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Cook Islands poke ʻanani turns ripe pawpaw into a bright orange pudding, baked until tender and chewy, then flooded with sweet coconut cream for the whole table.
The canoe carried the roots, and the islands taught the fruit how to feed the people. This one belongs to the Cook Islands, poke ʻanani, a pawpaw pudding bright as sunset and soft enough for a child, but still carrying the old lesson: use what is ripe, feed who is there, waste nothing.
I learned this kind of dish from Cook Islands hands, and I hold it that way. Their umukai, the Cook Islands earth oven, has its own people and its own order, so for the deep ceremony I send you to the aunties, uncles, and ariki who carry it. Here in the home kitchen, the oven stands in plain and honest, because most of us are cooking between work, school, and somebody asking when food ready.
Poke in the Cooks has cousins all over the ocean, not because every island makes the same pudding, but because one ocean taught us the same respect for starch, coconut, and ripe fruit. Hawaiʻi has poi and kūlolo from kalo, Tahiti has poʻe with fruit and starch, and the Cooks have this orange poke with arrowroot and coconut cream. One ocean, one canoe, one root, and every island with its own hand.
Cook the pawpaw down until it smells deep and sweet, then bake it until the pudding pulls from the pan and holds a clean cut. The coconut cream goes over warm or cool, thick and glossy. No need make it precious. Just make enough, because somebody always wants one more spoon.
Cook Islands poke is part of a wider Polynesian family of fruit-and-starch puddings, often made with banana, pumpkin, or pawpaw and finished with coconut cream. Arrowroot was an important island starch before imported flours became common, and these puddings show the old food grammar living beside the modern pantry. The dish sits close to Tahitian poʻe and Hawaiian kūlolo in method, but poke ʻanani belongs to the Cook Islands table and should be named that way.
Quantity
3 pounds
peeled, seeded, and chopped
Quantity
1/2 cup
or to taste
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
Quantity
1 cup
plus more if needed
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
divided
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for the coconut cream
Quantity
1 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe pawpaw or papayapeeled, seeded, and chopped | 3 pounds |
| sugaror to taste | 1/2 cup |
| fine sea salt | 1/4 teaspoon |
| arrowroot starchplus more if needed | 1 cup |
| thick coconut creamdivided | 1 1/2 cups |
| sugarfor the coconut cream | 2 tablespoons |
| vanilla extract (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
Put the chopped pawpaw in a heavy pot with the 1/2 cup sugar and the salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the fruit collapses into a thick orange mash and the smell turns deep and jammy, about 20 minutes. If your fruit is already very sweet, pull the sugar back. Eat what you have.
Mash the fruit with a potato masher or blend it briefly with an immersion blender. You want it mostly smooth, but not fancy-smooth. A little body tells the truth of the fruit.
Take the pot off the heat and stir in the arrowroot starch a little at a time, beating well so no dry pockets hide in the orange mash. The mixture should be thick, glossy, and heavy enough to mound on the spoon. If the pawpaw was very juicy, add another tablespoon or two of arrowroot.
Grease an 8-inch square pan or line it with banana leaf where you have it. Spread the pawpaw mixture in evenly and bake at 350F for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top looks set and shiny, the edges pull slightly from the pan, and a knife comes out with only a little orange tackiness.
While the poke bakes, warm 1 cup of the coconut cream with the 2 tablespoons sugar just until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the vanilla if you're using it. Keep the last 1/2 cup coconut cream plain for finishing, so the table gets that clean coconut taste too.
Let the poke rest at least 20 minutes so it firms into clean, tender squares. Cut it warm or cool, spoon the sweet coconut cream over the top, then finish with a little plain coconut cream for a thick white gloss against the orange. Serve family-style, with enough cream on the side for the auntie who always wants more.
1 serving (about 230g)
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