Review: Hawaiian Kine Creamy Sesame Dressing

This is Part 1 of my review series on Hawaiian Kine Seasonings and Sauces, which will cover their Creamy Sesame Dressing. Hawaiian Kine is a local Hawaii company based in Waipahu. I paid a visit to their warehouse to pick up these product samples and got to see first hand how they packaged their sauces as-advertised: by hand.

After a nice conversation with one of the owners, I found out that it’s a family-owned business that they purchased from the previous generation in their family. They just completed a Costco road show, which is actually where I first heard of them.

Once I was given the product run-down, we discussed which ones I would be sampling for a review. I got a brochure with some recipes and some personal suggestions as well.

The first of these seven products that I got a chance to try was the Creamy Sesame Dressing, which is used in their recipe for Hawaiian Chicken Salad.

First up, chop lettuce. Since we have like 50 heads of lettuce growing outside, I used some from the fridge that we picked a couple days ago. Next I’m supposed to add sliced green onions and deep fried won ton pi strips, but since I don’t actually like to eat raw green onions, I went outside and picked some fresh cilantro and then used some La Choy Chow Mein Noodles that I had left over from New Year’s.

From here, you add shredded rotisserie chicken and then toss everything together. I added some tomatoes for color and then splashed on some dressing.

The first thing you notice about this dressing is the smell. When I opened the bottle, this wonderful sesame and vinegar smell came out. I needed to cap it again though, because even though I’d done a bit of shaking, I saw that it still wasn’t mixed up completely. The contents separate very quickly!

I tried a bite with everything in it and it had a nice, light, fresh taste that reminded me of my mother’s Chinese Chicken Salad dressing. I tried eating it with just the lettuce and it was a bit hard to taste, but when paired with the rotisserie chicken, that’s when this dressing really shines through. It compliments the roast chicken very well.

You’ll need to toss in the dressing just before serving, as leaving it to soak into the greens for too long will result in wilted lettuce. It’s definitely not something that keeps very well if you have leftovers, especially if you’re putting in the chow mein noodles or won ton chips, as those get soggy as well.

The Creamy Sesame Dressing, as well as their full line of products, is available for purchase from the Gourmet Food Mall online for $6.00. The one downside to this product is that there’s no nutritional information on the bottle. 🙁

Hawaiian Chicken Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

• chopped lettuce
• sliced green onions (or cilantro)
• shredded rotisserie chicken
• deep fried won ton pi strips (or chow mein noodles)
• Hawaiian Kine Creamy Sesame Dressing

Instructions:

1. Combine all salad ingredients together just before serving.
2. Toss with Creamy Sesame Dressing to taste. Serve immediately.