Chef Makoa
Baked ʻUlu Coconut Pudding (Hawaiian Ripe Breadfruit Custard)
Very ripe Hawaiian ʻulu, the canoe-crop breadfruit, mashed soft with coconut milk and sugar, then baked until the middle sets like a quiet custard.
Culinary Explorer
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Meitunu (Tongan Fire-Roasted Breadfruit)
Created by
Tonga's mei, breadfruit, roasted whole until the skin goes black and the flesh inside turns creamy and smoky, ready for salted coconut cream and a family spread.
Side Dishes
Polynesian, Tongan
Comfort Food
Outdoor Dining
Celebration
10 min
Active Time
50 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
Yield6 to 8 servings
The canoe carried relatives, not cargo. In Tonga this one is mei, breadfruit, and when it is blackened whole over flame they call it meitunu, roasted breadfruit, plain as a working hand. This is Tonga's hand, tied to fonua, the land and people, and to the kāinga, the family that tears it open while the outside is charred and the inside has gone soft.
The first Tongan uncle who fed it to me did not dress it up. He knocked the black skin off, pulled the center core, sprinkled salt, and passed me a piece with lolo, coconut cream, because that was enough. I knew the shape already from home, Hawaiʻi's ʻulu, and from the cousins, Sāmoa's ʻulu, Tahiti's ʻuru, the Cook Islands kuru. Same canoe crop, different island hand. One ocean, one canoe, one root.
The method is honest: choose a mature green mei, score it so the heat can breathe, char it until the skin looks ruined, then rest it so the flesh finishes soft under its own heat. The black outside is not failure. It is the shell that protects the food. Peel past it and you get the pale, smoky, dry-starchy heart, made for fish, lū sipi, Tongan taro leaves with lamb, tinned corned beef and onions, or nothing but salt.
I cook this open-handed because the deeper Tongan feast knowledge belongs to Tongan elders, the aunties, uncles, and ʻeiki, the chiefly lineages, who carry it from inside. For a home kitchen, no need make it precious. Use a charcoal grill, an oven and broiler, or the flame you have, and eat it while the table is still noisy. Eat what you have, but know whose table you're at.
Mei, breadfruit, is one of the canoe crops moved through western Polynesia by voyagers who settled Tonga and Sāmoa more than two thousand years ago, then carried the same tree east to warm islands such as Tahiti, the Cook Islands, and Hawaiʻi. In Tonga it stood with talo, taro, ʻufi, yam, kumala, sweet potato, and coconut as deep food from the fonua before nineteenth-century mission and trade economies made rice, flour, and tinned meat common everyday starches. Meitunu is the fresh-cooked table, eaten soon after roasting, while fermented breadfruit keeping traditions such as popoi and masi show how other islands stretched the same crop through hard seasons.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mature firm breadfruit (mei)
Quantity
2 (2 to 2 1/2 pounds each)
sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
plus more to taste
fresh coconut cream (lolo) (optional)
Quantity
1 cup
or thick canned coconut cream
banana leaves or foil (optional)
Quantity
enough to wrap the roasted breadfruit
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature firm breadfruit (mei) | 2 (2 to 2 1/2 pounds each) |
| sea saltplus more to taste | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| fresh coconut cream (lolo) (optional)or thick canned coconut cream | 1 cup |
| banana leaves or foil (optional) | enough to wrap the roasted breadfruit |
Equipment Needed
- •Charcoal grill, hardwood fire pit, or oven with broiler
- •Long metal tongs
- •Fireproof gloves or a clean thick kitchen towel
- •Rimmed half-sheet pan for the oven method
- •Banana leaves or heavy foil for resting
Instructions
- 1
Choose the mei
Choose mature, firm mei with the little skin segments filled out and flatter, not sharp and tight like an unready fruit. A good one feels heavy for its size and may show a little white latex at the stem. If it has gone soft and sweet, save it for dessert; meitunu wants the starchy one that eats like bread and potato had the same canoe.
- 2
Score for fire
Rinse and dry the breadfruit. With a small knife, cut a shallow X through the skin at the stem end and another at the bottom, then make three or four shallow slashes around the sides, only through the skin. This lets the heat in and gives pressure a way out, so the fruit roasts instead of splitting wild.
Never put an unscored whole breadfruit over fire or into a hot oven. That skin is tough, and it needs a place to breathe. - 3
Build the heat
Outdoor method: set a charcoal or hardwood fire for medium-high direct heat, with a cooler edge so you can move the mei if the flames get too hungry. Oven method: heat to 425F and set a rack near the top for a final broil. The old Tongan way is fire and hot stones, often beside the ʻumu, the earth oven, but the home kitchen can still respect the logic.
- 4
Roast it black
Set the whole mei directly on the grate or on a rimmed sheet pan. Turn every 5 to 8 minutes until the skin is black, blistered, and cracked all around, 35 to 55 minutes depending on size; in the oven, roast until tender, then broil and turn to char the skin. A skewer should slide into the center with only a little resistance, and the fruit should feel heavy-soft when you lift it with tongs.
If one side blackens early, move it to the cooler edge of the fire. The goal is a black shell and cooked flesh, not bitterness running all the way through. - 5
Rest under leaf
Move the roasted mei to banana leaves or foil and wrap it for 10 to 15 minutes. This rest is not fancy, it's practical. The heat settles, the skin loosens, and the flesh finishes from firm to creamy without drying out.
- 6
Peel and core
When cool enough to handle with a towel, pull or scrape away the black skin. Split the breadfruit in halves or quarters, cut out the firm center core, and break the flesh into big pieces. The inside should be pale cream to yellow, smoky at the edges, with a soft starchy crumb that still holds together.
- 7
Salt and share
Sprinkle with sea salt while the flesh is warm. Spoon over lolo, coconut cream, if you want that western-island richness, or serve it dry beside grilled fish, lū sipi, Tongan taro leaves with lamb, roasted pork, or tinned corned beef and onions. Lay it in the center of the table. No precious portions.
Chef Tips
- •The black skin is part of the method. Breadfruit protects itself while the flesh inside turns tender, so don't panic when the outside looks too far gone.
- •Sourcing first, always. If you can buy mei from a Pacific grower or somebody who knows when it came off the tree, do that. Food from the right ground already tastes better.
- •Fresh lolo is best if you can squeeze it, especially for the western islands' table. A good thick can is fine on a weeknight. Keeper, not gatekeeper.
- •Leftover meitunu is good food. Pan-fry the pieces the next day until the edges crisp, or tuck them beside eggs, fish, sapasui, or corned beef and rice. We no waste the canoe crops.
Advance Preparation
- •Buy the breadfruit 1 to 2 days ahead and keep it at room temperature. Use it while firm and mature, before it turns soft and sweet.
- •Do not cut the breadfruit ahead; the flesh oxidizes and dries. Score it right before roasting.
- •Squeeze the lolo the morning of the meal if using fresh coconut cream. Fresh cream separates and sours if it sits too long.
- •Roast the mei up to 2 hours ahead, keep it wrapped in banana leaves or foil, and peel it close to serving so the flesh stays moist.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 235g)
Calories
355 calories
Total Fat
12 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
500 mg
Total Carbohydrates
66 g
Dietary Fiber
12 g
Sugars
27 g
Protein
4 g
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