Take a bao: Behind Manapua Wars
By Melissa
When you visit Metromix today, you'll see my gallery on manapua. Who knew that people were so passionate about the simple little char siu bao? I didn't. It was this passion that spurred me to create the gallery in the first place.
It really started when Jason Kim (who isn't getting more face time on this blog!) told me about how much he loves Libby Manapua in Kalihi, above. He made it sound so outrageously good, I knew I had to try it someday. He also made the service sound like Libby is run by a bunch of manapua nazis, which scared me. Kalihi Blogger Alan Okami concurred with Jason, doing his own imitation of the notoriously mean ladies. (Check out my gallery to see what I thought of the manapua, and what kind of service I got.)
So the first thing I did was ask people I knew about their favorite manapuas. Interestingly enough, it was my Chinese friends who had the best, most accurate recommendations. Non-Chinese people had nice recommendations, but come on: when you grow up with this stuff, you have intimate knowledge of it, right down to the slightest differences in taste & texture.
Jennifer Lieu was the first to tell me that Tai Pan was her favorite because their bao tastes most Chinesey. When I posed the question to Bixby Ho and Laurie Au, they immediately yelled "Tai Pan!" Bixby, in fact, was the harshest critic of all the manapua places around town, but I must say that he was spot on.
I agreed that Tai Pan had the most awesome dim sum: the har gau (and similar dumplings) have whole shrimps in them, not ground meat with filler. And you can see them making it in front of you. But somehow, the char siu baos didn't do the same for me. Bixby (who can probably order in Chinese) scolded me for not ordering the hottest, freshest bao and said it wouldn't be the same unless I did it right. So I think I need to take him next time, or have Jennifer bark the order in Chinese again.
One of my favorites, as you will see in the gallery, is Island Manapua. Manoa Blogger Kristen Lum was nice enough to meet me at Manoa Marketplace for a tasting. This was the first time that either of us realized that the char siu in the baked bao tastes different from the steamed bao. If you buy steamed and baked bao at your favorite manapua shop, try tasting them side by side to taste the difference.
Doing this gallery also made me rethink my own manapua choices. All these years, I've gone to Royal Kitchen to get boxes of bao because they have sweet bread buns. I never thought about the fillings. After tasting all the baos around town virtually side by side, I now know the difference. Don't get me wrong, Royal Kitchen will always have their unique sweet bread buns, but look at the filling! Most of their specialty manapuas were pretty chintzy with the filling, leaving me holding an empty cavern of a bun. Hmmm.
After all was said and done, I was surprised that Char Hung Sut emerged as my favorite. It's been my favorite for various reasons, but with my new intimate bao knowledge, it ended up having everything you would look for in manapua. The bun really put it over the top: I had never noticed how chewy the bread was before, but suddenly I could tell that it was as special as the V Lounge's pizza crust.
After two weeks straight of eating nothing but bao, I have to say that I pretty much burned my tastebuds off. I even went to several places that didn't make the list, but I'm not going to talk about them. After this, there will be people who say, "You missed this spot, you missed that spot, you were wrong!"...but I'm absolutely confident in saying that no one else in town has eaten this many manapuas consecutively to know them as well as I do now! Take a look at my gallery. Do you think my assessments were correct? What's your favorite manapua?
Urban Mix Plate
December 8th, 2009 at 7:20 am
Great write up! I'm going to have to try all those different places! I don't eat too many baos when I go eat dim sum (because it fills me up), but as far as "fast food" places to get baos, I love Royal Kichen! I liked baked baos better than steamed ones. And I'm pretty much a purist, I only order char siu bao. I don't eat any other kind! We'll need to eat dim sum with @jlieu soon since she's an expert order-er!
December 8th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Thanks Cindy! Jen does the whole thing in Chinese, can you believe it? I don't know what she's telling the waitress, but it's all good. Let's go to Tai Pan!!
December 8th, 2009 at 7:44 am
I love Tai Pan for their dim sum (best on island when you factor quality AND price), but while their manapua is good, it's a little pricey considering what you get and is not a true manapua joint.
Char Hung Sut is my favorite. You don't get any red dye or globs of fat when you bite in, and the bread is so good my wife is sick of me saying, "I would eat this even if there was no meat inside!" everytime we go there. Royal Kitchen is okay, but nothing beats a fresh steamed one from CHS.
December 8th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Yes Char Hun Sut has been the most consistent over time. Good product with lots of stuffing! Mmmm...
December 8th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Good morning Melissa!
I read your review in Metromix earlier. Great job!
How do I get a job like that?
I like the Royal Kitchen baked manapua and I like Char Hun Sut for the steamed ones.
I like eat manapua now. You get some fo me?
December 8th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Royal Kitchen is still my favorite, but that's because I prefer baked over steamed...
I never could appreciate Char Hun Sut's manapua. Something about the char siu there just taste weird to me. It's like it is mixed with something else.
December 8th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Great post Melissa! My favorite for taste, texture, and price is Char Hung Sut...hands down. For $1, you can't go wrong. I shall "bao" to you the next time I see you.
December 8th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Ohh I am soooo craving manapua now.... sigh... heehee... Melissa, you are now a manapua expert huh?
December 8th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
We don't have many manapua places here is So Cal. L&L has them sometimes but they are always sold out by the time I get there. I have to wait for the ho'olaulea in June to get any manapuas.
December 8th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Char Hung Sut sets the standard for manapua. Whenever I eat manapua I compare it to Char Hung Sut. I like the bun and the filling is just right. The taro cake is a winner too!
December 8th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Ho boy! All that tasting in the name of journalism! What a life.
Nice write up.
On Maui, I gotta get my manapua fix at *shudder* 7-11!
I guess it's better than nothing. Doesn't hold a candle to Royal Kitchen or Char Hung Sut though....
December 8th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Job well done on the article, really made me all watery mouth just looking at the pictures hehehe.
See you on Twitter.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Hi Melissa
FOOD!!!!!
For us it's also Char Hung Sut and Royal Kit.
NKHEA.....goin open manapua shop on Maui and in So. Cal. $$$$$$$$
December 8th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
@NKHEA, if you open one manapua shop on Maui, what will we take for omiyage?? It's real easy now, just take manapua.
I guess we could still get pepeiao and other kine dim sum from Royal Kitchen, but those aren't as appreciated as good manapua.
December 8th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Oh, wow! Battle Bao! My mouth waters. Girl. No wonder you run.
December 9th, 2009 at 7:35 am
ha ha you guys so funny. yup, I learned a lot from this particular gallery. I thought I knew my manapua, but now I know all the little things that make them all different. I think my turning point was the day we ate manapua from Royal Kitchen.
December 9th, 2009 at 9:15 am
no review for chun wah kam? interested to see how it fares in comparison to the othe bao joints!
December 9th, 2009 at 9:45 am
did you try MR MON DOO ?? Ch 2 checked it out and so did i. milton
December 9th, 2009 at 11:09 am
I am craving for manapua now.
December 9th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Chun Wah Kam has pretty good bao, but the prices keep going UP! I only like Char Siu Bao, too. So where is this gallery? Yes... I'm lame.
December 10th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Hi Melody, try go to my Metromix gallery to see the full review. This blog is just a "behind the scenes" look at how I got to make the gallery.
Milton, Mr. Mandoo is Korean so I didn't lump it in with the manapua.
Wendy, thanks for reading!
'Sa: OK so when you read my blog, you will notice some words are highlighted. Just mouse over them and you'll be able to click on the link. Also the links are on my Facebook page.
The manapua gallery:
http://honolulu.metromix.com/restaurants/essay_photo_gallery/manapua-wars/1653668/content
December 12th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
What is the objective of the Manapua Wars? It is finding traditional Chinese style cha siu bao? Is it finding the best tasting bao whether its traditional or not?
Also I think there's a difference with dim sum bao and a typical bao you get from a shop. Its a size thing. Not so much that you get more filling for your money kind of thing. Its more of an issue of proportions. I think the dim sum bao is the right combination of filling and bun per bite.
From what I understand, the bao grew in size when it got localized in Hawaii. You can get some non-dim sum size bao in the Asia but Hawaii baos are pretty big.
December 13th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Hi G,
It was just a fun look at the best tasting bao as recommended by Metromix readers. I wouldn't have gone into Tai Pan, but my Chinese friends insisted that's where I would find the best char siu bao. Of course, as you can see, the bao sold in factories vs. dim sum baos are different in size, and I know that (since I'm also Chinese). But seriously, the "objective" was just as the Metromix gallery described it.
December 17th, 2009 at 10:24 am
hey melissa...
oh you so mean!! there's no manapua like manapua freshly made in hawaii...i like them all...but i just wanted to share with you that my brother (who lives on maui and swears NO ONE makes manapua on maui) would agree with you...that char hung sut is the best...he always makes me bring him a box from char hung sut on my way to maui from oahu...he claims there is nothing better and he likes that shredded meat which he says is corned beef...weird...anyway, my son and i like the baked buns better than steam...so i like to go to royal kitchen...mostly cuz i can pick up a plate lunch...bitter melon...mmmmmm...i need to come home more often...*wink*
s
December 29th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
How about the white rice cake,and pork hash too.chow fun noodles are good there too.I need receipt for white rice cake how to make it.