Malasadas

Malasadas. What is a malasada you ask? It’s a Porta-​gee confection. Per wikipedia, malasadas are made of egg-​sized balls of yeast dough that are deep-​fried in oil and coated with granulated sugar.
Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent starts is Malasada Day in Hawaii.
Not my favorite dessert and I don’t eat it often, but I do have a craving for one every now and then. If you are going to try it, you have to eat it while it’s hot and fresh. It’s a must, that way you will taste it at its prime. The hot donut is moist inside and the combination of the oil and sugar makes for a sweet treat. You can reheat them but they just don’t taste the same as when you just buy them. With all the sugar, it can get a bit messy so have napkins on hand.
I have never experienced it but have heard the best malasadas are made once a year at the Punahou Carnival in March.
When I do have a craving, I go to Leonard’s. I can get a traditional malasada or even a filled one. The fillings range from chocolate to haupia to guava. The traditional ones have granulated sugar but even they have been spruced up. You can even get cinnamon or li hing mui (my favorite) with the granulated suagr.
One of THE must try local foods when coming to Hawaii.
^_​^*~

Believe it or not, I actually hated malasadas when I was little not because of the taste or anything. It was just that they were so messy. Everytime I would eat one, I would end up with sugar all over myself and my mom would end up sending me to the bathroom to clean myself up. However, I like them now. I’m not a big fan of the ones with filling. Instead I prefer the traditional ones.

Grew up eating malasadas… you buy em anywhere, its guaranteed good. Champion Malasada’s on beretania is the best.

Um, Yum. I love deep fried food and this is the be all end all of fried dough out there in the world. I’m a connoisseur of deep fried foods so that’s a serious statement there! I’m more a fan of the ones that are not filled. Sometimes less is more. These are just too perfect. My best friend who grew up here has been raving about these for years and she’s right. these Portuguese donuts are wondrous. I can only end this review by quoting a song that I think of when I swallowed my first bite:
You’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.
You’re beautiful, it’s true.
–James Blunt

YUP! You gotta have malasadas when in Honolulu or anywhere in Hawaii! We’ tried the malasadas in Big Island (some drive-​in going up to North Kohala Coast), it was freshly made but quite doughy and it pales in comparison to Leonards. I wanted to go and try Champion Bakery but didn’t quite get to it on our last trip to Oahu (last week). I’m not really fond of «donut» but… Next time… a definite place to go.

Champion Bakery on Beretania Street, just past McCully Street has wonderful malasadas… Gotta check it out. The baker is a Chinese man from the Portuguese colony of Macao.
I like Champion Bakery better because their malasadas don’t leave the «sticky tongue» from the cream of tartar… just sweet goodness… I also ask for «lightly sugared»…that way, they aren’t too sweet… but just right… hot and delicate and just right… Champion Bakery. The other treats are equally good… orange chiffon cake, chocolate chiffon cake, etc…

one beautiful word — malasadas! plain Portugese doughnuts with Hawaiian sugar coating or filled with coconut, guava, cream.
this is it.
if you don’t stop at Leonard’s Bakery for malasadas you’re missing out!

Damn those oil filled vats on wheels! I could hear the bell a mile away. The malasada truck would visit my Jr. High school parking lot twice a day *ring ring ring*. Is it any wonder that I didn’t out weight the Samoan kids?
Be careful and get only the hot out of the fryer malasadas. If they sit for even a few minutes they get kind of stale or squishy. YUCK! Trust me if you insist, the driver will make some fresh ones in a few blinks of an eye. NEVER order them from the mall food court if you see lumpia on the menu!
My first day back in Hawaii I’ll head for the trucks for malasadas and huli huli chicken!

We love malasadas and it’s been amazing that we waited for 10 days after arrival to eat our first one this time around! Actually hubby saw the Leonard’s truck parked in a strip mall so he pulled in there and we got 4… 2 for him (with sugar) and 1 each for me and the rugrat without sugar. They were delicious even though it wasn’t fresh out of the oil vat — they were warm though. The rugrat went «this is really good — YUMMY»… so we knew they were good. Now, I’m looking forward to Punahou School’s Carnival where I heard that the malasadas are THE BEST in Hawaii. Catch is, the carnival is only once a year. I’ll report back once I’ve tried them.