(upbeat music) - So when I think of a pineapple bun, the first thing that comes to mind is the topping.

It's that crunch that you get, along with the soft, pillowy texture of the bun itself.

It's that combination that just makes them so delicious.

People line up for days to get this bun.

That's why it's one of the most iconic foods in Hong Kong.

So it's gotta be from Hong Kong, right?

- It's actually a quite hard to answer question.

There are very few people who can actually give you even the mythical kind of origin.

- Sometimes these parts of history, they don't consider it important enough to write down.

- So getting to the the real origin is almost impossible.

- Almost impossible?

So you're saying there's a chance?

we love a good challenge here at Beyond the Menu.

So we went deep trying to uncover everything we could about the pineapple bun's origin.

And that led us to these three buns from different parts of the planet that maybe, just maybe led to the creation of the first ever pineapple bun.

I actually have to start with something now.

Do you know my hairstyle by chance?

- Are you wearing a pineapple bun?

- I am.

- Is that a style?

- I am wearing a pineapple bun.

- Perfect!

Perfect.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

Kristina Cho wrote a book all about Chinese baking, and she let us into her kitchen to break down step by step how to make the perfect pineapple bun.

And according to her, it all starts with the milk bread.

I read up that the best way to start a milk bun is by making almost this type of roux.

- Yes.

- Is that correct?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

It's called a Tangzhong.

It's a mixture of milk and flour, and we cook into a roux.

Just like if you were making like macaroni cheese or something like that for a cheese sauce.

And the texture we're going for, I compare it to kind of like creamy mashed potatoes.

It's gonna make it super, super soft and also allow it to stay soft for a couple days.

- One of the things that I'm most curious about is its history, 'cause it's fairly new, and also its ties to Hong Kong.

- Yeah, it is a fairly new type of bun, but it still started kind of in the 1950s, 60s, when this kind of western style of baking really started to emerge in Hong Kong.

And my family's from there.

So pretty much everyone in my family loves pineapple buns.

- So we might be able to go back even earlier.

One of the city's oldest bakeries, Tai Tung, has been around since 1943, and we're pretty sure they were making pineapple buns even back then.

- The owner, who's quite old right now, remembers he was 11 years old when his dad opened the bakery and they were already making pineapple buns.

So they probably didn't invent it, but even they don't know where exactly they came from.

- And baking bread in an oven back then in China just wasn't a thing.

Steaming bread was totally the way to go.

- The idea of eating bread, baked bread, rather than steamed bread came in from Hong Kong being a colonial city.

The British were here.

The British ate baked bread.

A lot of this, these recipes were adapted for the local palette.

- According to Janice, even today, many Hong Kong apartments don't have an oven.

It's stove top all the way.

- My grandma never used the oven.

It was just like a storage cabinet for sheet pans and pots and stuff like that.

Never got turned on.

- But this is why like, these Chinese bakeries that you would be able to find and go to are really special.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

For my dad especially, 'cause he, he grew up in Hong Kong as well, but he, he stayed there until his like late twenties, that it was always like a special treat to be able to go to a bakery and buy a bun, because people didn't really make this at home.

So it was a special occasion.

- But it's not just about the bun.

The wow factor, at least for me, comes from that killer cookie topping.

- So in Cantonese, pineapple buns are called Bolo Bao.

Bolo means pineapple.

And they get their name because of the decorative crust that's on top that kind of cracks and mimics the texture of a pineapple.

- And the one interesting thing is that there's actually no pineapple.

- Yes!

So a lot of people get confused that way.

They eat one, they're like, where's the pineapple?

- Great.

I think they are ready to go into the oven.

- Okay.

So this is the perfect time to break out our first bun here, the Japanese Melonpan.

Now compare the top of this bun to the top on the pineapple bun.

- There's a theory that's related to melonpan, which is a Japanese bun that is, again very similar, that was supposedly invented by an Armenian pastry chef who was working in the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo in the 1920s.

But where he came up with the idea, or whether that's actually true or not, I'm not sure.

- And it's possible that melonpan made its way over to Hong Kong sometime around World War II.

- Hong Kong was actually occupied by the Japanese during World War II.

And while that is a very dark history, it also meant that we had Japanese people in Hong Kong for a long time.

Very plausible that there was kind of Japanese recipes, Japanese culture that was brought to Hong Kong.

- But hold on just a sec.

Just because the Japanese were in Hong Kong, doesn't mean the local Chinese were into their food.

- The Chinese population is so much segregated from the Japanese, and there are actually not that much Japanese influence towards the local population during that particular period of time.

- So the melonpon might not be a slam dunk origin story.

We might have better luck if we look at another baked good from the other side of the globe.

But first we need to get back to those pineapple buns in the oven.

Oh my gosh.

- They look so good.

- They look beautiful!

- They smell amazing.

They just smell buttery and sweet.

- Hmm.

Yeah.

So how long before we can eat?

- A couple minutes just to be safe, so they're not burning your fingertips, but they are amazing warm.

- So now we can talk about our second bun, the Mexico bun.

It's also really popular in Hong Kong, and it's got this really interesting looking top layer.

Just like the pineapple bun.

- They look very similar in terms of like, you can easily tell that they are one kind of bun, then they cover something with it.

But one is actually with a paste.

Pineapple bun is an actual layer.

- And the origin of the Mexico bun can be traced back to, you guessed it, Mexico.

In the form of a third bun, the concha, - They're a bit different in texture.

There's some difference in technique how you make them.

But the end result is very similar.

You have this soft bun with a crispy sweet topping.

- Now if you look into how the Mexican Concha made its way to Hong Kong, you'll see that the credit is given to one family, the Ng family.

- So the family actually migrated all the way to Mexico and come back from Mexico.

They claim that they're inspired by the Mexican concha and then they make it into the Mexican bun.

There's actually this Mexican cafe, it actually appears in some of like phone book in Hong Kong back in the 1950s.

- But as to where the family is today... - There's no trace of what happened to them.

And Ng is a very common name.

You know, there, there's countless families with, with exactly that name.

And I'm sure many of them run bakeries to this day.

- So just to recap, a family with the last name of Ng immigrated to Mexico, fell in love with the Concha, traveled back to Hong Kong, opened a cafe, and created the Mexico bun, which may have led to the pineapple bun.

- It's entirely possible since there was a wave of Chinese Mexican migrants that passed through Hong Kong and southern China in the 1930s, that one of them may have baked the first pineapple bun.

I think that's entirely possible.

- We did our best to track down a descendant from this fabled family.

But every article we came across kept referencing the same three or four articles.

It was a dead end until we talked to Samuel.

- I was able to link up with them.

I have a friend who by chance meet this person in Canada whose family is actually the founder of this particular restaurant.

So then I guess like the missing link is all linked up back together.

And then very likely it is actually true.

- Awesome!

Now we know someone who knows someone, but maybe it's not about the destination.

Maybe it's more about the journey and the buns we made along the way.

- The story of the pineapple bun is a story of people passing through and moving to Hong Kong from around the world, from China, moving to the rest of the world, and then finding their way back to Hong Kong and bringing all those influences with them.

So it, it's a story of kind of hybridity and mixture, and these flows of people who have picked up different cultural influences along the way.

- So how are these served in Hong Kong?

Is there a particular way to to eat them?

- Oftentimes they're just served simply as is, and you tear into it or take a bite.

But if you're into the thick slice of butter, you can get that on the side.

- That's a lot of butter.

- A lot.

Yes, it's a lot of butter.

And then just like that, you wanna do the honors?

- You have to eat it with me.

- Okay.

- Okay.

Cheers.

- All right.

- There's nothing better than a homemade version.

- Mm.

- Unless you're waiting in line at the bakery and waiting for them to come out immediately, this doesn't really compare.

- First reaction is the bread is really buttery and light.

Right?

But what comes in right after is the topping.

- Yeah.

- That sweet kind of crunch that happens.

- That's a great contrast.

- It's such a great contrast.

And then cold butter.

- It's really yummy.

- It's really good.

- Yea!

- So I love that we did a traditional version of this.

Is there anything that you're like looking forward to as far as like Instagramable trends and stuff?

Have you seen anything that's really blown your mind?

So, one thing I've been really wanting to do is make a fried chicken sandwich with this as the bun.

So in Hong Kong you'll get these and stuff them with fried pork chop sometimes.

But I've been seeing on the internet that you can get like a really crispy fried chicken sandwich on a pineapple bun.

I have not tried it yet, but I will.

- Okay.

- Can I come back?

- Yes.

Yeah.

You're welcome anytime.

- Okay, great.

We'll do that one next time.

So these buns are just a small taste of the many buns you can find all over the world.

Do you have a favorite?

Let us know in the comments.

And while you're there, don't forget to like, subscribe, and tell us what dish we should explore beyond the menu next.

I think I'm gonna try the Mexico bun.

Mm.