Poʻe Rapa Nui (Banana and Pumpkin Pudding)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8-inch square baking dish or 9-inch loaf pan
• •Steamer basket or covered pot for the pumpkin
• •Potato masher or heavy wooden spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook the pumpkin

   Heat the oven to 350F. Cook the pumpkin in a steamer basket over simmering water for 15 to 20 minutes, until a fork slides through with no fight. Drain it well, then set it back in the warm pot for a minute or two so the extra water dries off before you mash it.

   Watery pumpkin asks for more flour, and then the poʻe turns heavy in the wrong way. Dry the pumpkin first. Let the fruit do its work.
2. 2

   Line the pan

   Oil an 8-inch square baking dish. Pass banana leaves over low heat just until they soften and bend without splitting, then line the pan with overhang. If you don't have banana leaf, use parchment. No shame in that. The leaf gives a little green perfume, but the pudding still belongs to the hand that makes it.

3. 3

   Mash the base

   Mash the cooked pumpkin and ripe bananas together until mostly smooth, with a few banana threads still showing. Stir in the sugar, oil or butter, salt, and vanilla if you're using it. The mixture should look orange-gold and glossy, sweet from the fruit before the flour ever touches it.

4. 4

   Bind the poʻe

   Fold in the flour a little at a time, then the grated coconut if using, until the batter is thick, sticky, and slow to fall from the spoon. Stop when it holds a trail for a second after you drag the spoon through it. This is not cake batter. Poʻe wants density, but it should not turn stiff.

   Different pumpkins carry different water. If the batter still runs loose, add flour by the tablespoon. If it stands like dough, fold in a spoonful of coconut cream to loosen it.
5. 5

   Bake it dense

   Scrape the batter into the lined pan and smooth the top. Fold the banana leaf over it, or cover loosely with parchment and foil, and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 to 30 minutes more, until the edges darken, the center feels set, and a skewer comes out with sticky crumbs but no raw flour.

6. 6

   Rest and serve

   Let the poʻe rest at least 20 minutes before cutting, because it sets as it cools. Serve warm or at room temperature in thick squares, with coconut cream spooned over the top and a little grated coconut if you like. Enough for the table, not one precious slice.

Chef Tips

• •Use bananas with black freckles all over the skin. Green-tipped bananas fight you, and no blame the fruit when you asked it to be sweet before its time.
• •Fresh pumpkin or a firm squash like kabocha gives the best body. Canned pumpkin works on a weeknight, but cook it in a pan for a few minutes first so it tightens up before the flour goes in.
• •This is Rapa Nui's dish. Tahitian poʻe, Cook Islands poke, Marquesan popoi, and Hawaiian poi are cousins, not the same bowl. Name the island, and the family gets bigger without getting blurred.
• •If you are cooking poʻe in an umu pae (Rapa Nui stone earth oven) for ceremony, sit with Rapanui elders and cooks who carry that knowledge. This oven version is for the home kitchen.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook and mash the pumpkin up to 2 days ahead, then keep it covered in the fridge. Drain off any liquid before mixing the batter.
• •Poʻe is good make-ahead food. Bake it the day before, cool it fully, wrap it, and refrigerate; bring it to room temperature or warm it gently before serving.
• •Add the coconut cream at the table. Fresh cream tastes best the day it is pressed, and canned cream should be stirred smooth before spooning over the pudding.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 200g)