Malasada magic: Oahu family makes sure marathon ends with a sweet finish
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Completing the Honolulu Marathon is the culmination of months of grueling training, and crossing the finish line comes with a set of perks: a T-shirt, medal, and a perfectly golden, hot, and sweet malasada.
It’s a labor of love spearheaded by Pearl City native Ernest Kam and his family.
“Everybody comes over and they all put a hand in there and all make sure it gets completed,” said Kam’s sister Germaine Akahoshi.
Bringing these doughy delights to life is its own production, which requires hundreds of pounds of flour, 15 50-pound bags of sugar, and 50 35-pound barrels of oil.
All prep work and cooking is done on site, which Kam oversees starting at 2 a.m.
Before frying begins, conditions for the dough need to be just right.
“He needs to make sure that tent is brought up to the proper temperatures,” Akahoshi said. “Once he gets it in there, he literally is monitoring it minute by minute, going in and checking it because the outdoor temperature makes a big difference.”
It’s busy work that requires a ton of hands.
Each year, a team of 125 volunteers assists with frying, sugar coating, packing, and distribution.
“The distribution table takes about 50-90 people based on the amount,” Akahoshi said. “So this year, since we’re doing 32,000, we have an estimated 90 volunteers coming in just to distribute those 32,000 malasadas.”
It’s a delicious rite of passage for each runner, and the team makes sure everyone is taken care of.
“Their thankfulness as they are coming through the lines, that is the most gratifying just being able to hand them that,” Akahoshi said. “It’s great.”
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