Just wrong
One of the funny things about Hawaiʻi is the slow-motion collision between Asia and America that’s been going on here for more than 100 years, with the Hawaiian culture getting squashed between the two. Well, I guess that’s not funny-ha-ha, is it. But it can get funny-weird at times.
The manapua is the Hawaiianized version of the Chinese char siu bao. It’s bigger and breadier than the bao I’ve had in California. In Hawaiʻi, manapua have become such a common local food item that even 7-Eleven carries them. Except that rather than keeping track of the different fillings by little red dots on the top, like a real Chinese bakery would do, 7-Eleven color-codes their manapua. I mean, the dough is actually colored.
But that’s not all. The other day I was in a 7-Eleven and noticed a new manapua flavor:
See, now that’s just wrong.
April 19th, 2006 at 8:55 pm
I can’t decide which part of that is worse: the fact that they even *have* a sloppy joe manapua, or the fact that they abbreviate cheese as “chz.” My editorially indoctrinated brain is hurting.
May 12th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Ew. Ew. Ew.
July 15th, 2006 at 1:04 am
Update — I was at that 7-Eleven the other week to pick up some ice, and they no longer offer the infamous sloppy joe manapua. I even asked about it. The nice Samoan lady behind the counter didn’t know why the SJM had been pulled, but she speculated that maybe it hadn’t sold that well. Gee, you think?
August 12th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
[...] I am not sure if this is more wrong, or less wrong, than the sloppy joe manapua a few months ago. Either way, I feel kinda sick. [...]