Maui: Home Maid Bakery

There is a Japanese tradition of giving gifts when returning from a trip, these gifts are called Omiyage. In Hawaii, the tradition is deeply rooted, and goes beyond ethnic and cultural differences. In fact, when making a trip from say, Honolulu, to Hilo, your mind automatically starts ticking off what you need to bring back for Omiyage...., Mochi from Two Ladies Kitchen, or something from Big Island Candies. The tradition even works in reverse; when taking trips to Lanai, Manapua(sort of a steamed Char Siu Bao, but bigger), Pork Hash(Siu Mai), and Pepiao from Char Hung Sut was a required gift. Maui seems to have more than it's share of Omiyage items, though the list seems to be getting shorter(of the stuff I know) as time goes by. Long gone are the Maui Hot Dogs and Shishido Manju. But several sources of Omiyage are going strong. One of those sources is located in Wailuku on Lower Main street, Home Maid Bakery.

The bakery is not that hard to find, but parking can be. Though it might not be a long wait since cars are always leaving as quickly as they are entering the hilly, uneven, slightly pot-holed parking lot. And Home Maid's hours are very convenient, they are open from 5am to 10pm daily.

Once in the bakery, you'll notice all of the bags lined up on the back counter; those are the orders waiting for pick-up, mostly for people on the way to the airport. There are a variety of  various pastries available, and most of it is self-serve. But on this trip to the airport to pick-up the Missus's parents, we decided to try the malasadas, those wonderful Portuguese fried donut like pastries. I'd been warned of the sometimes surly service at Home Maid, but on this day, the Older Lady working the counter was very nice. And we got a dozen to go($6.60):

You'll notice only eleven malasadas in the box. That's because, in order to stop a certain someone with a growling tummy from salivating all over the box(not me...), I had to open it up, and that malasada was inhaled. Overall, these were not too bad, they lacked the yeasty goodness of the malasadas from Leonard's Bakery, but were not a bad substitute for someone who had not had a decent malasada in 5 years. The confections were slightly crisp, very hot, and sugary. Please note that malasadas are only available from 530am to 930am, and 4pm to 10pm daily. When I kiddingly asked the Lady why that was...She looked up with a total deadpan expression and said, "cause no mo' malasada man!" And proceeded to crack up.......

But what Home Maid Bakery really is known for are the Crispy Manju, which unlike traditional Japanese Manju, has a crisp pastry crust (Think pie crust). So I had to make sure to buy a couple for snacking pleasure.

I picked up the Imo (sweet potato) and Crispy Manju Deluxe(lot's of azuki). The Missus really didn't care much for them, She's much more of a traditionalist, and while I still enjoy the buttery sweetness, I thought these seem to be much more greasy than I remember.

My Mother In Law on the other hand, who obviously eats this much more often than we do(living in Honolulu) loved them. And we made a stop on the way to the Airport so they could grab a good selection as Omiyage for their friends and the people at work. The MIL says, the Coconut is really good.

So on your way to the airport, don't forget the Crispy Manju from Home Maid Bakery.

Home Maid Bakery
1005 Lower Main Street
Wailuku, HI 96793
Open 5 a.m.-10 p.m
7 days a week,

Malasadas Available
530am - 930am
4pm - 10pm

Comments

[Chubbypanda]

Mmmm... I've had shortbread manju but never crispy manju. I'm a tradionalist too. It's all good, but nothing beats mochi.

- Chubbypanda

[Jack]

Yes, we usually make this stop before we leave Maui for our local friends and family here on the mainland.

I like the crispy manju in a greasy-if I eat too much I'll get sick but I can't stop- kind of way. It probably has something to do with the crispy manju only being available in Maui. When I get that plastic box in the car, I can devour quite a few at a time. Well....who knows when you are ever going to return? (The mind can be so silly sometimes!)

[toisan]

why oh why did you have to post about home maid's? i haven't had their malasadas (yes, plural!) since i visited maui last year. haupia filled is my fave. i had to break down last week and get some l&l, i had such a bad craving for spam musubi. i wonder how well a leonard's or home maid's would do here?

[Kirk]

Hi CP - I think it's all good......all of it. ;O)

Hi Jack - Yes, sometimes we just need to get in touch with our inner-greed! After all you never know when you will eat this again.

Hi Toisan - Leonard's??? I'd be there every morning! Oh, and your right, you can't eat just one!

[Jen]

Hi Kirk
I just had to add my comments about Home Maid--I was the one who lamented about Hogetsu Bakery not having this "crispy" manju (although I found plenty of substitutes) and a few months ago when we were in Maui, stopped by to get them. They are definitely greasier and heavier than they used to be. The Guri Guri, however, is always the same and ne ver disappoints! We had some decent (but kind of dry) chow fun at Tasty Crust (my dad's old hangout) but we couldn't find the place he really wanted. I have one last Maui "must-eat"--Komoda Store's cream puffs. Better than the Beard Papa's!

[Kirk]

Hi Jen - i'm glad I'm not the only one who thought the manju were a bit more greasy than before. As for Chow Fun, the only place I remember was Liberty in Lahaina, and that place has been gone for like 20 years...of course for Dry Mein, there's Sam Sato's, but they were on vacation, when we were there. We were in the area, and thought about TKomoda's, but since it was Saturday, and you have to call and reserve cream puffs, and I'm not a big fan of cream puffs....I kind of draw the line at having to reserve cream puffs, if you know what I mean.

[oishii eats]

Haha...the craziness of the Omiyage Madness!

[Kirk]

Hi Jeni - You know...you gotta do, what you gotta do! LOL!

[Shari Clover]

We recently celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary in Lahaina. While visiting the Farmer's Market in Wailuku, we discovered cascarons (mochi balls on a skewer, rolled in brown sugar and coconut milk then deep fried). Back here on the mainland, I have not been able to find anyone who has heard of this wonderful snack. Is there another name for them? Is there a recipe available? Are they strictly a cross-cultural Hawaiian food? i REALLY WANT MORE!!!

[W. Wakayama]

I had gotten a recipe a while back from a friend, she called it "Maui Manju". I guess you can use any filling, I always used Tsubushi An (Red Bean paste) out of the can. Here goes:

5 cups Flour
1 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup Crisco Oil
3/4 cup water

1 can Tsubushi An Red Bean paste (Shirakiku brand)
Butter
1 small can evaporated milk
Butter
Mix Flour, salt, oil and water together. Make into about 40 balls. Flatten each ball (a circle as large as the palm of your hand) add a dot of butter to center and 1 tsp of Tsubushi An. Pinch edges together to completely seal in the An. Lay the pinched side down on a cookie sheet. Brush the tops with evaporated milk.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 ~ 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Good luck and hope you enjoy it.

[caninecologne]

Made sure to go here before we left Maui and man, those crispy manjus are so good. I remembered reading this post years ago so Home Maid was definitely a stop during our trip.

I got coconut for my sister (I hope\ she lets me have one, ha ha) and the deluxe for ourselves, parents and brother. It was my first time trying a dessert like this. The other manju we tried was at Sam Sato's but it did not compare.

[Kirk]

Glad you got to finally get those CC! They are a Maui "classic"!

[caninecologne]

Thank you for the rec Kirk! We also got small packs of Kitchen Cook'd chips while at Tasaka Guri Guri!

[Kirk]

Great! That's the original Maui Potato Chip CC.