Forget Classic Macaroni Salad: Make It Hawaiian-Style With A Couple Of Different Ingredients

When you're craving a real taste of Hawaii, you gotta have Hawaiian-style macaroni salad, which is affectionately referred to as "mac salad" in the 50th state. Mac salad has a valuable and beloved place in Hawaiian culture as an indispensable component of the Hawaiian plate lunch meal, a cheap and hearty midday repast that ubiquitously featured two scoops of rice, one scoop of mac salad, and a minimum of one protein. What makes mac salad stand out from mainland macaroni salad? Mac salad incorporates shredded carrot, and, often, grated onion.

It's a common misconception that adding ham (or Spam!) and pineapple to any dish makes it "Hawaiian" (think pizza, for instance), but the ohana would disown you if you put either of these in mac salad. Authentic mac salad is a simple thing with comparatively few ingredients. It features macaroni pasta boiled until very soft so that it can soak up the creamy mayo that is its base ... Hawaiians swear by Best Foods mayo, which is known as Hellmann's on the East Coast. Notably, it was also Julia Child's favorite brand of mayo! Add your onion and carrot, some S&P, and you've got a simple mac salad that delights the palate while never detracting from other aspects of the plate lunch. Of course, there are slight variations on mac salad, depending on who's making it.

There are some mistakes people tend to make when cooking pasta salad, and this applies to mac salad as well. Overlooking the shredded carrot and grated onion, which add sweetness and sharpness, respectively, would be a major error, since they are characteristic of a good Hawaiian plate lunch. Sliced green onions, plump peas, and/or a spoonful of briny relish will all make your bowl sing — and they're all acceptable variations on Hawaiian mac salad. 

On Reddit, at least one commenter disputed the idea that pineapple has no place in mac salad: "The secret to a good Hawaiian Mac salad is to cook the pasta, drain it, put it in a bowl and sprinkle it with pineapple juice instead of ACV [apple cider vinegar]. Let the pasta absorb the pineapple juice. Then only add finally graded [sic] carrot, and perhaps grated onion with the mayo." You may just find that pineapple juice really augments the natural sweetness of the carrot and gives your pasta a nice flavor. The liquid for mac salad is the source of some debate. Some family recipes call for ACV or pickle juice, while some add in no liquid at all! The addition of sugar is also a case-by-case matter.

Looking to turn your mac salad into a full meal? You could always beef up the heartiness of your bowl with crispy bacon, hard boiled egg chunks, or a drained can of tuna to stand in for the pricier crab meat that Hawaiians sometimes stir in. Egg is a controversial choice for Hawaiians (witness a sample argument on a Facebook post), but some preparations add potatoes for extra body!