Pineapple on My Mind

You can take the boy out of the islands, but you can’t take the islands out of the boy.

Even though it’s been years since I’ve lived in Hawaii (and more than 18 months since I last visited), I still get cravings for certain things that remind me of Hawaii: kalua pig, haupia, or papayas. Lately, I’ve been craving pineapples.

I think pineapples get a bad rap. They’re often a symbol of a touristy Hawaii, with the slice of pineapple in a brightly colored tiki drink or served up at luaus. It’s often used as a quick way to make something seem tropical like adding them to a pizza for a Hawaiian pizza even though I’m pretty sure the Hawaiians never ate pineapple with cooked ham.

Despite the odd combination, I sometimes like to add pineapples to my dishes and it just makes me feel at home. I typically use it to make sweet-sour dishes like sweet sour pork or beef tomatoes, and I have no problems getting them from the can because then you have these perfectly nice chunks of sweet pineapple.

For the recipe below, I decided to make a simple chicken stir-fry, adding in some zucchini and red bell pepper for color. Yeah, it looks like those made-up dishes at Chinese restaurants created for Americans, but I still like the mix of savory and sweet flavors. Now all I need is a hula dancer to serve it up and I’m all set. Enjoy!