The Pupu Platter

The Pupu Platter (Flickr photo) is a wonderfully composed contrivance of tasty tidbits. Legend has it that the Pupu was twirled up by a Cantonese chef at Don the Beachcomber in the mid 1930's for customers to enjoy with exotic drinks of the time. The Pupu has endured because of its alluring reminiscence of the south sea islands. Typically, the Pupu is comprised of fried chicken wings, crab rangoon (wonton skins filled with cream cheese and crabmeat), rumaki (again, an invented dish of bacon wrapped chicken livers and water chestnuts), thin slices of barbecued pork (aka char sui ~ very Chinese), glazed spareribs, egg rolls, and sometimes beef satay that customers could grill at the table. Now, there's an interesting combo ~ let's place fiery hot charcoal embers or a can of live lit Sterno in front of someone who has imbibed about 6 mai tais, and watch the fun! The "p" in Pupu sometimes stands for Pyrotechnics. Actually, Pupu or little bites in Hawaiian is similar to the Chinese translation of Dim Sum. This whole arrangement is fanned out on a wooden dish or plate with a nice saucer of hot mustard in the center.

I love the Pupu, while many sneer with contemptuous disgust. It is simple pleasure that takes me to a time and place of palm trees, white sand beaches, the scent of flowers in the ocean breeze and azure waters. The array of flavors, textures and aromas is captivating, particularly when nestled among fish nets, Tiki statues, torches and dried bloated puffer fish suspended from the ceiling.