A pu pu platter is a tray of American Chinese or Hawaiian food consisting of an assortment of small meat and seafood appetizers. The ''

Thrillist Thrillist is an online media website covering food, drink, travel and entertainment. The company was founded in 2004 and is based in New York City, United States. In October 2016, Thrillist merged with internet brands '' The Dodo'', NowThis Ne ...

'' called the pu-pu platter "an amalgam of Americanized Chinese food, Hawaiian tradition and bar food." The pupu platter was probably first introduced to restaurants on the United States mainland by Donn Beach in 1934. It has since become a standard at most Polynesian-themed restaurants such as Don's and

Trader Vic's Trader Vic's is a restaurant and tiki bar chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902 in San Francisco – October 11, 1984 in Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polyn ...

. The earliest known print reference to a pupu platter served at a Chinese restaurant is from 1969. Later, other types of restaurants used "pu pu platter" to describe an appetizer combination platter.In the 1970s, Boston-area Italian restaurants were marketing their appetizers combinations as "Italian pu pu platters". However, pu pu platters are currently more closely associated with American Chinese restaurants. A typical pu pu platter, as found in American Chinese cuisine, includes appetizers such as

egg roll Egg rolls are a variety of deep-fried appetizers served in American Chinese restaurants. An egg roll is a cylindrical, savory roll with shredded cabbage, chopped meat, or other fillings inside a thickly-wrapped wheat flour skin, which is fri ...

spare ribs Spare ribs (also side ribs or spareribs) are a variety of ribs cut from the lower portion of a pig, specifically the belly and breastbone, behind the shoulder, and include 11 to 13 long bones. There is a covering of meat on top of the bones an ...

, chicken wings,

chicken fingers Chicken fingers (also known as chicken goujons, chicken strips, chicken tenders, chicken nuggets or chicken fillets) are chicken meat prepared from the pectoralis minor muscles of the animal. These strips of white meat are located on either side ...

, beef

teriyaki ''Teriyaki'' (kanji: 照り焼き) is a cooking technique used in Japanese cuisine in which foods are broiled or grilled with a glaze of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Fish – yellowtail, marlin, skipjack tuna, salmon, trout, and mac ...

, skewered

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

, fried

wonton A wonton () is a type of Chinese dumpling commonly found across regional styles of Chinese cuisine. It is also spelled wantan or wuntun in transliteration from Cantonese () and wenden from Shanghainese (). There are many different styles o ...

s, fried shrimp, or

crab rangoon Crab Rangoon, sometimes called crab puffs, crab rangoon puffs, or cheese wontons, are filled crisp dumpling appetizers served primarily in American Chinese restaurants. Preparation The filling is made with a combination of cream cheese, crab ...

Hawaiian origin and etymology

In the Hawaiian language, ''pū-pū'' denotes a relish, appetizer,

canapé A canapé () is a type of hors d'oeuvre, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread (sometimes toasted) wrapped or topped with some savoury food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite. Name T ...

, or hors d'oeuvre; it originally meant "shell fish', but also referred to small bits of fish, chicken, or banana

relish A relish is a cooked and pickled product made of chopped vegetables, fruits or herbs and is a food item typically used as a condiment to enhance a staple. Examples are chutneys and the North American relish, a pickled cucumber jam eaten with ho ...

served with kava and beans.

In Hawaiian cuisine

Since the introduction of commercial dining and drinking establishments in Hawaii, pūpū were, and remain, standard fare in island establishments.Unlike in American Chinese cuisine or mainland Polynesian-themed restaurants (like Trader Vic), the Hawaiian dish is referred to simply as ''pūpū'' or ''pūpūs'', without the word ''platter''. An establishment that serves "heavy pupus" will often have a buffet table with warming trays or warming tables full of chicken,

tempura is a typical Japanese dish usually consisting of seafood, meat and vegetables that have been battered and deep fried. The dish was introduced by the Portuguese in Nagasaki through fritter-cooking techniques in the 16th century. The word ...

vegetables, shrimp, ''

poke Poke may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Poke (''Ender's Game''), a fictional character * Poke (game), a two-player card game * Poke, a fictional bar owner in the television series '' Treme'' * The Poke, a British satirical website Fo ...

'' (cubed and seasoned raw fish), small skewers of

meat or chicken,

sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...

, and other similar finger foods. An establishment that serves "light pupus" usually will offer only the cold foods such as ''poke'',

, and vegetables. Some establishments will serve pūpū to the table. At Hawaiian bars, restaurants, catered events such as political rallies, and private parties, establishments and hosts are known in "local" circles by the quality of their pupus. Event invitations often will state that "light pupus" or "heavy pupus" will be served so that attendees will know whether they should plan to have a full meal before the event or not.

In Polynesian cuisine on the mainland

At the height of the

tiki bar A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which is based upon a roman ...

craze during the late 1950s and early 1960s, the '' New York Herald Tribune'' published several articles concerning the opening and the ambiance of one of the first Hawaiian-themed restaurants in New York City, Luau 400, on East 57th Street. At the time of the restaurant's opening in 1957, pu pu platters were considered a part of the luau feast. A typical platter at this establishment would have included baked clams,

rumaki Rumaki or rumake is an hors d'oeuvre of tiki culture origin. It was popularly served at Trader Vic's and other Polynesian restaurants in the 1950s and 1960s. Preparation Rumaki's ingredients and method of preparation vary, but usually it consi ...

, Shrimp Vela (battered fried shrimp with coconut), chicken wings, egg rolls, spare ribs, or Javanese sate (

satay Satay ( , in USA also , ), or sate in Indonesian spelling, is a Southeast Asian dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. The earliest preparations of satay is believed to have originated in Javanese cuisine, but ...

) on skewers. The appetizers were served on "a

Lazy Susan A Lazy Susan is a turntable (rotating tray) placed on a table or countertop to aid in distributing food. Lazy Susans may be made from a variety of materials but are usually glass, wood, or plastic. They are circular and placed in the centre o ...

made of monkey pod wood and equipped with a little stove fired with charcoal briquettes." Recipes for some of the pu pu items were later published in the ''Herald Tribune'' in 1960. Always the showman, Trader Vic included a hibachi grill when presenting a pu pu platter at the table. Others say that the idea could have come from Donn Beach. No one can agree, but everyone else appeared to have copied the idea. By the twenty-first century, the tiki bars and the flaming pu pu platter had become a dying art. Some tiki bar aficionados have created lists of tiki bars in the United States in which a flaming pu pu can still be found. At one 21st-century tiki bar, the pu pu platter includes "Samoan deviled eggs, Chinese sausage and stick rice ''arancini'', coconut shrimp and chilies stuffed with pork sausage." As bar food, a pu pu platter at a 21st-century New York City

brasserie In France, Flanders, and the Francophone world, a brasserie () is a type of French restaurant with a relaxed setting, which serves single dishes and other meals. The word ''brasserie'' is also French for "brewery" and, by extension, "the bre ...

could include French

escargot Snails are considered edible in many areas such as the Mediterranean region, Africa, or Southeast Asia, while in other cultures, snails are seen as a taboo food. In American English, edible land snails are also called escargot, taken from the Fre ...

, grilled cubed tropical fruits (such as pineapple), fried

pierogies Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. They are often pan-fried before serving. Pierogi or their varieties are associated with the cuisines of Central, Easter ...

or American-style barbecued ribs and wings.

In Italian restaurants

Italian restaurants in New England may offer "Italian pu pu platters". Depending on the establishment, the platters may contain only appetizers, such as mozzarella sticks, meatballs, sausages, lasagna sticks, and calamari; or they may contain small portions of different pasta dishes, such as spaghetti, lasagna, manicotti, and ravioli.

Notes

References