The Hawaii Food & Wine Festival’s Oahu component — its biggest and busiest — kicked off Wednesday night with the Urban Luau, held at Salt @ Our Kakaako.

The event, an annual partnership with the Kamehameha Schools, puts a contemporary spin on luau foods.

For example: Troy Terorotua of REAL a Gastropub took the idea of chicken long rice and reshaped it. Literally.

The chicken, from J. Ludovico Farm on the North Shore, was cooked with ginger and green onion, then shredded and mixed with long rice, then all of it was rolled into a ball and fried crisp. The chicken bones went to make a jus. A green onion oil, tomatoes and a watercress salad gave it all the components of the traditional dish.

Mike Kealoha of Highway Inn, meanwhile, served the traditional dish in all its soupy, gingery glory.

Roy Yamaguchi, co-chairman (with Alan Wong) of the festival, said the event was key to the festival’s aim of ensuring that visiting chefs “really understand and appreciate and learn about the Hawaiian culture.”

The festival brings dozens of guest chefs to Hawaii each year to cook for its many showcase events.

“The chefs who come and visit us, they are our ambassadors,” Yamaguchi said.

The two mainland chefs at Urban Luau actually already have deep roots in Hawaii. Ravi Kapur of San Francisco’s Liholiho Yacht Club and Chung Chow of Noreetuh in New York City both grew up on Oahu and now own restaurants that play on Hawaiian flavors.

Their dishes reflected a familiarity with the traditional luau foods, but they ventured far from the originals.

Kapur — paired with Haili’s Hawaiian Foods to make lomi salmon and poi — decided on fresh-caught nairagi (marlin) instead of salmon, which is not from Hawaii’s waters. In fact he didn’t decide on the nairagi until the day before the event, when he could see what was fresh and of highest quality.

His lomi was made with Maui onion, sea salt, cucumbers, basil and microgreens. His poi component was a puff that started with taro that was steamed, pureed and fermented, then turned into a dough, that in turn was steamed, chilled, sliced, dehydrated and fried.

Yeah, not your mama’s luau.

Chow and Helena’s Hawaiian Foods were assigned kalua pork. Helena’s Craig Katsuyoshi piled the pork atop a bun with kim chee. Chow smoked his pork to make a pastrami and served it atop a won bok slaw with a refreshing citrus dressing.

Peter Merriman took the concept of lau lau, disassembled it and put it back together in the form of a potsticker. Pork and fish inside, luau leaf sauce on the outside. One station over, Young’s Fish Market served miniature versions of traditional lau lau.

Mark Noguchi of Mission Social Hall & Cafe and the Pili Group had the most interactive dish. He took paiai (a fresh, thick version of poi), dressed it with octopus, dry opai shrimp and limu to make what he called a “dry shot.” Pieces of banana trunk served as plates.

The paiai was pounded fresh right on the floor next to his station and guests were invited to sit down and help pound.

To complete the experience, Noguchi actually shot the dish into the mouths of anyone willing to partake, sliding it with a tiny pick straight off the banana “plate.”

Then came a beer shot, to wash it all down.