Pop into any local-style bakery or cha chaan teng (a local-style diner) in Hong Kong, and you’re likely to encounter a fist-sized bun with a scored top. This is the pineapple bun, named not for any tropical ingredient, but rather for that surface, which is thought to resemble that of the eponymous fruit. These days, the pineapple bun is found at Chinese bakeries across the world, but it got its start in Hong Kong. It was possibly first made by Chinese immigrants returning from Mexico during the 1940s, who were…
