Meet chef, writer, fiber artist, Hawaiian saucer-er Kiki Aranita. Inspired by her childhood split between Hawai’i and Hong Kong, and eventual transition into the contiguous states, Aranita confronts the nuances of her identity in each facet of her life through food. By making, serving, and selling the food of her youth, Aranita allays her own homesickness and that of those who consume her food.
Chef Kiki Aranita spent seven years as the co-owner and founder of Poi Dog, a restaurant and catering company that served Hawai’i’s local food. The name ‘Poi Dog’ means mixed breed or mutt, and refers to the hybrid nature of the food that was served, as well as Aranita’s background. At Poi Dog, Aranita celebrated underrepresented cuisines of multicultural origins and collaborated with other chefs. Unfortunately, as a result of the pandemic, she was forced to close Poi Dog’s Philadelphia brick-and-mortar in July of 2020. However, Aranita has continued to share her culinary skills through chef residencies at Jose Garces’ Volver, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Bok Bar, and more.
In addition to her culinary skills, Kiki Aranita is also an acclaimed journalist who covers food, culture, travel, and more. Aranita is a food writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer, investigating sustainable food systems, and an investigative food journalist for San Pellegrino’s Fine Dining Lovers, where she explores topics ranging from recipes inspired by dining trends, to interviews with chefs, to personal essays about food. She is also the 2023 winner of the M.F.K. Fisher Prize (Les Dames d’Escoffier Intl) for food writing. She also frequently contributes to Food & Wine magazine, for which she was nominated for a James Beard Foundation Media Award in 2022. She has also penned food features as well as personal and travel narratives for New York Magazine’s The Strategist, The Guardian, Mahoning Matters, and many more.
Aranita’s creativity and storytelling skills extend beyond the kitchen. As a fiber artist, Aranita uses crocheted and embroidered sculptural collections to involve nostalgia, familiarity, and tangible comfort, while walking viewers through different stages of her colorful, food-filled life. 90-95% of Aranita’s work is made with scrap yarn collected from her neighbors, as she maintains an ethos of environmental consciousness as a fiber artist and in her culinary career, where she focuses on low-waste cooking. Her fiber art has been featured in art magazine spreads and at galleries around the nation, including her solo exhibition, Yarned Snacks, Sauces, and Tins, featured at the Philadelphia International Airport. Her series titled The Inconvenience Store featured memories of her childhood in Hong Kong and Hawai’i and adolescence on the mainland, all in the form of beloved products (such as Takis, Fishwife tinned fish, Aloha shoyu, Poi Dog Chili Peppah Water and Guava Katsu, and more). The Inconvenience Store was displayed at several New York City galleries, including Showfields NoHo, Bobblehaus, and Hyatt Centric Center City in Philadelphia. Aranita’s collections are available to view and purchase online here.
Most recently, Kiki Aranita has been focused on expanding Poi Dog Sauces, purveyors of Hawai’i at-home condiments, a company born from the pandemic shuttering of Philadelphia’s beloved Poi Dog restaurant. The heartbeat of Poi Dog continues in Aranita’s line of unique sauces, serving people who missed and loved Hawai’i along the northeast corridor. As seen in The New York Times, Good Morning America, Food Network, BuzzFeed, Better Homes & Gardens’ Food Awards 2024 and 2025, The TODAY Show, and more, Poi Dog Sauces showcases island-inspired flavors spanning Chili Peppah Water, Guava Katsu, and Poi Dog Huli Sauce. These versatile condiments are available nationally via Amazon and on Poi Dog’s website; in 50+ mid-Atlantic Whole Foods Markets, as well as in select retailers across California, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia. See below for detailed descriptions of each sauce.
- Chili Peppah Water ($16/9 oz | Vegan, gluten-free) — Chili Peppah Water lends everything a spicy, gingery, and vinegary tang laced with Hawaiian Sea Salt. This savory, vibrant condiment is made with pure water, a variety of vinegars, and seasonally rotating chilis that kick a refreshing boost into countless culinary applications. The current batch, dubbed ‘Noelani,’ sources its peppers from Boonville Barn Collective in California.
- Huli ($17/12 oz | Vegan, gluten-free) — Sweet pineapple, deeply savory miso, and Burlap & Barrel’s fragrant Chinese five-spice — this sauce is versatile. Use it to baste your chickens, but also give your mushrooms, your vegetables, your burgers, a deep, sweet savoriness.
- Guava Katsu Sauce ($16/12 oz | Vegan, gluten-free) — Tropical, umami-rich, fruity and gingery. A Japanese-style bbq and dipping sauce made with guava, miso, ginger, tomato and dried mushroom. Meaty, rich and deeply flavorful — but it happens to be vegan!
Poi Dog, a pidgin term for mixed breed or mutt, celebrates the diverse fusion of cultures that makes up ‘local food’ in Hawai’i. The blend of ingredients – from China, Japan, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Okinawa, Korea, and the Philippine Islands – with traditional Hawaiian food, was born on the sugarcane plantations, where Aranita’s great grandparents and grandparents lived and worked. Today, this food feels like home for Aranita and continues to inspire her multicultural culinary creations.
Aranita’s heritage also inspired the visual branding of Poi Dog Sauces. The colorful backgrounds that adorn the bottles are representative of the traditional palaka shirts (and fabric) that her grandmother, Gloria Aranita, sold when she worked at the plantation store in Waipahu.
For more information or recipe inspiration, please follow @poidogforever.
