Talk:Saimin

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Gerald, the definition of "delicacy" is: something pleasing to eat that is considered rare or luxurious, as 'caviar is a delicacy' . Saimin is a food of many ingredients, none is rare; and neither is saimin itself. I'm searching for better word(s) - Marshman 17:39, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)

Shouldn't the recipe be in WikiBook, instead of an article? -Minh Dec 04

Yes. A recipe is inappropriate for an encyclopedia. --Poiuyt Man (talk) 11:05, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Clean-up[edit]

I placed the {{cleanup}} template in the article because the writing tone sounds more like it belongs in a children's fable than in an informational piece. Broad statements such as "In some ways, saimin gave birth to Hawaii's notoriety as a haven of multicultural harmony today" need to be replaced with more useful details and facts.

There also seems to be inconsistent use of "Hawaii" and "Hawai'i".
--Poiuyt Man (talk) 11:05, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Removal of pictures[edit]

A copyright holder of one of the pictures previously in the article contacted the Help Desk to request removal of the picture.

I'm not sure how I am supposed to report this violation, however, you have a photo of mine posted at this link here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Palacesaimin.jpg

The person who posted this photo is not the owner of the photo and took the photo from this post at my weblog:

http://onokinegrindz.typepad.com/ono_kine_grindz/2004/05/palace_saimin.html

On your site, it says the photo was uploaded by a Gerald Farinas. I would like to request that this photo be removed from your site immediately.

Thank you.

The copyright violation image has been deleted. Capitalistroadster 23:29, 29 November 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Nutritious?[edit]

I have to question this statement. Every person has his definition of what is and what isn't nutritious. According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, just the noodles themselves contain 225mg of sodium! With the soup base and garnishes, the sodium content shoots up to 425mg. This is a large amount, considering that large amounts of sodium in a diet can lead to high blood pressure. Sure I get my fill of some green onion and egg, but at the same time my blood pressure shoots up a notch. And, the reference to schools serving saimin for lunch needs citing. I service computers at various schools throughout the DOE, and not once have I ever seen saimin on any school lunch menu. If one or two schools serve saimin, that still doesn't allow a generalization like to be made. Groink 10:03, 5 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Concerning school lunch menu's: I don't know if it is healthy, but the school I went to (Kealakehe Intermediate and High School) served saimin regularly for lunch. That is anecdotal though, I know.210.155.33.125 (talk) 07:45, 21 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Unclear sources[edit]

I think this article has good information and lists good sources but there aren't any inline citations to help fine-tune the article. Added tag as this will help the article better meet Wikipedia standards. Wxkat (talk) 10:32, 20 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Dubious History[edit]

The history part with plantation laborers of various ethnicities is somewhat dubious. My paternal grandparents lived on a plantation and although different ethnicities socialized, things were not nearly as integrated as the article makes it sound. Plantation homes were grouped into neighborhoods by ethnicity. On the Ewa (sugar) Plantation, there was Fernandez Village (Filipino), Tenney Village (largely Japanese), and Korean Camp, among others. Dogshirt (talk) 02:41, 3 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The addition of non-Japanese ingredients was a relatively recent innovation. Dogshirt (talk) 02:41, 3 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]


Wrong History of Saimin, anybody that bothers to do the Research of reading the Local (U.S. Island State of Hawaii) History of Saimin Plus (+) the History of the U.S. Territory of Hawaii's Sugar Industry's Plantations knows that the minority Population of Caucasians feared the Majority Population of 50,000 Chinese and 200,000Japanese, and kept the Chinese and Japanese Separated in small Plantations. A very small amount of 7,300 Koreans arrived. Later on as the "New Immigrants" 112,800 Filipinos were brought to Hawaii. The First Generations of Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Filipinos were not considered "Americans" and were Registered Resident Aliens and had no Voting Rights nor U.S. Citizen's Rights, Benefits nor Entitlements; the Second Generation obtained U.S. Citizens Rights under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment, while their Parents were still Registered Resident Aliens. Years later the U.S. Laws against Asians owning Land, U.S. Citizens Rights, Voting, etc. were finally repealed.

Saimin was created by the larger Japanese Population wanting to eat Ramen to remind them of Japan instead of the very harsh life at Hawaii; they got a hold of Chinese "Yellow" Noodles ("Egg Noodles" similar to the kind used to make Chinese Fried Noodles) as Japanese Ramen and Udon (White) Noodles were not available at the U.S. Territory of Hawaii, while the more skilled Chinese established created Noodle Factories at Hawaii; created a broth from whatever they had on the Plantation usually from chicken or pig that they raised, and dumped whatever they had into the broth as leftover chicken, roast pork, lots of vegetables that they grew; this became known as Saimin, that the Chinese refused to eat as "Poor People" Food. Living under those conditions, 38% of the Chinese returned to China; 55% of the Japanese and Okinawans returned to Japan and Okinawa; 36% of the Filipinos returned to the Philipines fleeing conditions at Hawaii as worse than the Philipines, as considered "Indentured Servants" (aka Slaves) until their work paid off the Sugar Industry, Passage, Food, Housing, Plantation Company Store.

Japanese immigrants consider Saimin to be Chinese due to the use of Chinese "Yellow" Noodles, and the Chinese consider Saimin to be Japanese ("Poor People Food", as an insult, the long standing hatred between Chinese and Japanese only intensified as competition for work between the well Established Chinese and the new Legal Immigrant Japanese). The Chinese "Poor People" Food equal to Japanese "Poor People" Food of Saimin is American of Chinese Ancestry creation Chop Suey aka Chow Mein as grabbing anything you have as leftovers, unsellable vegetables, scraps of meat, then stir frying everything, if you had noodles then you added the noodles in to the Chop Suey to make Chow Mein.

Many Saimin Shops would spring up near the Chinese Noodle Factories near Chinatown; to serve the large population of Japanese the Chinese Noodle Factories started to produce "White" Noodles of Ramen and Udon, especially near Kalihi. One of the Oldest created before Hawaii Statehood of 1959, is Boulevard Saimin (Kahlihi) founded by Kazuko Tanaka 1956 renamed Dillingham Saimin. Washington Saimin was established later 1963. Like Like Drive Inn created 1953 is not considered for their Saimin.

The people that really popularized Saimin 1967 to 1982 was the Television Series Checkers and Pogo Show, as S&S Saimin. S&S Saimin sponsored many local Televison programs like Captain Honolulu, Napua Stevens Show, Granny Goose, Lucky Luck, etc..

Most of the Chinese Noodle Stalls (no seating) at Hawai'i have shutdown even at Chinatown, as selling "Golden" (for Wealth) Egg Noodles with Red (For Luck) Char Siu and either steamed or fried Pork Won Tons and no Broth (Soup) as what the Chinese Plantation workers usually ate when they could afford that instead of eating "Poor People" Food of Chop Suey or Chow Mein.

How about YOU doing the Basic Research, like I did, look up the over 40 References including from Hawai'i's Bishop Museum that verify the above, then change the article.Nakamuradavid (talk) 14:54, 9 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]


As a resident born in Hawaii a lot of the origin attributions to Chinese sounded dubious to me as well. Thank you for compiling supporting evidence! I've also never in my life seen Filipino linguica sausage in saimin, I don't know where the author gets his/her saimin but not anywhere on Oahu... Mattghali (talk) 01:56, 3 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

McDonalds ?[edit]

I found the info about Saimin on the McDonalds Menu particularly interesting and checked one McDonalds in Lihue. Noone there knew about it. Very disappointingly they did not have it on the menu ;( 173.197.107.9 (talk) 01:51, 15 February 2015 (UTC)Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page).[reply]

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