what hawaii looks like today depends on which island you re standing on. and, to some extent, the reputation of the locals. the hawaiian islands are not a monolith. islands, that s plural, and we are talking eight very different islands with very different identities. it s been over a century since the waves of immigrants began and things got all mixed up in the best possible way. there s layers and a simple question like, who is hawaiian? gets you all kinds of answers. the neighborhood of kalihi is a far cry from the hawaii that most people know. and ethel s has been a go-to of a very specific kind for the last forty years. andrew: it s a blue-collar town, you know? they all come here. breakfast, lunch. yeah, every day. anthony: i m joined by two local chefs. mark noguchi, of mission, known by some as the gooch. he s second-generation japanese.
anthony: so you re hawaiian. mark: i m from hawaii. i m born and raised, gonna die 808. anthony: the owners of ethel s are a sort of typical hawaiian mix. okinawan ryoko ishii, aka mom. mainland japanese husband yoichii. daughter minaka, who i guess would be japanese-okinawan-american slash hawaiian. and son-in-law robert who is, of course, mexican. mark: it s the pig feet. anthony: oh, nice, that s pretty. oh, wow look at that! that s the tripe. mark: that s the tripe, that s the tripe. anthony: that looks good. mark: spam and bitter melon! anthony: now we are talking. oh, that s awesome. andrew: i just call it local food. anthony: right. andrew: but local food just, like, covers, like, a wide net. when i look at this table, again, i just get hawaii. it s got portuguese, japanese. you got okinawan. world war ii, i don t know, some type of anthony: korean.
are talking eight very different islands with very different identities. it s been over a century since the waves of immigrants began and things got all mixed up in the best possible way. there s layers and a simple question like, who is hawaiian? gets you all kinds of answers. the neighborhood of kalihi is a far cry from hawaii that most people know. and ethel s has been a go-to of a very specific kind for the last forty years. andrew: it s a blue-collar town, you know? they all come here. breakfast, lunch. yeah, every day. anthony: i m joined by two local chefs. mark noguchi, of mission, known by some as the gooch. he s second generation japanese. and andrew le, of the pig and the lady. he s first generation vietnamese-american. or would that be vietnamese-hawaiian? as you ll see it gets complicated. mark: i actually cooked on the east coast for three years and people would always be like, oh, you re from hawaii, you re
hawaiian! and i was like, no, no, no, no. i m second generation japanese. no, no but you re from hawaii that makes you hawaiian. and it was like, no. and then what i realize is like here in hawaii we identify ourselves ethnically versus geographically. like, there s no way that he and i would call ourselves hawaiian. we d get our ass kicked by a hawaiian. anthony: how many generations does it take? i mean, who qualifies as hawaiian in your view? mark: to me a hawaiian is a kanaka maoli, is a native of the land. it s in your blood, your koko. you come from a lineage of native hawaiian people. anthony: what s your feeling here? andrew: i do feel like i m hawaiian in a sense. you know, because it s, like, my place. but culturally it s a different story. anthony: well let me ask you this, you re saying you re not hawaiian? mark: no. anthony: what s your feeling about spam? mark: i love, i love spam. anthony: so you re hawaiian. mark: i m from hawaii. i m born and
holding back the inevitable creep better than just about anyone. what hawaii looks like today depends on which island you re standing on. and, to some extent, the reputation of the locals. the hawaiian islands are not a monolith. islands, that s plural, and we are talking eight very different islands with very different identities. it s been over a century since the waves of immigrants began and things got all mixed up in the best possible way. there s layers and a simple question like, who is hawaiian? gets you all kinds of answers. the neighborhood of kalihi is a far cry from hawaii that most people know. and ethel s has been a go-to of a very specific kind for the last forty years. andrew: it s a blue-collar town, you know? they all come here. breakfast, lunch. yeah, every day.