On Fri, 25 Apr 2014 01:01:46 -0400, Travis McGee
> wrote:

>I used to spend a lot of time in Hawaii, and one of the more interesting
>stores there was Crack Seed Center, in the Ala Moana shopping center.
>They sell a variety of interesting Hawaiian and Oriental snacks,
>including dried and pickled fruits, macadamia nuts in various forms,
>rice crackers, fish jerky, and so on. Back in the 80s and 90s, when I
>traveled to Hawaii frequently, they made a lot of the items on the
>premises; if you asked, they would take you into the back and show you
>the barrels of fruits and such marinating in all of the mysterious
>liquids that they use.
>
>I haven't been there since the mid-90s, but I still order from their
>website once every couple of years when they send me a promotional
>email. I am partial to their various forms of mango (wet, dry, li hing,
>and so on), but I usually order some of their other items just to get a
>taste. The selection changes from year to year; they used to have an
>eclectic assortment of rice crackers, for instance, but nowadays they
>don't have much that you wouldn't find in your local Oriental market, or
>even at Walmart in the Oriental foods section. Many of the Hawaiian
>foods, though, I have never seen anywhere else but in Hawaii.
>
>If you know a bit about Hawaiian food, or are curious about some of the
>local treats, this is not a bad place to investigate. Prices are not too
>steep, considering, and the service has been good (at least to me) over
>the years.
>
>www.crackseed.com
>
>Li Hing, by the way, is a local Hawaiian way of seasoning all sorts of
>things, including fruits and candy, with Li Hing Mui powder. They put it
>on all sorts of surprising things, such as dried and pickled fruit, sour
>gummi candy, gummi worms, and whatever else seems to strike their fancy.
>It's pretty good, even though I am not usually a fan of licorice.
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_hing_mui

Fun to read. I am from Hawaii and forever so may I say something. Li
Hing Mui and generally see-moi is actually a Chinese way of preserving
fruit. As kids, it was our tasty- very salty/sweet after school
snack. Other snacks were lemons soaked in salt-(makes my mouth water
to remember it) and dried abalone which you bought out of a large jar
for a quarter. Then you'd use your pen knife to carve off small
bites.

I know that crackseeed store in Ala Moana on Oahu. But my son who
lives in MO said he likes Obachan's best for mail delivery
(https://www.obachans.com/) so you might try that too.

Arare is tasty and was described exactly in another post. Very crisp,
comes in all sorts of shapes/seasonings and when alone or mixed with
nuts is a relay awesome snack.

Just my $.02.

aloha,
Cea