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Chicken hekka is a popular dish in Hawai’i. Tender chicken stir fried with delicious vegetables tossed with noodles in a slightly sweet yet salty sauce. The ultimate comfort food.

If you’ve been to any gathering here in Hawai’i there’s a good chance you’ve had a variation of chicken hekka. Amazingly delicious and simple to make. A hearty dish that will feed many.

Although this dish is not truly Japanese or Hawaiian it is a multicultural blend of flavors, just like that of Hawai’i.

It is said that “heka” is Hiroshima-ben for sukiyaki. Sukiyaki is a Japanese dish of meat that is slow cooked with vegetables. Heka became hekka overtime, possibly from a misspelling or pronunciation change

Ingredients to make chicken hekka

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs, cubed
• cooking oil of choice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 inch knob of ginger, sliced
• 1 cup shoyu
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 can (8.1oz) bamboo shoots
• 1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 large carrot, julienned
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 5 ounces bean thread rice noodles
• green onion to garnish

Let’s talk chicken. I like to use boneless, skinless thighs, but you can also use breasts if you’d like.

Next the sauce. Shoyu sugar is a popular flavor combination, especially here in Hawai’i. Everything from shoyu chicken to miso shoyu pork to spam musubis. And of course chicken hekka.

Vegetables are added alongside the protein. You can use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and carrots are in most recipe variations.

And lastly the noodles. Chicken hekka is made with rice noodles. You can use long rice or bean thread noodles, also known as glass noodles or vermicelli. This can be found in the Asian aisle at most grocery stores.

How to store chicken hekka?

Chicken hekka is best eaten fresh, however if you manage to have some leftovers you can store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

The noodles will soak up a lot of the sauce as it sits. If your dish ends up more on the drier side you can add more of the shoyu sugar blend as needed.

How long does chicken hekka last?

Chicken hekka will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days in an airtight container.

Can you freeze chicken hekka?

Yes.

How to defrost chicken hekka?

You can opt to defrost in the refrigerator overnight or place in the microwave on the defrost setting.

More local favorite recipes:

• Chili chicken
• Loco moco
• Hamburger watercress
• Pohole salad

How to make chicken hekka

Watch this video on YouTube.

Set a large pot over medium high heat. Add cooking oil of choice, chicken, salt, and pepper. Cook until chicken is slightly browned.

Add ginger and continue cooking the chicken.

To a small bowl add shoyu and brown sugar. Mix until well combined.

Add the shoyu mixture to the pot of chicken and continue to cook.

Then add bamboo shoots, mushrooms, carrots, and onion. Continue to cook until softened.

While the chicken is cooking, set a pot of water over high heat. Heat until a rolling boil. Add noodles and cook according to package directions. Generally you will only need to boil the noodles for a minute or two. Drain and set aside.

Once chicken has cooked through and vegetables have softened add the noodles and stir to combine. Garnish with green onions and ENJOY!

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