Burt Fujii affectionately calls it "the hockey puck." But it's a tasty hockey puck.

Makiki Bake Shop has been turning out the signature biscuits for decades. When Fujii and his fiancee, Faith Kimura, bought the bakery from the original owners 10 years ago, they kept the sturdy little biscuits but made a few improvements.

"It used to be more flaky and crumbly," Fujii said. He tweaked the recipe to make the biscuits heavier, more substantial and a tad sweeter. The result is a very hardy, travel-worthy bun.

"We believe our biscuits can withstand the turbulence of air travel as well as baggage handling," Fujii said.

Throw them in your overnight and go. They can handle it.

Makiki Bake Shop on Young Street doesn't have a retail counter, though they will sell to walk-in customers. Instead, 95 percent of their business is wholesale. The bakery distributes to stores around O'ahu including Times, Marukai, Foodland, Tamura's, Don Quijote and some Longs locations. The bakery also does cakes for Pagoda Hotel and Foodland.

They don't do much advertising, but have been mentioned in the Omiyage Guide by Donovan Dela Cruz and Jodi Endo Chai. The biscuits have something of an underground, insiders'-only fan base. Some people like them toasted and plain because they're just sweet enough not to need butter. But toasted with butter and a smear of guava jelly is pretty much food for the gods. One of their customers uses the biscuits in lieu of an English muffin in eggs Benedict. Another uses them for tuna sandwiches. You could use them as paperweights or doorstops, but that's not their highest, best purpose.

Fujii and Kimura say they don't bake. They leave that to their staff of eight while they both work at Business Insurance Services on Pi'ikoi. Fujii serves as weekend delivery driver for the bake shop, though, bringing the four-pack bags of biscuits to stores "from Kaheka to Wahiawa to La'ie to Kane'ohe in four hours," he says.

He works seven days a week, which sort of explains why he and Kimura have been together 15 years and he only recently got around to proposing — on stage at the Society of Seven show in Las Vegas. She said yes. One of the SOS members cried. They played the theme song from "The Young and the Restless." It was very romantic, and then they came home and went back to work.

But when they do get around to getting married, the guests better throw rice and not those stout little biscuits. If they hit your head they could knock you out. And it would be a waste of a tasty biscuit.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.