Chef Makoa
Faikai Ika (Tuvaluan Baked Tuna in Coconut)
Tuvalu's faikai ika bakes fresh tuna in coconut cream until the fish flakes soft and drinks the nut in, lagoon catch and palm brought together on one low coral island plate.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Fekei (Tuvaluan Grated Pulaka in Coconut Cream)
Created by
Tuvalu grates pulaka from the pit, folds it with rich coconut cream, then cooks it in leaves until it sets dense and tender, coral-island food with the old root still holding the table.
Side Dishes
Polynesian, Tuvaluan
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•2 hr 5 min total
Yield8 servings
The elder brother looks different on a low coral island. In Tuvalu, the root is pulaka, giant swamp-taro hauled from deep pits dug down into the fresh water lens under the coral. No mountain stream, no volcanic loʻi like my home in Hawaiʻi. Just coral, salt wind, coconut palms, and people stubborn enough to feed themselves from that thin strip between lagoon and ocean.
Fekei is Tuvaluan, and I say that clean. The pulaka is grated raw, mixed with coconut cream, then wrapped and steamed until the starch sets heavy and tender, sweetened by the nut without needing to be made precious. Tokelau keeps its own pulaka world too, cousin close but not the same hand, and across the Triangle you can hear the same root speaking in Hawaiʻi's poi and paʻiʻai, the Cook Islands' taro, Sāmoa's talo, Tonga's lū, Tahiti's fāfā. One ocean, one canoe, one root, but every island gets named.
The thing to watch is the texture. Raw pulaka starts rough and pale in your hands. As it cooks, the coconut cream sinks in, the leaf holds the moisture, and the whole bundle firms into a dense slice you can cut, glossy at the edges and gentle in the mouth. Cook it all the way through. No rush the taro. No blame the taro. It gives when the time is right.
I learned enough at cousins' tables to cook this open-handed, but the deepest parts of Tuvaluan food, the pit, the land rights, the old family ways, that belongs to Tuvalu's own elders. Food on a barge is part of the truth now too, corned beef and rice sitting beside the pulaka, no shame in telling it straight. But feeding the island from its own ground, even ground made of coral, that's repair.
Pulaka, the giant swamp-taro of Tuvalu, is grown in hand-dug pits that reach the fresh water lens beneath coral soil, a food system built for islands barely above the lagoon. As sea levels rise and salt water pushes into those pits, pulaka becomes more than a starch; it is an identity-anchor under pressure, with Tokelau facing a closely related pulaka struggle in its own islands. Fekei belongs to that deep-food line, older than the barge foods of rice and tinned meat, yet today it sits beside those newer foods because island kitchens keep living.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
pulaka (giant swamp-taro)
Quantity
3 pounds
peeled and grated, or mature taro if pulaka is unavailable
thick fresh coconut cream
Quantity
2 cups
squeezed from grated mature coconut, or good canned coconut cream
sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
coconut toddy syrup or raw sugar (optional)
Quantity
1 to 2 tablespoons
banana leaves or taro leaves
Quantity
enough for wrapping
softened
water
Quantity
1/2 cup
for steaming
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| pulaka (giant swamp-taro)peeled and grated, or mature taro if pulaka is unavailable | 3 pounds |
| thick fresh coconut creamsqueezed from grated mature coconut, or good canned coconut cream | 2 cups |
| sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| coconut toddy syrup or raw sugar (optional) | 1 to 2 tablespoons |
| banana leaves or taro leavessoftened | enough for wrapping |
| waterfor steaming | 1/2 cup |
Equipment Needed
- •Box grater or food processor with fine grating disk
- •Heavy 6-quart pot with tight lid and steaming rack
- •Kitchen twine for tying leaf bundles
Instructions
- 1
Ready the leaves
Soften the banana leaves over a low flame, in hot water, or in a warm oven until they bend without cracking. Wipe them clean and lay them in a wide cross, shiny side in, so the pulaka has a good bed. The leaf is not decoration. It holds the moisture and gives the bundle its shape.
- 2
Grate the pulaka
Peel the pulaka carefully, then grate it on the fine side of a box grater or in a food processor until it looks like damp, coarse meal. Keep your hands steady, because raw taro family roots can itch the skin. If that happens, wash well and keep going. Eat what you have, but respect what it is.
If you cannot get pulaka, use the firmest mature taro you can find. It will not be the same as Tuvalu's pit-grown root, but it lets the method come into your kitchen without pretending. - 3
Mix with cream
Put the grated pulaka in a bowl and fold in the coconut cream, salt, and toddy syrup or sugar if you're using it. The mixture should be thick and heavy, not pourable, with the cream just loosening the grated root and giving it a pale gloss. Fresh coconut cream carries the soul here, but a good can does the weeknight work.
- 4
Wrap the bundle
Spoon the mixture into the center of the leaves and shape it into a low, even mound, about 2 inches thick. Fold the leaves over tight, one side after the other, then tie with kitchen twine or tuck the bundle seam-side down. Don't make it too thick. The center needs to cook through, same as any taro food, or the root will bite back.
- 5
Steam until set
Set a rack in a heavy pot, add the water below the rack, and place the wrapped fekei on top. Cover tight and steam over medium-low heat for 75 to 90 minutes, adding a splash more water only if the pot runs dry. It is done when the bundle feels firm, the edges look glossy with coconut cream, and a skewer pushed into the center meets no raw, gritty resistance.
- 6
Rest and slice
Let the fekei rest wrapped for 15 minutes so the starch settles. Open the leaves, cut it into thick squares or wedges, and serve warm or at room temperature with a little extra coconut cream spooned over if you like. It should eat dense and tender, sweet from the coconut, plain in the best way. Deep food is not fancy. It feeds people.
Chef Tips
- •Pulaka is not ordinary taro. It is giant swamp-taro grown in pits, and in Tuvalu those pits carry family history as much as food. If you have to substitute mature taro, name the substitution honestly.
- •Fresh coconut cream is worth the work here. Grate mature coconut, squeeze it with a little warm water, then use the first thick pressing. Canned coconut cream is fine when that is what your kitchen has.
- •Cook taro-family roots fully. If the center tastes sharp, scratchy, or gritty, wrap it back up and keep steaming. No shame in more time.
- •Coconut toddy from the tree belongs to this coral-island food world, but use it with respect and only where you can source it properly. A spoon of raw sugar is the easy stand-in.
- •Corned beef and rice off the barge are part of Tuvalu's table now too. The wound is dependence, not the people eating what arrived. The repair is keeping pulaka, coconut, pandanus, and fish alive beside the everyday pantry.
Advance Preparation
- •Grate the pulaka up to 2 hours ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator so it does not dry out.
- •Fekei can be steamed a day ahead, cooled still wrapped, and reheated gently in a covered steamer until glossy and tender again.
- •Fresh coconut cream is best squeezed the same day. If it separates, stir it back together before mixing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 225g)
Calories
335 calories
Total Fat
15 g
Saturated Fat
13 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
165 mg
Total Carbohydrates
49 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
4 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from The Atoll Table: Tuvalu & Tokelau
Browse the full collection
Chef Makoa
Faikakai (Tokelau Coconut Bread)
A sweet, sturdy Tokelau coconut bread, rich with grated mature coconut and fresh cream, baked golden for tea, travel, and one more cousin at the table.
Chef Makoa
Fala Paste (Tuvalu and Tokelau Pandanus Preserve)
Tuvalu and Tokelau keeping food: ripe fala cooked down, spread thin, dried to amber sheets, and rolled away for the days when coral soil, salt water, and the barge all tell the truth.
Chef Makoa
Ika i te Lolo (Tokelauan Fish Simmered in Coconut Cream)
Tokelau's ika i te lolo, reef fish held gently in coconut cream and onion until the sauce turns rich and the fish flakes soft. Lagoon food, coral-soil food, weeknight food.