Manapua arrived in Hawaii with Chinese plantation workers in the 1800s, who carried these steamed pork buns to the fields as portable lunches. Local bakers adapted the recipe with sweeter dough and saucier fillings, and manapua soon became a cornerstone of Hawaii’s plate lunch culture.
What makes it great is the cloud-soft bun wrapped around glossy, barbecue-sweet roast pork. Eaten hot from the steamer with a little Chinese mustard or hot sauce, a manapua is a pillowy pocket of pure nostalgia.

