Off Track: Manapua, a local favorite
From Peter Young’s Images of Old Hawaii website
Dim sum includes char siu bao, a bun with a barbecued pork filling. It is either steamed or baked. Char siu refers to the pork filling; the word bao simply means ‘bun.’ In the islands this Chinese pork cake became known as mea ‘ono pua‘a (‘mea ‘ono’ (delicious thing) as in cake or pastry, and ‘pua‘a’ for pork.) Reportedly, the pidgin adaptation “mea ‘ono pua‘a” evolved to “manapua.”
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