Atomic red hot dog musubi from Foodland market on Maui.

Like Neon-Red Hot Dogs

Yes, hot dogs the very unnatural color of atomic red are a thing in Hawaii.

Think of them as the red velvet cake of hot dogs.

You can find them in packages in the supermarkets, atop musubi or nestled into buns.

As one Hawaiian-born chef joked to me, “We do like our carcinogens.”

Even though he and his friends grew up on them, none could offer an explanation as to why they are the color that they are.

Even a Maui News article published a few years ago wasn’t able to shed much light on it.

I’ll take a wild guess and surmise they’re that hue to emulate char siu or Chinese barbecued pork. But who knows?

All I know is that you can’t miss them. And my husband, aka Meat Boy, who’s always up for a meaty challenge, devoured them on our most recent visit to Maui.

He even drove an hour out of the way to get his hands on a famed Fukushima Store hot dog, a favorite of Maui chefs.

You order the dogs at the lone check-out counter of this tiny mom-and-pop grocery store that’s packed to the gills.

The famed Fukushima hot dog.

The slender neon red dog is plopped into a soft bun, then buried in an array of condiments: ketchup, mustard, onions, pickle spear, and a sweet mayo-tartar-like sauce.

And it’s all of $1.25.

The dog has a nice snap to it. The lusty array of condiments made for one rich, creamy overload. It’s would be the perfect nosh with an ice cold beer or when you’re nursing a hangover.

Like Poke In A Liquor Store

When I walked into Tamura’s on Maui, with its shelves and shelves of spirits, wines and beers, I was dubious.

But when Chef Sheldon Simeon of Migrant restaurant tells you this place has some of the best poke on the island, take heed.

Sure enough, when you walk toward the back of the store, past all those bottles of liquor, you find it: a poke refrigerator case with a helpful clerk behind it.

There must have been a dozen different types of poke — all manner of ahi, hamachi and octopus preparations, as well as one with clams in their shells, which I’d never seen before.

A peek at the poke case at Tamura’s.

The store in Lahaina even will let you try a sample on a toothpick before purchasing, though that’s not true of all Tamura’s locations.

We loaded up with tako, ahi wasabi and ahi oyster sauce pokes.

The perfect take-out lunch. And from a liquor store of all places.