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Poʻe Meika (Tahitian Banana Pudding in Coconut Milk)

Poʻe Meika (Tahitian Banana Pudding in Coconut Milk)

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Ripe banana mashed soft, bound with pia or tapioca starch, baked until amber and springy, then drowned in fresh coconut milk. Tahiti calls this poʻe meika, the banana one.

Desserts
Polynesian, Tahitian
Celebration
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
50 min cook•1 hr 30 min total
Yield8 servings

The canoe didn't just carry plants, it carried ways to make sweetness from what the fenua, the land, was already giving. Poʻe meika belongs to Tahiti: ripe meika, banana, mashed soft with pia, Polynesian arrowroot starch, baked until it shines and sets, then fed with fresh coconut milk. I learned it as a cousin dish, not from my own papa kuʻi ʻai, the Hawaiian pounding board, so I keep my hands open with it. For the deep parts of maʻa Tahiti, the Tahitian table, go sit with Tahitian metua, the elders. They should tell their own story.

Back home in Hawaiʻi, we pound kalo into paʻiʻai and poi, and I know that board in my bones. Tahiti takes another path here. The fruit isn't pounded into Hāloa's line the way our kalo is, but it still gets treated like a canoe-crop relative: no wasting the speckled bananas, no rushing the starch, no hiding it under fancy. Cook it until the center has no chalk left and the top is glossy, amber, and springy under your fingers.

Then the coconut milk goes over generously. Not a drizzle. This is comfort food and celebration food at once, the sweet that can sit beside fish, leaf parcels, ʻuru, and all the everyday plates the islands eat now. Cook Islands cousins have poke, banana or pumpkin pudding with coconut cream; the Marquesas keep popoi with breadfruit and banana; Hawaiʻi has poi at the board. One ocean, one canoe, one root, but this bowl is Tahiti's. Name the hand and the food comes alive.

Poʻe is part of maʻa Tahiti, the Tahitian table of older foods, where fruit and starch were set in leaf and cooked in the ahimaʻa, the Tahitian earth oven, before home ovens took over the weeknight job. The set once came from pia, Polynesian arrowroot, though tapioca and cornstarch became common pantry stand-ins after mission and trade foods reshaped the kitchen. Its closest dessert cousin is Cook Islands poke, banana or pumpkin set with starch and covered in coconut cream, while Marquesan popoi and Hawaiian poi show the wider pounded-starch family moving under different island names.

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

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Ingredients

very ripe bananas (meika)

Quantity

8 medium, about 2 1/2 pounds unpeeled

peeled and mashed to about 4 cups

pia (Polynesian arrowroot starch), tapioca starch, or cornstarch

Quantity

3/4 to 1 cup

raw sugar

Quantity

2 to 4 tablespoons

use the smaller amount if the bananas are very sweet

fine sea salt

Quantity

1/2 teaspoon

vanilla extract (optional)

Quantity

1 teaspoon

coconut oil

Quantity

1 tablespoon

for the pan

banana leaf, or parchment

Quantity

1 piece

for lining the pan

fresh coconut milk

Quantity

2 cups

or 1 can full-fat coconut milk, well stirred

grated fresh coconut (optional)

Quantity

1/4 cup

for serving

Equipment Needed

  • •9-inch square baking pan or 2-quart baking dish
  • •Potato masher or heavy wooden spoon
  • •Banana leaf or parchment for lining
  • •Fine coconut grater and clean cloth if pressing fresh coconut milk

Instructions

  1. 1

    Line the pan

    Heat the oven to 350F. Oil a 9-inch square pan or a 2-quart baking dish, then line it with banana leaf if you have it, glossy side up, or parchment if you don't. If the leaf is stiff, pass it quickly over a low flame or dip it in hot water until it bends without tearing.

    Banana leaf gives a quiet green scent. Parchment is fine in a home kitchen. Eat what you have, yeah?
  2. 2

    Mash the meika

    Peel the bananas and mash them in a wide bowl until mostly smooth, with a few small soft pieces left. You want about 4 cups. The bananas should smell deep and sweet, with skins gone speckled or black. If they're firm and pale, wait another day. No blame the banana if you used it too young.

  3. 3

    Bind with pia

    Stir in 3/4 cup of the pia, tapioca starch, or cornstarch, then add the sugar, salt, and vanilla if using. Mix until no dry streaks remain and the mash turns into a thick, shiny batter. If it still pours like juice, add the remaining 1/4 cup starch. If it sits heavy on the spoon, stop there.

  4. 4

    Bake until set

    Scrape the batter into the lined pan and smooth the top. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until the pudding turns amber, glossy, and springy in the center, and the edges begin to pull from the leaf or pan. A tester should come out sticky but not chalky. Chalky means the starch still needs time.

  5. 5

    Rest and cut

    Let the poʻe rest at least 20 minutes. It firms as it cools, so don't rush the knife. Cut it into generous squares or diamonds while still warm or at room temperature, the way you'd set out something meant for the whole table, not one careful little portion.

  6. 6

    Pour the coconut

    Spoon the pieces into a carved wooden bowl or onto banana leaf, then pour the fresh coconut milk over until it pools around the pudding. Finish with grated coconut if you like. The poʻe should be soft, glossy, lightly chewy, and sweet enough to taste the banana first.

Chef Tips

  • •Use the ugliest ripe bananas on the counter, the ones too soft for lunch boxes. That is where the sweetness lives. Green-tipped bananas make flat poʻe.
  • •Pia gives the cleanest old-style set if you can find it. Tapioca starch makes the pudding a little bouncier, cornstarch a little softer. All three work.
  • •Fresh coconut milk is best, pressed from grated mature coconut close to serving. A good full-fat can does the weeknight job, just stir it until the cream and liquid come back together.
  • •Poʻe is a family, not only one fruit. Tahitian cooks make versions with ʻuru, breadfruit, papaya, and pumpkin too. This one is meika, the banana one.
  • •Leftovers keep 3 days covered in the fridge, with the coconut milk stored separately. The pudding firms cold, so bring it back to room temperature or warm it gently before serving.

Advance Preparation

  • •Ripen the bananas 1 to 2 days ahead in a paper bag if they need help. They should be deeply speckled before you cook.
  • •Press fresh coconut milk the morning of serving if you can. Fresh coconut milk separates and sours when it sits too long.
  • •The poʻe can be baked up to 1 day ahead. Hold it covered, then serve at room temperature or gently warmed with coconut milk poured fresh at the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 180g)

Calories
315 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
155 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
20 g
Protein
3 g

Note: Chef personas and recipes are created with AI assistance. Cook with care: follow safe food-handling practices, check doneness with a thermometer when needed, and adapt for allergies and your kitchen.

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