Serves:
an extended family
Ingredients
3/4
pounds elbow macaroni
2
russet potatoes, peeled
8 hard
boiled eggs (fresh eggs are best, and try not to overboil)
Best
Foods Mayonnaise (the only acceptable brand)
1
cup frozen peas (you can add less peas, but I like peas.)
1
can bay shrimp. Instead of bay shrimp, you can add crab meat if you want to be
fancy, or Spam, if you want to be unfancy.
salt
and pepper (Johnnie’s or Lawry’s can work here)
Optional
¼
cup grated (not sliced) onion. I don't add this ‘cuz my family is so-so on
onions.
1
tbsp cider vinegar, if you must. I think this screws up the taste, but some
people like it. I think they must be from O’ahu.
Note:
Don't even think of adding Italian
dressing or pickle relish.
·
Boil the macaroni. Overcook it a bit so it gets softer. Strain and
rinse with cold water.
·
Rinse, boil, and dice the potatoes. It’s okay if the fall apart a
little.
·
Peel and dice the eggs. Or just use an egg slicer if you're not too
picky.
·
Drain and rinse the shrimp.
·
Combine everything except the salt and pepper into a big mixing bowl. Add
2 cups of mayonnaise right away,
then more until the whole thing sounds sloppy
and wet. Mix gently with your hand so as not to crush the potatoes and eggs.
·
Salt and pepper to just less than taste. As the flavors combine, the seasonings
go farther.
·
Cover and put in the fridge. Tastes best if kept overnight. Some people
sprinkle paprika over the top before serving. I think it’s kind of pretty that
way.
It’s
December 2012, and I am terrified. My mother is sick, so I am making the family
Christmas dinner. Main dishes? No problem. Veggies? Fine. What is scaring me is
the mac salad. Mac salad seems simple, but the way we make it in the islands is
special. Get haole mac salad and local mac salad, and from the first bite, you
can tell. You have to get it right, otherwise the meal isn't local. Usually one
person in the family makes the mac salad.
So
I am freakin’ nervous. I know the basics. Overcook the macaroni. Add shrimp.
Boil fresh eggs. Use only Best Foods mayonnaise. But still I have no
confidence. Then, I start, and the weirdest thing happens. I start to flash
back. I see my mother peeling the potatoes. I see my grandmother mixing the
mayo. And when I start mixing, I remember that my grandma knew she had added
enough, not by a measuring cup, but by the sound.
I
finish the salad, and the next day, I give my mother a spoon. She tastes it, looks
at me, and seems surprised. I think it's a good surprised. Then she says, “Hey…
This real Hawaiian mac salad!” I
swear this is one of the best moments of my life. I want to jump and shout I did it! And after dinner, she tells
me, “from now on, you make the mac salad for us.”
--Ryka Aoki
