All In the Family
Ohana Style: Food from Hawai’i, for Your Family is the follow-up cookbook to Hawai‘i chef Sheldon Simeon’s critically acclaimed Cook Real Hawai‘i. The former Top Chef fan favorite and owner of Tin Roof and Tiffany’s on Maui’s first foray into writing earned him serious accolades — from shout-outs in The Washington Post and The New York Times to the editors of Epicurious including it in their “Best Cookbooks of 2021” list. Filled with stories and recipes that resonated with both locals and those further away for its genuineness and lack of pretension, it explored Hawai‘i’s history through our food culture. It’s the book you recommend when asked about Hawai‘i’s food scene.
How does one follow up such a noteworthy endeavor? In the introduction to Ohana Style, Simeon reflects on writing a second cookbook, comparing it to having a second child — where right after the birth of your first, you’re thinking never again, but the feeling soon fades. And lucky for us, it did, and the chef decided to write a second book. “Ohana Style is a celebration of the joy you get from sharing a meal and feeding others,” says Simeon.
Asked what recipes in the book he’d recommend for novice cooks, Simeon suggests Japanese Corn Egg Drop Soup, a recipe that came together one busy morning as he was packing lunch for his children because its ingredient list includes items everyone has in their kitchen: canned corn, chicken stock, soy sauce, eggs, butter, and a little dashi powder or miso.
“One of our family favorites from the new book right now is a creamy crab udon,” says Simeon. Like many of the recipes in the cookbook, it offers easy, non-perishable swaps, substituting evaporated milk for heavy cream and instant udon for fresh. Simeon’s practical substitutions make it easier for the infrequent cook to jump in and start cooking. “In this book, we gave a lot of flexibility, and as you become a better cook, you understand subbing in ingredients of what you have on hand or what you’re able to get. We wanted a book that everybody could be like, ‘I can get down with these, I can cook this,’” says Simeon. “A meal that is prepared for you and your friends and family is gonna be better than a meal that you would get somewhere else...”
The process of writing Ohana Style was interrupted by the devastating Maui fires in 2023. Sheldon and his wife, Janice (who is from West Maui), quickly stepped up to help feed displaced families, frontline workers, and volunteers. “Most days he was the first in the kitchen and the last to leave, and in between, he made sure everyone ... felt valued and cared for, bursting into song when needed, busting out snacks, always with a problem-solver mindset and forever finding ways to support local farmers and businesses,” says Amanda Corby Noguchi, co-founder of Chef Hui, one of the nonprofits that provided critical support during the aftermath of the fires.
In Ohana Style, the Hilo-born chef says that after spending decades in professional kitchens, the pandemic changed where he spent the majority of his time, going from cooking in his restaurant to making three meals a day for family at home. His dad’s approach to “use what get” in cooking and prioritize deliciousness over the provenance of ingredients became more relevant. “Small kine homemade,” his take on the Sandra Lee cooking show Semi-Homemade ethos, is central to Ohana Style — using everyday ingredients and judgment-free shortcuts is perfectly fine. Just make it delicious and experience the joy of cooking and gathering over a shared meal.
Ohana Style feels like family — the voice of your favorite aunty, the star of every get-together, the one you call when you need that recipe from the last potluck.
