Chef Makoa
Faʻalifu Talo (Sāmoan Taro in Coconut Cream)
Sāmoa’s talo, peeled and simmered until it gives, then folded through salted coconut cream until every piece drinks deep and shines.
Culinary Explorer
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Faʻalifu Faʻi (Sāmoan Green Bananas in Coconut Cream)
Created by
Sāmoa's everyday faʻalifu faʻi takes green cooking bananas, firm from the pot, and lets salted peʻepeʻe (coconut cream) settle around them with onion. Simple food, canoe-crop comfort, ready for a weeknight table.
Side Dishes
Polynesian, Samoan
Comfort Food
Weeknight
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield6 servings
ASāmoan auntie taught me this kind of food without making a speech. She set the pot in the middle of the table, faʻi (green cooking bananas) sitting heavy in peʻepeʻe (fresh coconut cream), onion softened through it, and told the younger ones, eat. That's how this dish talks. No big show. Just fanua (land), aiga (family), meaʻai (food), and a starch strong enough to carry the meal.
This is Sāmoa's bowl, and I cook it open-handed, the way I'd want my cousins to speak about kalo back home. Across the Triangle, coconut cream holds food the way family holds people: Sāmoan palusami, Tongan lū, Cook Islands rukau, Tahitian fāfā, Hawaiian laulau. Back home we know maiʻa (banana) too, but this hand is faʻalifu, the Sāmoan way of finishing a starch in coconut cream until the pot tastes like the people gathered around it.
The why is simple. Green banana has firmness and a little bite, so you boil it first until it gives but doesn't fall apart. Then the coconut cream comes low and slow, never angry, with salt and onion, and it turns the plain starch into comfort. Squeeze the cream fresh if you can. A good can works on a weeknight. No need make it precious. Just don't rush the part that carries the soul.
Faʻalifu is a Sāmoan cooking word for finishing food in coconut cream, used with faʻi (green cooking banana), talo (taro), ulu (breadfruit), and other starches from the family pot. Bananas moved into western Polynesia with the old voyaging plant world from Island Southeast Asia, while coconut cream became a shared language from Sāmoan palusami to Tongan lū, Cook Islands rukau, Tahitian fāfā, and Hawaiian laulau. In the mission and plantation centuries, rice, bread, corned beef, and sapasui joined the Sāmoan table, but faʻalifu faʻi stayed everyday home food, the kind that proves old foodways live in weeknight pots too.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
green cooking bananas (faʻi)
Quantity
8 large, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
water
Quantity
enough to cover by 1 inch
sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons, divided
plus more to taste
fresh coconut cream (peʻepeʻe)
Quantity
2 cups
or 1 1/2 cups thick canned coconut cream plus 1/2 cup water
yellow or white onion
Quantity
1 small
thinly sliced
reserved banana cooking water
Quantity
1/2 cup
as needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| green cooking bananas (faʻi) | 8 large, about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds |
| water | enough to cover by 1 inch |
| sea saltplus more to taste | 2 teaspoons, divided |
| fresh coconut cream (peʻepeʻe)or 1 1/2 cups thick canned coconut cream plus 1/2 cup water | 2 cups |
| yellow or white onionthinly sliced | 1 small |
| reserved banana cooking wateras needed | 1/2 cup |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 4-quart pot with lid
- •Colander or wide slotted spoon for lifting bananas without breaking
- •Food-safe gloves for peeling green banana sap
- •Coconut grater and muslin cloth, if squeezing peʻepeʻe fresh
Instructions
- 1
Peel the faʻi
Rub a little oil on your hands or wear gloves, because green banana sap likes to mark you. Cut off the ends, slit each skin lengthwise, and pull the peel away with your thumb or a small knife. Drop the peeled faʻi, the green cooking bananas, into cold water as you work so they don't darken before the pot is ready.
Use truly green bananas, firm and starchy. If they have gone yellow and sweet, save them for another dish. Faʻalifu faʻi wants backbone. - 2
Boil them firm
Put the peeled bananas in a heavy pot and cover with water by about an inch. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, bring to a steady simmer, and cook 15 to 20 minutes, until a small knife slides in but the pieces still hold their shape. You want tender, not collapsed. The coconut cream still has to meet them.
- 3
Mix the peʻepeʻe
While the bananas cook, stir the peʻepeʻe, the coconut cream, with the sliced onion and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. If you're using canned coconut cream and it is very thick, loosen it with a little warm cooking water. It should coat a spoon, not run away thin.
- 4
Finish in cream
Drain the bananas, saving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and return them to the pot over low heat. Pour in the coconut cream and onion, then gently turn the bananas so they are coated without breaking. Simmer softly for 5 to 8 minutes, spooning the cream over them, until the onion softens and the sauce clings glossy and white around each piece.
Don't boil the coconut cream hard or it can split. If it breaks, lower the heat and stir in a splash of the saved cooking water. No blame the cream. The fire got pushy. - 5
Rest and share
Take the pot off the heat and let it sit 5 minutes, so the faʻi drinks a little of the salted cream. Taste and adjust the salt, then spoon everything into a wide bowl with the onion and coconut cream pooled around it. Serve warm, family-style, beside fish, palusami, sapasui, roast pork, or whatever the table has that night. Eat what you have.
Chef Tips
- •Green means green. The faʻi should feel firm, almost stubborn, with no sweet banana smell. If it has started to ripen, the texture turns soft and the sauce gets sweet in the wrong way.
- •Fresh peʻepeʻe carries the soul here. To make it at home, knead grated mature coconut with a little warm water, then wring it through cloth and use the first squeeze. A thick can does the weeknight job, and nobody needs to act fancy about it.
- •Peeling green bananas can stain your hands and knife. Oil your hands, use gloves, or peel under water. Ugly marks on the fruit don't matter once it cooks. We no throw out good food.
- •Keep the coconut cream on low heat. A hard boil makes it split and turn oily. You want a soft simmer, the cream thickening around the faʻi in a smooth, salted coat.
- •Serve it the way the islands actually eat now. Faʻalifu faʻi can sit beside oka iʻa, palusami, grilled fish, roast chicken, corned beef, rice, or sapasui. Deep food and everyday food share the same mat.
Advance Preparation
- •Peel the bananas up to 2 hours ahead and keep them covered in cold salted water, then drain before boiling.
- •Squeeze fresh coconut cream the morning of and keep it chilled. Stir before using, because fresh cream separates and can sour if it sits too long.
- •For best texture, boil the bananas ahead and finish them in coconut cream close to serving. If reheating leftovers, warm gently with a splash of water or coconut cream so the sauce comes back together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
395 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
19 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
560 mg
Total Carbohydrates
48 g
Dietary Fiber
6 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
4 g
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