Charleston Living Magazine May-June 2023

Nothing screams early summertime in Charleston like an outdoor bash—and we all know a wicked heatwave is on
the horizon—so I gathered my favorite humans for a good old-fashioned Hawaiian fiesta. I encourage you to do
the same. The following recipes are written for approximately 10 hungry guests, so adjust the math as needed for
your custom crowd.
As an homage to the famous shrimp trucks of the North Shore, I perfumed crispy prawns with garlic butter. To
wash them down: frothy passionfruit painkillers over pebble ice—some spiked with boozy floaters and others
stirred with zero-proof rum snagged from Sèchey (Charleston’s local mocktail mixer mecca). The leasing office at
my apartment complex wasn’t too keen on me digging a traditional underground imu, so I turned to my Dutch
oven for prepping fall-apart pork. I leaned on liquid smoke, Himalayan pink salt and banana leaves for tender meat
with an earthy flavor. Also on deck: chicken and pineapple kabobs bathed in coconut milk and lime marinade, an
unpredictable twist on the predictable macaroni salad present at every Hawaiian party, and bouncy brown butter
mochi infused with sweet Meyer lemon.
Coconut bras sold separately.
Passion Fruit Painkiller
Yield: 10 drinks
Ingredients
15 ounces dark rum
(or sub non-alcoholic rum like Ritual)
10 ounces passion fruit juice
5 ounces fresh pineapple juice
5 ounces fresh orange juice
5 ounces lime juice
1 15-ounce ounce can cream of coconut
(such as Coco Lopez)
Freshly grated nutmeg, for garnish
Directions:
1. In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the rum,
passion fruit juice, pineapple juice, orange juice,
lime juice and coconut cream. If you’re using an
NA rum, add 4 drops of orange bitters and splash
of apple cider vinegar for a little more burn.
2. Shake vigorously until chilled.
3. Tuck a few tall pineapple leaves in a highball
glass and then fill to the top with pebble ice.
Strain the drink into the glass and then garnish
with freshly grated nutmeg.
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