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Char Hung Sut, a closer look
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Aloha!
12/8/10 - If ever there was a living legend in local-style grindz, Char Hung Sut would undoubtedly be at or near the top of that list. I mean, the creator of manapua? Get outta here. Instant kudo's from generations and generations of islanders who have long cherished this particular item as much as or perhaps even more than saimin, poke, malasadas, and other beloved local treats. Specifically, the honor goes to Bat Moi Kam Mau, who has since passed, when she opened her Char Hung Sut store waaay back in 1946 and began enlarging her traditional char siu bao to gai-normous sizes! Not sure how long it took after that for these plus-sized dim sum products to become institutionalized, but ever since I was a kid, manapua has always been around as a popular treat. As stated in my manapua section of local Grindz, us island boys have grown-up running, quite literally, for the manapua man, who would drive through neighborhoods and schools, signaling his arrival with cheesy music box-like tunes on loudspeakers turned full-blast! These days, while not nearly as prevalent anymore, I know those iconic vans are still around - I hear an ice cream truck passing through our neighborhood once in a while, with the same music playing!
Purveyor of all things manapua, Char Hung Sut in Downtown Honolulu is just about always busy, from their opening at 5:30am until they run out of product, which is usually around noon but sometimes as early as 9 in the morning! It's best to call before-hand to be sure, and during Christmas and Holiday seasons, you may wanna call 3 or 4 days in advance!
Though there's no parking, something always seems to open-up on the street, probably because orders at Char Hung Sut are so quickly processed. Though lines often form, these guys have been around so long they got it down to a science, so people are in and out pretty quick! To be sure, the safest option is to call-in early and bring along a get-away driver, but as long as we've been coming here, that hasn't been necessary.
On this particular day, I slipped into a slot on Smith St., just steps from N. Pauahi St., and began my approach. The entrance is actually blocked from view in this next shot, behind the Aloha Shoyu truck and big ol' Sam Choy, who must've shed at least a 100 pounds or so, last I've seen!
Here's a couple of shots near the entrance, from opposite sides:
In fact, look at all the parking available right there on the street! Coulda got even closer!
Here's the actual entrance, where I was glad to see there wasn't too much of a crowd:
Since our order was already called-in, I coulda gotten out in about 1 minute-flat, but I decided to order a few extra items and, of course, take a few shots inside. Like I said, it wasn't too crowded, and the large, warehouse-like room is an interesting sight - part-kitchen, part-order counter, part-storage, part-waiting area, part-museum - the only things not available anymore are seats and tables to eat!
And dang it, I shoulda taken a closer shot of the dough mixer barely visible on the far left, but even besides, there were still lots of cool happenings in this blissfull relic of a place - tutu sitting off in one corner manning some books, all manner of product everywhere, empty steamers stacked high, and generally, a scene probably much the same as it was 50 years ago! This is old-school Hawaii at its traditional best!
Some of these shops in Downtown or Chinatown, it's the same as going to a popular dim sum restaurant at high noon - complete pandamonium! Or at least a controlled panic, perhaps - people screaming, hollering, waving wildly, and forget about customer service - it's the Wild, Wild East, I tell you! At Char Hung Sut, however, despite how busy it gets and its location in the heart of Downtown, workers are friendly and helpful in the laid-back, local-style way. And yes, they do speak perfect English, at least when it comes to the folks taking your order!
It's always fun watching items being prepared right there in the front room. The hands on these particularly skilled ladies were moving about as fast as Bobby Flay with one minute left in an Iron Chef competition, and you just knew that they'd already stuffed a gazillion half-moons, manapuas, and pork hash pieces before you even pressed snooze 5 times on your alarm clock that morning!
By the time we'd arrived at about 10am, they were already sold-out of most of their chow fun, shrimp noodle, beef noodle, and jin doi (fried sesame balls filled with sweet black beans; my mom's favorite!). Having already reserved 20 pieces of manapua and two dozen pork hash, I also added a mixed box of other items that hadn't sold out yet. Being that Char Hung Sut is not a typical Chinese restaurant but a take-out dim sum house, there are only just over 15 items offered in total, and about half of them were placed in this sampler:
Still, with the exception of jin doi and crispy gau gee, these pieces conclude the remainder of available dim sum or dim sum-type items offered, all of them being very, very popular.
My personal favorite is ma tai soo, a baked item filled with a char siu pork/waterchestnut mix. The crust is firm and flakey, with a texture somewhere in-between bread, cake, and a cookie!
The next two items are very, very similiar, the only difference being the way they are wrapped. The first is called pepeiao, which is actually the Hawaiian name for ear and also the locally-found wood ear mushroom. Actually, I was so intent on revealing the insides that I completely forgot to show the back section, where its slightly concaved wrapper has given it the appearance of an ear. It's no big thing, though, believe me!
The other similiar item is kok jai, or half moon, which is shaped like a dumpling made from a round instead of square wrapper. Shoulda just said shaped like a half moon, no?
Both pepeiao and half-moon come with that thick flour wrapper, a wrapper I don't particularly care for, to tell you the truth. Though both are very popular, I'll pass on these if other items are available. Outside the wrapper, the other aspect you'll probably notice right away is the large amount of chopped water chestnut inside, which somehow manages to remain crunchy no matter how long they are cooked! Other than that, there's a mix of pork, green onion, and, uh... I really don't know what else!
There are also 3 varieties of stuffed mochi products available, nicely tucked into a border of banana or lau lau leaf:
First, a black sugar (bean). As the name implies, there's a good deal of sweetness in these black beans:
Next, a coconut filling, which was also sweet:
And finally, a char siu pork-filled mochi, which seems like the same filling used for our manapua, which you'll see soon:
Though I'm Japanese, I never really did care for most types of mochi, so it's no surprise that I didn't care much for these. Come to think of it, the wrappers in the pepeiao and half-moons above are also thick and a bit mochi-like, so I guess I'm working against an innate bias. Why, then, do I love rice cake, which is also very similiar to mochi? Who knows. Maybe it's because the manapua man in his van has been selling me the stuff since I was a tyke in grade school? I mean, throw sugar in anything, and a kid is hooked, right?
Above are the two different varieties of rice cake. The one on the left is the one I grew up with and very much favor, its soft yet silky-firm cake coming with hollowed pockets that give it a lighter, more delicate touch. The denser version on the right carries most of its sweetness on-top. Despite its prettier look and added sesame seeds, I'll take the former any day.
Aaaand.... That leaves us with only two remaining items, but the two that are easily the most popular in any manapua house, by far:
Like manapua, pork hash at most manapua stops are larger than traditional pork hash sold in sit-down dim sum restaurants. Such being the case, they are usually not quite as fatty as traditional restaurant stuff, otherwise we might not be able to stomach them quite as well. Still, there's ample fat to be found inside these steamed treats, for sure - eaten alone, the filling is high on savory richness, but when eaten alongside the white buns of a fluffy manapua, it's the perfect meat/starch combination!
Actually, I've got a little confession to make. But before I do, lemme tell you - don't even think about questioning my tried-and-true local boy-ness - I got slapped on my bare butt for the first time at Kapiolani, along with President Obama and everyone else here; I wear surf shorts, rubber slippers, and tank tops; I love bento, plate lunch, and extra-extra mac salad; I'd love nothing more than to surf, fish, and hibachi every day, if given the chance. Ok, I may not speak pidgeon all the time, but bruddah, I can buss 'em out when I like, cuz!
All said because of my little confession... I just don't care as much about manapua as I did before! I mean, I remember salivating at the sound of the manapua man approaching our street; my sister, to this very day, she'll head straight for Char Hung Sut every time she's back in the islands! These days, however, like Twix bars and Chiko-Stix, I go, I no go, it's all good! I just don't crave it anymore like so many people here, that's all.
Furthermore, in a statement that might bring even greater shock, I'll say what noone else dares say anywhere - though Char Hung Sut probably has the best bread of 'em all, it's soft, freshly-steamed buns being reason enough to come, I'm not so high on their char siu pork filling. When I give you my reasons, though, I'm pretty sure you'll be confident that it is I who am in error, not everyone else. That's because I've always thought that their meat was a lot leaner than everyone else's - which is supposed to be a good thing, right? I mean, isn't it supposed to be the less grease the better? Oh, well. I guess for me it's the opposite, at least when it comes to manapua. Can't be sure, but I read somewhere that Char Hung Sut actually double-cooks their pork to get out as much fat as possible, and I can see how that might actually be true.
One strange thing occuring on this particular trip Downtown was that the pork filling inside our buns were smaller than normal, which I found odd, as this place usually has a very healthy meat to bun ratio!
Still, if I had to introduce a visitor to manapua, I would consider bringing them here first, as the leaner yet still very tasty pork filling, usually given in large amounts, and especially with those delicious buns, are sure to appeal more favorably to a much wider audience, instead of rebels like me!
Whatever the case, just know that manapua is a local institution, and if you want a taste of authentic Hawaii, a visit to Char Hung Sut is about as real as it gets!
Next time, who knows... Mexican? More smoked meats? Izakaya? All are coming, actually; 'thing is - which one first? We'll see...
Have yourselves a great and wonderful week!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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