaching the lightly moist dough inside. The center has its own texture that stands between a dough and a custard, ensuring that you dont need to rush for a glass of milk like you do after biting into a dry brownie. And you better be covered in sugar after you eat this thing. No shame, no shame.

Nice and full, we made the scenic drive up north (me with dreams of shave ice dancing in my head).

Our first lunch stop was for my mom: Giovanni's Shrimp Truck.  Think the food truck scene is hot in L.A.? The North Shore has always been known for their shrimp trucks, which are outcrops of shrimp farms guaranteeing the freshest shrimp. The menu is nice and simple:

1. Shrimp Scampi
2. Hot & Spicy
3. Lemon & Butter

My mom sided with the ever-popular shrimp scampi with a healthy helping of rice, and was incredibly pleased with the buttery shrimp and heavy helping of garlic. All in foil. Just as a good lunch should be.

Meanwhile, I had to satiate my foodie curiosity at Haleiwa Cafe, a surfer/hippie basin for pre-surf sesh lunches. There was the option for the simple interior with boothes, or the outdoor seating two doors down behind Megan's Coffee Shop. Turns out Megan is the daughter of the owners of Haleiwa Cafe, pointing to how family-owned this side of the island has stayed.

My dad's eggwich sandwich was a fairly-filling sandwich of sprouts, egg, and ham. My burrito was on the healthier side, with veggie saute, cheese, eggs, and a side of beans. Of course, I make the mistake of ordering Mexican anywhere but L.A. or Mexico. They simply can't compete.

The real milestone was heading to Matsumoto's Grocery Store for their infamous shave ice.

• Shave (NO "d") Ice: With temperatures this balmy (70s/80s in the winter), it's no wonder this is a local favorite. A block of ice is literally shaved (shwarma meat style) into a cup, often on a bed of ice cream or azuki/red bean, then topped with a sweet, colorful syrup of choice.

Being on the li hui kick, we tried the li hing mui shave ice with red bean+condensed milk. The syrup tasted almost like strawberry (keep in mind the plum base), while the condensed milk and red bean combo is to die for. Literally would not be the same experience without the condensed milkiness to offset the thick sweetness of the flavored syrup.

Finally full, we looked for feasts of the eyes instead. We were rewarded with finding a new beach called Shark's Cove. Just as we parked, some guy was being tackled by the cops for stealing beach-goers phones (see, this stuff actually happens to tourists...even in paradise!). While the waves raged 15-20 feet outside, the cove was fairly protected from the surf. Dunno what the "shark" part of the name suggests, but I dove in anyhow.

And we ended our Christmas Eve at the ever-popular and consistent Duke's, a restaurant in honor of Hawaiian ambassador and Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku. Not necessarily a local favorite, but being that every location is beachfront, it makes for a great ambience and a guarantee of a great meal. I highly suggest trying the ones back home (Huntington & Malibu locations for your L.A. folks!).

Here's to a Christmas of good food and tremendous cheer with family and friends. As they say on the islands:

Mele Kalikimaka to you and yours,
The Chew