How to Make Chef John's Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

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Chef John shares his take on the island favorite: Hawaiian Macaroni Salad. In this video, he walks you through the steps to make this creamy, tangy, slightly sweet side dish that’s a staple in Hawaiian plate lunches.

Transcript

00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad.

00:08That's right, you're about to learn how to make this from someone who's never been to Hawaii.

00:13But that's fine, since this is incredibly easy, and anyone can make it.

00:18And despite being possibly the simplest version ever, this is always the mac salad that gets finished the fastest,

00:24and gets complimented the most.

00:26And to get started, let's go ahead and mix up our dressing, which is going to start with a whole bunch of mayonnaise.

00:33And please use the nice stuff.

00:35Okay, that off-brand stuff from the dollar store is fine for your kids' bologna sandwiches,

00:39but for this salad, I need you to go top shelf.

00:43And then to that, we will add a little bit of apple cider vinegar, as well as a touch of white sugar,

00:48some salt, of course, and then we'll finish up with some freshly ground black pepper,

00:52as well as a few shakes of cayenne.

00:54And then besides that, I'm also going to add a little bit of an optional ingredient,

00:59which would be some finely diced red onion.

01:02And yes, any onion will work.

01:04And what I like to do after transferring that into a strainer is put that in a bowl of cold fresh water

01:09and let it sit and soak for about 20 minutes or so,

01:12just to remove some of the harshness and make it a little more mellow in the salad.

01:16And that's it after a nice soak.

01:19We'll go ahead and drain that and transfer it into our dressing.

01:22And then we'll give that a quick stir before we move on.

01:26And the reason to stir this in now is because once you cut an onion and it sits out and starts to oxidize,

01:32the flavors can get a lot stronger.

01:34So even though we soak these, we want to make sure we mix them right in.

01:38And then the only other thing going in this dressing is a couple grated carrots,

01:43which I've peeled, and I'm going to break those in half so they're easier to handle.

01:47And if we hold these at an angle and apply a little bit of pressure,

01:50we're going to get some nice long shreds like this,

01:53which would be fine, but I don't want all long shreds.

01:57Okay, what I think we should do is hold the carrot flat against the grater

02:00and use a very light touch.

02:03And by doing that, we're still going to get some longer shreds,

02:05but we're also going to get a lot of smaller pieces.

02:09And for this salad, I think the smaller the shreds of the carrot, the better.

02:13And yes, of course, it's going to take longer to grate it like this.

02:16And about halfway through, we'll probably lose our patience

02:19and just start grating those the usual way, which is faster.

02:23But again, the smaller those shreds, the more surface area,

02:26which means more flavor and more sweetness and more color.

02:30So to summarize, use a very light touch

02:32and try to grate those pieces of carrot as small as you can.

02:36Oh, and as usual, don't be a hero.

02:38All right, no mac salad's worth losing a fingernail over.

02:41So when you get down to the end of the carrot, just stop and have a little chef snack.

02:46And that's it.

02:46Once our carrots are grated, we'll go ahead and mix our dressing up

02:49and we'll simply set that aside until our macaroni's cooked.

02:53And for that, as usual, we will make sure our water is well salted.

02:58And besides that, we'll make sure it's at a rolling boil before we transfer our elbow macaroni in.

03:04And while you could theoretically use any pasta for this, you really shouldn't.

03:08You should use this exact one.

03:09Oh, and when we do cook really small macaroni like this, we want to make sure we're stirring early and often,

03:16since this stuff will stick together, as well as stick to the bottom of the pot.

03:20So for the first few minutes of the cooking time, make sure that's not happening.

03:25And then speaking of cooking time, make sure you cook it until it's fully done.

03:30All right, the package directions for this brand says five minutes, and that's always exactly how long I go.

03:35And once our timer rings, what we'll do is take that to the sink and we'll drain it,

03:40and then do something we almost never, ever do.

03:43We will rinse that macaroni off with cold fresh water, which is going to stop the cooking process,

03:49as well as rinse off a little bit of the starch from the surface.

03:52And what we'll do once that's rinsed is let it drain for like 20 seconds before we transfer it into our dressing,

03:59and we will take our spatula and stir everything together until we feel like everything's been evenly combined.

04:06And at this point, it's going to seem like you have a ridiculous amount of dressing,

04:09and that this might be too soupy and too saucy, but it is not going to be.

04:14It's going to be perfect.

04:16And if the texture looked perfect at this point, when you're finished, it's going to be way too dry.

04:22So please just give it a stir, and don't come to any conclusions.

04:26And once that's been accomplished, we will clean down the sides of the bowl,

04:30and then we will cover this with a piece of plastic,

04:32and we will transfer it into the fridge for a minimum of three hours.

04:37But if you can, I highly recommend you do this overnight, which is exactly what I did.

04:43And when I pulled it out the next day, it looked like this.

04:47And we'll go ahead and grab a nice big spoon and give it a mix.

04:51And as I was telling you, it is not too saucy.

04:53It is not too soupy.

04:55In fact, it has dried up significantly.

04:58And while it would be fine to serve like this,

05:00what I think we should do is add one more dollop of mayo,

05:03plus a nice big splash of cold fresh water.

05:06And as we mix that in, you will notice it will start to look creamier and moister,

05:10and like something that's just been freshly made.

05:13And after mixing and observing, if you want to add a little more mayonnaise, go ahead.

05:18I mean, you are after all the luna of how much mayo to spoon now.

05:23Or if you want, just add a couple more tablespoons of water.

05:26But anyway, the point is you're going to adjust.

05:28And at this point, I decided mine was looking and feeling perfect.

05:31So I grabbed a spoon to give it a taste.

05:34Just to double check we don't need more salt.

05:37Which I did not.

05:38It was tasting perfect.

05:40Which means we can take that and serve it up into something a little nicer looking.

05:43And I think this salad has an absolutely beautiful color.

05:47But it is a little bit plain looking.

05:49So I do like to garnish the top with a little touch of grated carrot for some color.

05:55As well as one more sprinkling of finely minced red onion.

05:58Oh, and pro tip.

06:00If you toss your red onion in a little bit of red wine vinegar

06:02and leave it in the fridge for a couple hours,

06:05it turns into a very enticing shade of pink.

06:08And that's it.

06:09I finished up with a nice pinch of freshly snipped chives.

06:11And my version of Hawaiian mac salad was ready to enjoy.

06:16So I transferred that onto a placemat.

06:19And I took a bunch of contractually obligated pictures.

06:22And then I grabbed a spoon and went in for a taste.

06:25And that, my friends, is the simplest, most basic,

06:28least complicated macaroni salad you will ever have.

06:31And yet, somehow, someway, it's still one of the most delicious.

06:35And no matter what event you bring this to, it will be a huge hit.

06:39And by the way, the real, authentic, original, classic, traditional version

06:43doesn't have anything besides mayo, carrot, salt, and pepper.

06:47So I guess this is kind of the fancy version.

06:50But anyway, the point is, the simplicity is the secret.

06:53Okay, when we're at a cookout and we're looking at a table full of ribs

06:57and smoked pork and barbecued chicken,

06:59I think, subconsciously, we all want something very simple to go with that.

07:04And while I'd be happy to eat a whole bowl of this just by itself,

07:07where it really shines, and where it can really be appreciated to its fullest,

07:12is next to all those amazing, spicy, flavorful meats.

07:15In fact, we posted a Kalua pork recipe a while back

07:18that would be an absolutely perfect pairing for this salad.

07:21But whether you serve it with that, or one of your other summer favorites,

07:26America's simplest and easiest mac salad might be its best.

07:30And I really do hope you give it a try soon.

07:33So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts,

07:37a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.

07:41And as always, enjoy!

07:44Thank you so much for joining us.

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