Never Seen a Black Sugar Manapua?!?

This took me completely by surprise. Today, as I was walking around the office while eating a black sugar manapua, I had two coworkers stop me and ask what that was. They only knew of the regular pork-filled manapua aka char siu bao and had never seen the black sugar variety.

What’s so surprising is that these coworkers were born and raised in Hawaii! I can’t imagine not coming across a black sugar manapua back in the day especially small kid time buying snacks from the local manapua man. They asked where I got it from (Chun Wah Kam), but I said that I’m pretty sure most manapua places sell them.

So… I did a quick black sugar check using Frolic Hawaii’s Top 5 Manapua list. Here’s what I found.

Number 5: Libby

During my youth, this is where I remember buying manapua for parties and occasions so guarantee they gotta have. Sure enough, Libby comes through with the black sugar.

Number 4: Char Hung Sut

How about this favorite in downtown? Black sugar bao at Char Hung Sut confirmed!

Number 3: Chun Wah Kam

Chun Wah Kam is where I picked up my regular and black sugar manapua but forgot to take a pic. 🙁

Number 2: Royal Kitchen

I admit I don’t recall ever going to Royal Kitchen, but I bet their baked version of the black sugar bun is ono.

Number 1: Sing Cheong Yuan

Another downtown location and another I don’t remember eating at. Their online site is inconclusive, but trusty Yelp says they get black sugar.

There you have it. Five popular manapua shops and all five sell black sugar manapua (or a variation).