Island delight! That's manapua...

Never heard of it? Basically, it's a steamed roll, filled with spiced pork, or some other equally tasty filling. Whenever I was working in Honolulu, we would have staff meetings on Tuesday mornings, with all of the office crew meeting in the small lunchroom. And there was always a large box filled with fresh pork manapua sitting on the table for us all to enjoy. Gloria (Branch Administrator) would buy them at a local "plate lunch" store. Oh, there were donuts as well...but the manapua would disappear first.

When you're in Hawaii, be sure to look for a place to buy some manapua and give them a try. You can usually find them in the small restaurants that serve "bento" and "plate lunch". They are usually found in the commercial districts, where the clientele is more likely to be working class rather than tourist.

Here's a recipe if you want to try making some...
Manapua
1 yeast cake
1 1/4 cups warm milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups flour
2/3 tablespoon sugar
***PORK FILLING***
1 cup roast pork
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
4 shrimp -- boiled and chopped
1 teaspoon soy sauce
6 water chestnuts -- chopped and salted
1 stalk green onion -- chopped

Combine filling ingredients; set aside. Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add oil,salt and sugar.
Gradually add flour. Knead until smooth. Dough must be stiff.Then cut dough into
approximately 2 inch balls. Flatten in palms of hands andfill them with about 2 teaspoons of the
pork filling, placing then on whitepaper, 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 inch square. Let rise for about 1-1/2 to 2
hours. Lightlybrush with sesame oil. Steam for 20 minutes.