Portuguese Sausage Skewers

Portuguese sausage came to Hawaii with Madeiran and Azorean laborers starting in 1878 — a linguiça built on garlic, paprika, vinegar and a lot of black pepper. It got absorbed into local breakfast completely: sausage, two eggs, two scoops rice, no discussion. Redondo's and Gouveia are the common brands; the hot version is genuinely hot, so read the label before you buy for a crowd.

It's already cured and cooked, which means this is a browning job, not a cooking job — 8 to 10 minutes total and you're done. Alternate with pineapple, because the fat renders straight into the fruit and the fruit's acid cuts straight back through the paprika. Kiawe chips on the coals give you smoke fast enough to matter on a cook this short.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs Portuguese sausage (Redondo's or Gouveia), cut into 1-inch coins on a slight bias
• 1/2 fresh pineapple, cut into 1-inch chunks and patted dry
• 1 large sweet onion, cut into 1-inch squares and separated into 2-layer pieces
• Glaze: 3 Tbsp shoyu + 2 Tbsp pineapple juice + 1 Tbsp brown sugar + 1 tsp rice vinegar
• Metal skewers, or bamboo soaked 30 minutes
• Coarse black pepper — no salt, the sausage brings plenty

Cook Sequence

1. Build a direct bed and bring the grate to 425-450°F. One kiawe chunk on early, chips right before the skewers go down.
2. Thread sausage, pineapple, onion, repeating, and leave a few millimeters between pieces so the sides can brown instead of steam.
3. Skewers down across the bars. 2-3 minutes, then quarter turn. Four turns total, 8-10 minutes — you're looking for blistered casings and pineapple that's gone amber at the corners.
4. Watch for flare-ups. Rendering sausage fat will light off; slide the skewers to a cooler zone for 15 seconds rather than fighting it with a spray bottle.
5. Brush the glaze on in the last 90 seconds only, turning once. Any earlier and the sugar chars before the sausage browns.
6. Pull, hit with coarse black pepper, and serve straight off the skewer. No rest needed — this eats hot or not at all.

Round Out the Plate

• Hawaiian Mac Salad — the default partner
• Grilled Pineapple Salsa — if you grilled extra pineapple, and you should have