The Best Oahu Cheap Eats: Hawaiian Kahuku Shrimp (Plus Recipe Round-up)

Make buttery, velvety, succulent A-MAZING Kahuku-Style Shrimp at home! 

Oahu’s North Shore Kahuku-style Shrimp is easily one of the best things Mr B and I have ever eaten, and I can’t wait to try to make it at home. I’ve compiled a round-up of the most authentic sounding recipes I could find, which you can find at the end of this post.

But first, here’s our selection for the Best of the Best Oahu Cheap Eats is…

[drum-roll, please…]

Wait! Before I introduce you to the winner, just take a moment to appreciate these beauties!

I can wait.

Guess what? They taste even better than they look!

So where are they, you ask?

From Honolulu, take a drive up to Oahu’s North Shore, and you will eventually come upon a number of Kahuku-style shrimp vendors – Giovanni’s famous Shrimp Truck at the Kahuku food cart pod being the most notable. (If you can’t see it for all the signatures covering the truck, you may be able to recognize it by the long line of hungry tourists stretching endlessly from it.)

Keep driving.

Farther up the coastline, you will easily spot the red Romy’s Kahuku Prawns and Shrimp shack, with its equally long nightmare of a line.

Keep driving. (Just a couple more minutes, I promise.)

Soon you will see the sea-blue sided shrimp stand of Fumi’s Shrimp Farm – with a short line, plenty of parking, lots of covered picnic table seating, and AMAZING farm-fresh shrimp.

(Be sure to check out our countdown of the Best Oahu Cheap Eats Part 1 & Part 2!)

Fumi’s Shrimp Farm {Roadside Stand, Kahuku}

Mr. B and I both agreed that this was probably the best shrimp we’ve ever eaten – and we’ve eaten a lot of shrimp.

The first time we came here (yes, I said first, as in, we came here more than once), I ordered the Spicy Garlic Shrimp. My plate came with nine clean, fat prawns with the shells attached, and was served with two scoops of rice, a slice of fresh, cold pineapple, and a small tossed salad.  (The pineapple slice and salad provided a nice complement, but felt mostly like a bow to social convention. I mean, you can’t really just serve a big plate of prawns and call it a plate lunch, can you?)

My shrimp was bathed in a buttery garlic sauce that brought out its sweet notes without overpowering them, and the bite was firm and tender.  They were so perfect that I think I may have even teared up a little.

At $13 a plate, this was the best deal on the island, as far as I’m concerned.

Hot & Spicy Shrimp (left), and Spicy Garlic Shrimp

Mr. B had the Hot & Spicy Shrimp, and in his words, “that buttery texture and the sauce on the outside was so good that I couldn’t help but suck off the juice before I peeled them.” Having tried them myself, I can tell you that they were quite spicy, but not overly so.

One thing we both noted was that the shrimp had an amazingly fresh flavor that you just can’t get from frozen shrimp. Taken directly from Fumi’s aquaculture farm out back, the shrimp we ate for lunch had been scuttling around just minutes before we arrived. (I have it on relatively good authority that same cannot be said of all the shrimp along the North Shore, as much of it comes from the Costco freezer case in Honolulu.)

The covered picnic are at Fumi’s offers a lot to see while you eat.

Finally, if you’ve read me for any length of time, you may know that I always check out the restroom at the places I review. If there is nothing to note, I don’t, but in this case, there is.

Powder Room Review: We stopped here after a long day of kayaking, and were very happy to find that Fumi’s had not only a cleaning station where you can wash up after eating those luscious crustaceans, but also a large, clean restroom that is perfect for changing.

The only drawback to eating shrimp at Fumi’s is that it will leave you wanting more. And more. And more.

I’m hopeful that someday I will be able to create a passable copycat recipe. Here are a few jumping off points:

Hawaiian “Kahuku-Style” Shrimp Recipe Round-up

Let’s make a deal: I haven’t had a chance to try any of these recipes yet, but when I do, I will be sure to leave an update. Your part of this deal is, if you try one (or find another one that’s better) be sure to come back and let me know about it. OK? Because we all really want to know the very best recipe for making these bad boys at home. Thanks a bunch!

• Hawaiian Garlic Shrimp {The Gourmand Mom}
• Kahuku-Style Shrimp {Cooking Hawaiian Style}
• Garlic Chilie Shrimp {Cooking Hawaiian Style}
• Hawaiian-Style Garlic Shrimp {The Recipe Critic}
• Almost Kahuku Garlic Shrimp {Fix.Feast.Flair}
• Raiatea Helms Kahuku Style Garlic Shrimp {Cooking Hawaiian Style}

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