Tahiti's French & Chinese Layer

Culinary Explorer

A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.

Chef Makoa

Nems Tahitiens (Tahiti's Chinese-Tahitian Spring Rolls)

Crisp Tahitian nems from the Chinese-Tahitian table: pork, cabbage, carrot, and glass noodles tucked tight, fried golden, and passed around with sweet-sour sauce for New Year or any full house.

Chef Makoa

Hachis Frites (Tahitian Minced Beef, Fries, and Rice)

A Tahitian roulotte plate from Papeʻete nights: savory minced beef, crisp fries, and white rice piled big, French casse-croûte comfort carried into island appetite.

Chef Makoa

Steak Frites Tahitien (Papeʻete Roulotte Steak and Fries)

A Papeʻete roulotte plate for the home stove: seared New Zealand steak, a mountain of crisp fries, and the French sauce Tahiti made its own.

Chef Makoa

Chao Men (Tahitian Chow Mein)

Tahiti's chao men is Hakka chow mein made fully local: glossy egg noodles, pork, cabbage, carrot, and green onion, fast from the wok and generous enough for the table.

Chef Makoa

Kiu Nyuk (Tahitian Chinese Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens)

Tahiti's Chinese families held this one close: pork belly steamed deep with preserved mustard greens until the fat softens, the leaf turns dark, and the sauce wants rice.

Chef Makoa

Puaʻa Roti (Tahitian Lacquered Pork)

Puaʻa roti is Tahiti's home-style roast pork, a Hakka-Tahitian table dish with soy, honey, garlic, and ginger cooked until the belly goes mahogany and sticky at the edges.

Chef Makoa

Māʻa Tinito (Tahitian Chinese-Style Pork, Red Bean, and Macaroni Stew)

Tahiti's māʻa tinito, literally Chinese food, braises pork with red beans, macaroni, clear noodles, and greens into the Hakka-Tahitian comfort pot people feed to family.

Chef Makoa

Canard Laqué Tahitien (Tahitian Lacquered Duck with Coconut Milk)

Glossy Chinese-Tahitian roast duck from Papeʻete, lacquered with soy, honey, and five-spice, carved for the lazy Susan, then dipped into thick fresh coconut milk beside rice, ʻuru, and a crowded table.

Chef Makoa

Poulet Citron (Tahitian Lemon Chicken)

Tahiti's poulet citron, the lemon chicken of the roulottes: French name, Chinese wok hand, bright citrus sauce, and rice underneath. Everyday fenua food, warm and real.

Chef Makoa

Poisson au Black Bean (Tahitian-Chinese Steamed Parrotfish)

Lagoon parrotfish steamed the Papeʻete Chinese way, with salted black beans, ginger, scallion, and hot oil, a Tahitian celebration dish that lets the reef fish stay itself.

Chef Makoa

Gâteau de Lune Tahitien (Tahitian Chinese Mooncake)

Tahiti's Chinese-Tahitian mooncake, tender pastry wrapped around sweet red-bean paste and a salted yolk, baked golden for the fenua's New Year table.

Chef Makoa

Casse-Croûte Tahitien (Tahitian Baguette Sandwich)

A Tahitian roulotte lunch in both hands: crisp baguette, seared steak, hot fries, tomato, lettuce, and sauce, the colonial loaf made local and fed without fuss.

Chef Makoa

Puaʻa Choux Chinois (Tahitian Pork and Chinese Cabbage Stew)

A Tahitian Sunday pot from the Chinese-Tahitian table: pork belly, Chinese cabbage, carrots, and turnips simmered soft in a savory broth, made for rice and one more bowl.

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