# King's Hawaiian breads: Is this for real? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 26, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639 "2010-06-26T23:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/21 "2010-06-27T04:05:44Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > If they ever start a chain of Teddy’s here on the mainland, they will give both In 'N Out and Fatburger a run for their money on the West Coast! > And I think the bread made a big difference. We have a Teddy’s here in Woodinville, Washington. It’s gooood. [http://teddysbiggerburgers.com/locations.html](http://teddysbiggerburgers.com/locations.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/22 "2010-06-27T04:08:25Z")
See, I guess I’ve only managed to get stale King’s. The ones I’ve bought (once or twice) have been dry, and other than a cloying kind of sweetness, almost flavorless. Will have to try again, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/23 "2010-06-27T05:07:26Z")
The rolls are a family favorite for Thanksgiving/Christmas dinners, warmed in the oven…butter melting…dipped in the pool of gravy on the mashed potatoes. NOM! ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/24 "2010-06-27T06:07:24Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Heh, you want to know a couple of things that actually came from Hawaii? > Ticketmaster Huh? Its Wikipedia page says it was founded in Arizona… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/25 "2010-06-27T08:03:19Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > See, I guess I’ve only managed to get stale King’s. The ones I’ve bought (once or twice) have been dry, and other than a cloying kind of sweetness, almost flavorless. > > Will have to try again, I suppose. Yes, stale Hawaiian Bread is awful. You want to give it a good strong but gentle poke at the store. If it’s soft as a pillow, it’s good. Hard or stiff loaves should be left on the shelf for some poor schmuck who doesn’t know any better. ETA: And I know it’s cliche, but I love mine with spinach dip and carrot sticks. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/26 "2010-06-27T09:55:54Z")
When most people say “Hawaiian” these days, they’re usually talking about modern Hawaiian stuff. Even the hula and music and food they envision are the modern, post-colonization versions of themselves. Traditional Hawaiian dance, music, and food is quite different from what you find today. This is what happens when Polynesians are pushed aside by Europeans, who bring in Portuguese to run plantations and Asians to work the fields. Everything mixes together, from the food to the language to the people, and you find yourself unable to really describe everything. **kaylasdad99** , the restaurant/bakery you’re thinking of closed in the late '80s. There is a restaurant/bakery in Torrance, roughly the same size as the Honolulu one, though with cheesier decor. They also have a smaller takeout-only place. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/27 "2010-06-27T10:44:16Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > This is what happens when Polynesians are pushed aside by Europeans, who bring in Portuguese to run plantations and Asians to work the fields. Everything mixes together, from the food to the language to the people, and you find yourself unable to really describe everything. And that’s how you get a new culture - by mixing bits and pieces of old cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/28 "2010-06-27T11:35:43Z")
All their rolls are made with sweet bread dough. I don’t find any made with it besides King’s Hawaiian any more. I however do make sweet bread rolls for holidays sometimes. You use sweet bread dough for homemade cinnamon rolls too. I see they use palm oil too, which I’m sure is key to making the bread taste different than if they switched to straight soy oil like many brands. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/29 "2010-06-27T11:47:08Z")
I’ve heard of King’s bread, but we don’t have it in my areas. However, we’ve got plenty of Portuguese bakeries which bake Portuguese sweet bread. Also, I had no idea until I saw this thread that they’re one and the same 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/30 "2010-06-27T13:35:48Z")
I almost never eat King’s Hawaiian Bread. I like it. The thing is that it’s not very filling, and I fear that if I got some I’d eat the whole loaf in a sitting. Better not to have it around. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/31 "2010-06-27T13:45:21Z")
Since this is becoming a thread about Hawai’ian multiculturalism and the melting pot, I felt that I should at least mention the wonder that is [**spam musubi**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_musubi). ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/32 "2010-06-27T13:55:54Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I grew up in Hawaii and most of the food people consider to be Hawaiian (aside from poi and lau lau and similar) is from somewhere else. Portuguese sausage, manapua, macaroni salad, musubi and so on are from somewhere else, just modified for island tastes. Add lomi-lomi salmon to the list; i am not aware of any historic salmon runs in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/33 "2010-06-27T21:22:29Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > **kaylasdad99** , the restaurant/bakery you’re thinking of closed in the late '80s. Yeah, that matches my memory. [/quote] There is a restaurant/bakery in Torrance, roughly the same size as the Honolulu one, though with cheesier decor. [/QUOTE] I’ve been to that one, although I found it a bit pricey for the quality. I think they took over an old restaurant that used to be called Ichabod Crane’s. Or maybe it was called Thirty Tons of Bricks. Or first one, then the other. Lots of bricks there, I remember that. Sometimes I think that there’s a correlation between bricks on the outside and cheesiness on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![Acantha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Acantha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acantha)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/34 "2010-06-28T09:32:51Z")
> [@ataraxy22](#): > > [This](http://www.bakeshophawaii.com/) is a great place to try Hawaiian bread if you are ever in the southern part of the Big Island. Yes, and as someone else said, it makes the best French toast ever. Restaurants around here all serve enormous hunks of French toast made from it. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/35 "2010-06-28T11:27:53Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Add lomi-lomi salmon to the list; i am not aware of any historic salmon runs in Hawaii. And anything containing pineapple. Hawaii’s iconic fruit was introduced in the early 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/36 "2010-06-28T11:41:49Z")
How does the taste compare to that of _challah_? They sound similar. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/37 "2010-06-28T11:53:46Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > How does the taste compare to that of _challah_? They sound similar. They are similar, but Hawaiian bread is softer and a bit sweeter. I believe it’s made with pineapple (or at least pineapple flavor), and it’s just this side of a cake, really. It’s made with yeast, but it’s not kneaded very much, so the gluten strands are short and the grain pretty fine. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/38 "2010-06-28T12:57:07Z")
A 4-pack of King’s Hawaiian rolls is the perfect partner for a single-person serving of fried chicken and a Pepsi. Or fried catfish. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/39 "2010-06-28T13:14:55Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > How does the taste compare to that of _challah_? They sound similar. Internally, very similar–challah is eggier, but the flavor and texture is similar. The big difference is the crust. Challah has a slightly tough/crisp crust. Hawaiian bread has no crust texture at all (think like a wonder-bread hamburger bun). ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639/40 "2010-06-28T13:21:19Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Used to be. They moved production to Torrance, CA in 1977. The bakery had a location (coffee shop, basically) in Honolulu when I was stationed there in the Navy from 1982-1990, but I believe that has gone away, as well. There was a King’s Hawaiian restaurant still next to the bakery in Torrance when I lived there in 2001-02. It served “Hawaiian specialties,” but I never went there so I don’t know what they were. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kings-hawaiian-breads-is-this-for-real/544639.md?page=3)