A team of five young chefs from Palama Settlement showed up primed to chop and fry at Thursday’s 808 Jr. Chef Showdown. Their efforts won them first place for their Fish and Poi Patties.

Team LLL which stands for Livin’ Like Larry, for their adviser, Larry Sweets adapted recipes for crab cakes and lemon sauce, modifying them to fit the contest’s $25 budget, localize the flavors and generally make them better.

"It didn’t really look that nice, so we started adding things," said LLL member Aaron Abella.

It took three days and about 20 trial runs to perfect the dish, which ended up comprising canned tuna, poi, papaya puree, chopped macadamia nuts and lots of herbs and vegetables, which they prepared start to finish in the one-hour competition.

They put in the effort, Aaron said, because "we wanted to make Mr. Larry happy."

The showdown, held at the PACT Teen Center at Kuhio Park Terrace, drew six teams of kids ages 9 to 18 from youth programs in the Kalihi area. The aim was to promote healthy eating choices. To that end, the teams were required to research their main ingredients and explain their nutritional qualities. They were scored on those reports as well as on the finished dishes.

Team LLL and second-place finishers KKV Fab Five from Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family Services will demonstrate their dishes at the YMCA’s free Healthy Kids Day event, set for 9 a.m.-2 p.m. April 12 at Bishop Museum (call 531-9622 or visit www.ymcahonolulu.org).