Posted on: Sunday, October 3, 2004
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By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist
They're out there today. They're out there right now.
Their eyes scan the horizon — hoping, hoping.
The window is rolled down so they can sniff the breeze.
There's a stash of napkins in the glove compartment just in case.
Could it be? Is it? Is that Huli-Huli chicken smoke around the corner?
Disappointment. Heartbreak. Just somebody burning rubbish.
(Illegally.)
The weekend "hunt for the Huli" is a uniquely O'ahu thing. Sure, you can find the beloved barbecue chicken fund-raisers on the Neighbor Islands, but not with the maddening mix of regularity and inconsistency of the O'ahu scene.
You know there's always Huli-Huli chicken out there somewhere. But exactly WHERE is the question.
So you have to keep an eye out for the telltale smoke and cruise by the most likely places:
• Safeway Pali • Times Kahala • Along the road in Nanakuli True connoisseurs of the late Ernest Morgado's trademark Huli-Huli chicken can actually distinguish Huli-Huli smoke from a brushfire or building fire from miles away.
They say the smoke is "more pure" in appearance.
But once you're up close, even novices can tell real Huli-Huli from all other weekend chicken barbecues. The original Huli-Huli is cooked over a fire on racks that are manually flipped over, not on a rotisserie. Also, real Huli-Huli chicken is half a chicken, not a whole.
Schools, athletic teams and youth organizations have sold Huli-Huli chicken as a fund-raiser for decades. Many uniforms, trips to the Mainland and end-of-year banquets were paid for with those smoky half-chickens. But if you don't have a redeemable ticket purchased from your neighbor's kid, you have to take a cruise and hope that some group threw a few extra chickens on the grill for drive-up customers.
If all else fails, there is one reliable Huli-Huli spot where no fund-raiser ticket is required. However, you have to be willing to navigate the weekend gridlock in town.
On Saturdays, Stanley's Chicken Market does Huli-Huli in the parking lot outside the Ward Farmer's Market on Auahi Street. Stanley's offers the $5.25 brown bag special:
• 1/2 chicken • 2 musubi • either kim chee or chips • plus a drink Not bad, eh?
But here's the thing: you buy only what you're going to eat that day. The purists agree that Huli-Huli chicken is best fresh. It can't be frozen. Even microwaved doesn't count. It has to be enjoyed fresh, maybe even in the car, under a tree, watching the waves.
And that way, next weekend, the hunt is on all over again.
Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.
