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
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Taufolo (Sāmoan Mashed Breadfruit with Coconut Cream)
Created by
Cooked ʻulu pounded soft and folded with fresh peʻepeʻe, the coconut cream that gives Sāmoan taufolo its shine. A western-islands canoe crop, humble and rich.
Side Dishes
Polynesian, Samoan
Comfort Food
Celebration
Special Occasion
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield6 servings
The canoe carried more than people. It carried relatives. In Sāmoa, ʻulu, the breadfruit, is one of those old relatives, a canoe crop that fed the aiga, the family, from the yard tree before rice and flour ever became everyday. Taufolo belongs to Sāmoa: cooked ʻulu pounded soft, then folded with peʻepeʻe, fresh coconut cream, until it turns rich and silky in the bowl.
This is my cousins' dish, not mine from home, so I cook it open-handed. Back in Hawaiʻi we know ʻulu too, and Tahiti has ʻuru, the Marquesas and the Cooks keep their own breadfruit names and ways, and the atoll people know how to preserve breadfruit when the soil is only coral and the season is thin. One ocean, one canoe, one root stock, but not one nameless plate. This one is Sāmoan.
The pounding matters because it changes the food under your hands. At first the breadfruit breaks rough and dry, then the warm coconut cream loosens it, and all at once the mash starts to shine. That's when you stop forcing it. Eat what you have, yeah? If fresh coconut is there, squeeze it. If a good can is what your kitchen has today, use it and feed the people. The point is not to make the food precious. The point is to keep the relationship alive.
Breadfruit was one of the great Polynesian canoe crops, carried and replanted across the Triangle from Sāmoa and Tonga east toward Tahiti, the Cook Islands, Hawaiʻi, and Rapa Nui, where each island developed its own names, preservation methods, and table uses. In Sāmoa, fresh cooked ʻulu sits beside the umu and the Sunday toʻonaʻi, while dishes like taufolo show the western islands' deep grammar of pounding starch and enriching it with coconut cream. Fermented breadfruit traditions such as popoi and masi belong to the keeping-foods side of the old knowledge; this taufolo is the fresh cooked table, immediate, soft, and shared.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mature green breadfruit (ʻulu)
Quantity
1 large (3 to 4 pounds)
fresh coconut cream (peʻepeʻe)
Quantity
1 1/2 cups
plus more as needed
sea salt
Quantity
1/2 to 1 teaspoon
to taste
raw sugar (optional)
Quantity
1 to 2 tablespoons
for a lightly sweet table style
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature green breadfruit (ʻulu) | 1 large (3 to 4 pounds) |
| fresh coconut cream (peʻepeʻe)plus more as needed | 1 1/2 cups |
| sea saltto taste | 1/2 to 1 teaspoon |
| raw sugar (optional)for a lightly sweet table style | 1 to 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Large steamer pot or 6-quart pot for simmering
- •Heavy wooden pounder, pestle, or sturdy potato masher
- •Wide wooden bowl or heavy mixing bowl
Instructions
- 1
Choose the ʻulu
Pick a mature green ʻulu, the breadfruit, with firm skin and no sour smell. A few brown sap marks are fine. The flesh should be starchy, not sweet and custardy yet, because taufolo wants a root-like body that can take the pounding and drink the coconut cream.
- 2
Cook it tender
Cut the breadfruit into quarters, trim out the core, and steam or simmer it with the skin on for 35 to 45 minutes, until a knife slides through without a fight. Don't rush this. If the center is still tight, the mash will stay lumpy and dry. No blame the ʻulu. Give it the time.
- 3
Peel and pound
When it is cool enough to handle, pull off the skin and any hard bits near the core. Put the hot breadfruit in a heavy bowl or on a clean board and pound or mash it while it is still warm, working slow, until it gathers into a thick, smooth mass with only small soft flecks left.
A wooden pounder, potato masher, or heavy pestle all work. A food processor makes it gummy fast, so use your hands and tools if you can. - 4
Fold in peʻepeʻe
Warm the peʻepeʻe, the coconut cream, just until loose, then fold it into the pounded ʻulu a little at a time. The mash should turn pale cream-gold, glossy, and heavy, soft enough to spoon but thick enough to hold its shape. Add salt, and add the sugar only if that is the table you are feeding.
- 5
Serve it generous
Spoon the taufolo into a wooden bowl or onto banana leaf and smooth the top with the back of the spoon. Finish with a small gloss of coconut cream if it wants it. Serve warm or room temperature beside umu food, palusami, grilled fish, or the everyday plate with rice and pisupo. Deep food can sit right next to today's food. That's how the islands actually eat.
Chef Tips
- •Use mature green breadfruit for taufolo. Ripe breadfruit is sweeter and softer, good for other dishes, but it can turn loose and sticky when pounded with coconut cream.
- •Fresh peʻepeʻe carries the soul of this dish. Grate mature coconut, squeeze the first thick cream, and use that if you can. A thick canned coconut cream is a weeknight helper, no shame, just stir it smooth first.
- •Salt makes the ʻulu taste like itself. Sugar is optional because Sāmoan tables vary, some keeping taufolo more savory beside the meal, some leaning it lightly sweet for comfort.
- •If the mash stiffens as it sits, fold in a spoonful or two of warm coconut cream. Don't drown it. Let the breadfruit keep its body.
Advance Preparation
- •The breadfruit can be cooked a few hours ahead and held covered, but pound it while still warm for the smoothest texture.
- •Squeeze fresh coconut cream the morning of the meal. It separates and can sour if it sits too long.
- •Taufolo is best the day it is made. Rewarm leftovers gently with a splash of coconut cream and stir until glossy again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 255g)
Calories
370 calories
Total Fat
16 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
58 g
Dietary Fiber
11 g
Sugars
25 g
Protein
4 g
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