Boricua in the Pacific: Adapting Puerto Rican Recipes with Hawaii Ingredients
Puerto Rico and Hawaii are both islands of deep food culture. Here's how to cook authentic boricua on the islands — with swaps that taste right, not just 'close enough'.
The first rule of the diaspora: the recipe travels, the ingredients improvise. In Hawaii you have an advantage most mainland kitchens don't — real plantains, real coconut, and a produce scene that loves the same starchy, tropical pantry we grew up on. The gaps are smaller than you'd think. Here's the island-to-island playbook.
The Big Swaps
| Puerto Rican staple | What it does | Hawaii swap |
|---|---|---|
| Recao (culantro) | That unmistakable herbal punch in sofrito | Culantro grows here — ask for "sawtooth coriander" at farmers markets or Asian grocers. Missing it? Double the cilantro. |
| Ají dulce | Sweet, aromatic pepper for sofrito | Sweet banana peppers + a whisper of heat (seedless Thai chili works). |
| Gandules (pigeon peas) | The soul of arroz con gandules | Black-eyed peas or chickpeas — same earthy body, works in the same pot. |
| Bacalao (salted cod) | Saltiness + flake for bacalaitos and stews | Fresh local fish (ono/wahoo, moi, or tilapia) — season generously and skip the soak. |
| Yuca / malanga | Starchy roots for sancocho and alcapurrias | Taro (kalo) — starchy, mild, perfect. Always cook taro fully; never eat it raw. |
| Calabaza (West Indian pumpkin) | Sweet squash for soups and pasteles | Kabocha squash — Hawaii's answer, same sweet-flaky texture. |
| Sour orange (naranja agria) | The classic mojo base | Lime + a splash of fresh orange juice — bright, acidic, right. |
| Guava paste | Sweet-tart for desserts and with cheese | Fresh Hawaiian guava — cook it down into your own paste. |
| Plantains | The backbone — tostones, mofongo, amarillos | Abundant in Hawaii. No swap needed — this is your home court. |
| Coconut | Coquito, tembleque, rice | Hawaii has world-class coconut. Use it everywhere. |
Three Dishes, Adapted
Sofrito with Hawaii culantro
Same recipe, one trick: if you find fresh sawtooth coriander, treat it exactly like recao — rough-chop a full bunch into the blender with cubanelle (or banana) peppers, onion, garlic, oil, and salt. Batch it, freeze it in cubes. Your arroz con pollo will taste like home.
Bacalaitos, local style
Trade the salted cod for flaky fresh fish. Poach or steam the fish, flake it, and fold it into the same seasoned batter (flour, garlic, achiote for color, herbs). Fry golden at 350°F. The crisp is identical; the ocean is just closer.
Sancocho with taro and kabocha
Build the stew with sofrito, your meats, and broth — then add cubed taro and kabocha where you'd use yuca and calabaza. The roots soak up the broth the same way. Serve with arroz blanco and a squeeze of lime.
Nochebuena in Hawaii
The menu translates beautifully: pernil can be the star anywhere there's an oven; arroz con gandules with black-eyed peas; tembleque and coquito leaning on local coconut; pasteles wrapped in banana leaves (easy to find frozen in Hawaii). The table might look a little more Pacific — but it tastes like the island.
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