I’ve been a fan of Sheldon Simeon since his first cookbook, Cook Real Hawai’i, came out, five years ago now. I interviewed him for the newsletter, Mark interviewed him for the podcast, I cooked a bunch of his recipes. He is easy to love, and his food is, too.
Sheldon’s new book, Ohana Style, just came out, and as soon as I got it, I started choosing which recipes I wanted to make from it. There are a lot. All the recipes in the book seem to have been developed for comfort, delight, tastiness, flavor, and fun: if you have guests over, you’ll want to make everything in here. So we had friends over this past weekend and I made two dishes from Ohana Style: the pimento cheese mochi bread and the shoyu chicken, and both were sooooo good. The marinade that the chicken is cooked in and served with—oh my god. I’d eat it with anything.
I digress. Sheldon was born and raised in Hawai’i, has been cooking since he was a kid—he learned to butcher chickens in first grade, and had a stint at Pizza Hut—and went on to be a Top Chef finalist and fan favorite. His passion for his home is infectious, and he is so loyal to Hawai’i’s food, customs, and history. And so to celebrate Sheldon and his new book, we’re rerunning Mark’s interview with him from 2022.
We also happen to have a bunch of Sheldon’s recipes; here’s a list. Enjoy the episode!
Shoyu Chicken (make this immediately!)
Maui Kale Salad with Sweet Onion Dressing
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