Hong Kong’s Most Popular Treat Has A Surprising Backstory | Beyond the Menu

You can’t tell the full story of Hong Kong without the iconic pineapple bun, yet how it appeared on the scene in the first place remains a mystery. One of the city’s oldest bakeries has been serving it since 1943, but before that, the story gets murky. Some say it all began in the 1920s with an ​​Armenian pastry chef working at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. Others say it originated with a family deported from Mexico in the 1930s. Watch the video for a delicious, cross-continental journey to get to the bottom of everything.

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Thanks to Kristina Cho, James Beard award-winning author of 'Mooncakes & Milk Bread', for sharing her story and showing us how to make pineapple buns from scratch.

📖 Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:59 In the kitchen with Kristina Cho, James Beard award-winning author of Mooncakes & Milk Bread
1:18 How to make milk bread with tangzhong
1:47 The emergence of Western style of baking in Hong Kong in mid-20th century
2:34 Baked vs steamed bread in Hong Kong
3:39 Where does the pineapple bun get its name from?
4:01 Are the Japanese melonpan and the pineapple bun related?
5:36 What is the difference between the Mexico bun and the pineapple bun?
5:56 What is the Mexican concha’s influence on the pineapple bun?
7:46 A fusion of culinary influences on the pineapple bun
8:15 How to eat a pineapple bun like a Hongkonger

Read More:
🍍Pineapple bun basics: https://www.tastingtable.com/998515/w...
🍈History of Japanese melonpan: https://www.tokyoweekender.com/food-a...
🥟Origin of the Hong Kong Mexico bun: https://zolimacitymag.com/the-origin-...
Everything you need to know about Mexican conchas: https://www.eater.com/2016/2/19/11054...

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About Beyond The Menu:
The story of the food on your plate is more than just the recipe. Each ingredient and every cooking technique goes back hundreds if not thousands of years, traversing the globe on a wildly delicious cross-cultural adventure. In KQED’s new digital food series Beyond The Menu, host Cecilia Phillips interviews chefs, authors, and other experts to dig up surprising facts on the cultural pathways of today’s trendiest dishes. It’s a history show, it’s a mystery series, it’s a celebration of multicultural cuisine, sometimes it’s even a science program, all set against the backdrop of mouth-watering food cinematography.

Beyond the Menu is produced by KQED. Check out all episodes here and learn how to support your local station at https://www.kqed.org/beyondthemenu