Blog by Mike Daddow- California Rice and the Aloha State

Hawaiians love their California Calrose, and that’s wonderfully apparent for this vacationing rice farming family.

Pallets of California Calrose are everywhere, including Walgreens, Safeway, Longs, and all the local Hawaiian markets.

Hawaiians seem to eat rice at every meal and it is found on almost all restaurant menus we’ve come across. Most menus here in Oahu list sides in this order: "rice, white or brown, french fries, mashed potatoes,” even for breakfast, and looking around that is what the locals prefer. One of the Hawaiians favorite breakfasts is the Loco Moco, which consists of a bowl of rice with a hamburger patty on top, topped with an egg and then smothered in brown gravy, yummy. I have had a Loco Moco before but today had the sausage, egg, rice combo pictured here.



While sightseeing around north shore on Oahu, we had lunch at one of the famous Shrimp Trucks featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.” The lunch was amazing and I bet you can guess what was included with the garlic shrimp plate I chose - two big scoops of California Calrose!

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Mike Daddow ~ Farming in Sutter and Yolo Counties, Mike is the fourth generation of his family to grow rice in California. His great grandfather served as an engineer in Natomas and is credited with helping lay out the irrigation system for the region. Mike graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with two Bachelor of Science Degrees. He and his wife Susan have three boys – Max, Sam and Alex - who all help out on the farm when they can. When he isn’t growing rice, Mike puts his pilot’s license to good use.