Culinary Explorer

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

Discover Culinary Explorer
Eke Takare (Cook Islands Curried Octopus)

Eke Takare (Cook Islands Curried Octopus)

Created by

Rarotonga's reef catch brought home to the pot: tender eke simmered with onion, garlic, turmeric, curry powder, and coconut cream until the sauce turns gold and rich.

Main Dishes
Polynesian, Cook Islands
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
Weeknight
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 15 min cook•1 hr 40 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings

The reef feeds you like family, but only if you listen to it first. In the Cook Islands, especially around Rarotonga, eke, octopus, comes from that close water where people know the tide, the coral, the holes, and the hands that brought it in. This is Cook Islands food, no blur, no plain "Polynesian" plate. It belongs to those aunties and uncles who can turn a tough reef creature soft with time, coconut, and a pot that has seen plenty dinners already.

Eke takare, curried octopus, carries the old and the new in the same bowl. The coconut cream is the island heart, the same kind of richness that holds rukau, Cook Islands taro leaves cooked down soft in coconut, and sits beside ika mata, the Cooks' raw fish in coconut and citrus. The curry came by another road, through British and colonial trade and pantry habit, and the Cooks made it answer to the reef catch. Keeper, not gatekeeper. The islands eat what history left there, then make it their own at the table.

The trick is patience. Octopus no likes being bullied. Simmer it until a knife slides through the thickest arm with almost no argument, then let the coconut cream and spice wrap around it. Serve it with taro, breadfruit, or rice, whatever feeds your house that day. Eat what you have. One ocean, one canoe, one root, and each island still speaks in its own bowl.

Eke takare is a Cook Islands dish shaped by reef gathering, coconut abundance, and the curry powders that entered local kitchens through British colonial trade and everyday pantry life. It sits beside older canoe-crop foods like rukau and taro, showing the deep-food table and the later mission and colonial pantry sharing one meal without pretending they came from the same time. Across the Triangle, octopus and coconut appear in different hands, but this curried version belongs to the Cook Islands and should be named that way.

The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.

Discover Culinary Explorer

Ingredients

cleaned octopus (eke)

Quantity

2 pounds

fresh or thawed

neutral oil or coconut oil

Quantity

1 tablespoon

onion

Quantity

1 large

thinly sliced

garlic cloves

Quantity

4

minced

mild curry powder

Quantity

1 tablespoon

ground turmeric

Quantity

1 teaspoon

freshly ground black pepper

Quantity

1/2 teaspoon

fresh chile or chile flakes (optional)

Quantity

1 small or 1/2 teaspoon

sliced if fresh

water

Quantity

1 1/2 cups

plus more as needed

thick coconut cream

Quantity

1 1/2 cups

sea salt

Quantity

1 teaspoon

plus more to taste

fresh lime juice (optional)

Quantity

1 tablespoon

green onions

Quantity

2

thinly sliced, for serving

cooked taro, breadfruit, or rice

Quantity

for serving

Equipment Needed

  • •Heavy 5-quart Dutch oven or thick-bottomed pot with lid
  • •Small sharp knife for testing tenderness
  • •Wooden spoon for stirring the coconut curry

Instructions

  1. 1

    Clean the eke

    Rinse the cleaned eke well, checking the head cavity and the arms for any grit from the reef or the market. Cut it into big bite-size pieces, about 1 1/2 inches, because octopus shrinks as it cooks. Pat it dry so it does not waterlog the pot before the seasoning even starts.

    If your octopus is frozen, that's all right. Freezing helps tenderize it, and no shame in using what your market gives you.
  2. 2

    Soften the onions

    Warm the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it slumps down sweet and glossy, 6 to 8 minutes, then add the garlic and stir just until it smells warm and sharp, not browned. This is the bottom of the whole curry, so let it soften properly.

  3. 3

    Wake the curry

    Stir in the curry powder, turmeric, black pepper, and chile if you're using it. Cook for 30 to 45 seconds, just until the spices stain the onions gold and smell full. Don't scorch them. Bitter spice will follow you all the way to the table.

  4. 4

    Simmer the octopus

    Add the eke, water, and salt, then bring the pot to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook 45 to 60 minutes, stirring now and then, until the thickest pieces give to a small knife without fighting back. If the pot gets dry, add a splash more water. No blame the octopus if it's still tough. It just needs time.

  5. 5

    Add coconut cream

    Lower the heat and stir in the coconut cream. Simmer uncovered 10 to 15 minutes, keeping it gentle, until the sauce turns golden, thick, and glossy around the pieces of eke. Hard boiling can split the cream, so keep the pot calm.

  6. 6

    Finish and share

    Taste for salt, then brighten with lime juice if the curry wants a little lift. Scatter green onion over the top and serve family-style with cooked taro, breadfruit, or rice. The sauce should be rich enough to cling, but loose enough to soak into whatever starch is feeding the table.

Chef Tips

  • •Buy octopus from somebody who can tell you where it came from. Reef food asks that kind of respect first, before the pot and before the spice.
  • •Fresh coconut cream gives the deepest body, especially if you can squeeze it yourself from mature coconut. A thick canned coconut cream works on a weeknight, just choose one without sugar.
  • •If octopus is hard to find, squid can carry the same weeknight curry idea, but cook it fast instead of long or it turns rubbery. That becomes a cousin dish, not eke takare.
  • •Serve this with taro or breadfruit when you can. Rice is welcome too, because that is how many island tables eat now. We keep the old foods alive without pretending the pantry never changed.

Advance Preparation

  • •Clean and cut the octopus up to 1 day ahead, then keep it covered and cold.
  • •The curry base of onion, garlic, and spices can be cooked a few hours ahead; add the octopus when you are ready to simmer.
  • •Leftovers keep 2 days in the refrigerator. Rewarm gently over low heat so the coconut cream stays smooth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 480g)

Calories
650 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
24 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
90 mg
Sodium
900 mg
Total Carbohydrates
60 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
34 g

Note: Chef personas and recipes are created with AI assistance. Cook with care: follow safe food-handling practices and adapt for allergies and your kitchen.

Chef Makoa is a fictional culinary guide to Pan-Polynesian Heritage Cuisine, written with the assistance of AI.

Where cooking meets culture.

Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.

Discover Culinary Explorer

More from The Cook Islands Savory Table

Browse the full collection
Ika Mata (Cook Islands Raw Fish in Coconut)

Chef Makoa

Ika Mata (Cook Islands Raw Fish in Coconut)

The Cook Islands bowl: fresh fish just turned in lime, softened with thick coconut cream, and kept crisp with cucumber, onion, and tomato. Same fish, different bowl.

Kare Moa (Cook Islands Chicken Curry)

Chef Makoa

Kare Moa (Cook Islands Chicken Curry)

Cook Islands kare moa, chicken curry softened in coconut milk with turmeric, ginger, garlic, potato, and carrot, the kind of weeknight pot that feeds the family twice.

Kari Ika (Cook Islands Coconut Fish Curry)

Chef Makoa

Kari Ika (Cook Islands Coconut Fish Curry)

Firm white fish simmered gently in coconut milk, curry, chilli, onion, and tomato. The Cook Islands call this kari ika, British curry made local by the lagoon.

Maroro Tunu (Cook Islands Grilled Flying Fish)

Chef Makoa

Maroro Tunu (Cook Islands Grilled Flying Fish)

Night-caught Cook Islands maroro, the flying fish of the lagoon, grilled quick over fire until the skin crisps at the edges and the flesh stays sweet.