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.
Tuvaluan Breadfruit Poi (Sweet Mashed Mei with Coconut Cream)
Created by
Cooked mei, the breadfruit of Tuvalu, mashed warm with fresh coconut cream until it turns soft, glossy, and sweet, a coral-atoll pudding where dessert and survival sit in the same bowl.
Desserts
Polynesian, Tuvaluan
Comfort Food
Celebration
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
40 min cook•1 hr 15 min total
Yield6 to 8 servings
The canoe didn't carry dessert like a little luxury. It carried relatives: mei, breadfruit in gagana Tuvalu, the Tuvaluan language, and niu, coconut, living food for a fenua, an island home, where the ground is coral and the wind keeps salt on everything. This poi belongs to Tuvalu, to the low atolls and reef islands, Funafuti, Nanumea, Nukufetau, Vaitupu, and the rest of that chain, where breadfruit can be comfort, celebration, and plain survival in the same day.
In Hawaiʻi my hands know kalo at the board, and they know ʻulu in the imu, so I keep my humility with this Tuvaluan bowl. Tuvalu says mei; Sāmoa says ʻulu, Tahiti says ʻuru, the Cook Islands say kuru, and back home we say ʻulu. One ocean, one canoe, one root stock, but no nameless bowl. This is Tuvalu's hand: cooked breadfruit mashed while warm, fed with coconut cream until it turns smooth, glossy, and sweet.
The why is patience. Breadfruit that isn't cooked all the way through stays chalky and mean. No blame the mei if you rushed it; no amount of coconut cream can fix that. Let it soften, mash it slow, then add the cream in stages so the starch drinks instead of swimming. Fresh coconut cream is best, a can will do on a weeknight, and for the deeper Tuvalu ways around masi and the old keeping work, sit with a Tuvaluan elder. They should tell their own story. I just keep this bowl open.
Long before the British called the chain the Ellice Islands and before Tuvalu became independent on October 1, 1978, Polynesian voyagers had already carried breadfruit, coconut, pandanus, and taro through these low fenua, island homes. On coral atolls, people dug pulaka, swamp taro, pits down toward the freshwater lens and built food security from trees, reef, and careful storage, because deep soil was never there to lean on. Fresh mashed breadfruit with coconut cream sits on the sweet table, while masi, fermented breadfruit in Tuvalu, and related popoi traditions elsewhere kept fruiting-season abundance for harder months.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mature breadfruit (mei)
Quantity
2 medium, about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds total
green-yellow and just yielding
mature coconuts (niu), or thick canned coconut cream
Quantity
2 coconuts or 1 can (13.5 ounces)
grated and squeezed for 1 3/4 cups thick cream
sugar (optional)
Quantity
2 to 4 tablespoons
to taste
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
warm water
Quantity
up to 1/2 cup
as needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature breadfruit (mei)green-yellow and just yielding | 2 medium, about 3 to 3 1/2 pounds total |
| mature coconuts (niu), or thick canned coconut creamgrated and squeezed for 1 3/4 cups thick cream | 2 coconuts or 1 can (13.5 ounces) |
| sugar (optional)to taste | 2 to 4 tablespoons |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| warm wateras needed | up to 1/2 cup |
Equipment Needed
- •Large steamer insert or wide heavy 6-quart pot with a tight lid
- •Sturdy masher, short pestle, or heavy wooden spoon
- •Clean kitchen towel or nut-milk bag for squeezing fresh coconut cream
Instructions
- 1
Squeeze the niu
If you're working from whole coconuts, grate the mature niu, the coconut, wet it with a few spoonfuls of warm water, and squeeze hard through a clean cloth for a thick first cream. If you're using canned coconut cream, stir it smooth and save it for the gentle warming later. Eat what you have, but know the fresh squeeze is where the old hand lives.
Keep the first squeeze thick. Too much water makes the poi loose before the breadfruit has a chance to drink the cream. - 2
Cut the mei
Oil your knife lightly if the breadfruit is sticky with white sap, then cut away the stem end and split the mei, breadfruit, into quarters. Trim out the center core and leave the skin on for cooking. Rinse off any heavy latex, but don't scrub the life out of it. That one came off a tree, yeah?
For this sweet poi, you want mature breadfruit with a little give, not hard green and not collapsing-ripe. Hard breadfruit eats chalky here; overripe breadfruit can turn too loose. - 3
Cook it through
Set the wedges skin-side down in a large covered steamer over simmering water and cook 30 to 40 minutes, until a fork slides cleanly through to the skin and the flesh breaks open creamy instead of dry. No rush this part. Breadfruit that isn't cooked all the way through stays chalky and mean. No blame the mei if you hurried it.
- 4
Mash while warm
When the wedges are cool enough to handle but still warm, scoop the flesh away from the skin and put it in a wide bowl. Add the salt and 2 tablespoons sugar, then mash with a heavy masher, pestle, or wooden spoon. First it breaks into flakes, then heavy crumbs, then it starts moving together. Keep going until the lumps give up.
- 5
Feed with cream
Warm 1 1/2 cups of the coconut cream gently, just enough to make it fluid, and stir in more sugar only if the breadfruit wants it. Pour the cream into the warm mash in stages, beating and folding after each pour, until the poi turns thick, smooth, and glossy like a soft pudding. If it tightens too much, loosen it with a spoonful of warm water or more coconut cream.
Don't boil the coconut cream hard. A fierce boil can split the fat from the liquid, and then the bowl tastes rough instead of round. - 6
Rest and share
Let the poi sit 10 minutes so the breadfruit finishes drinking the coconut. Spoon it into a low bowl, run the reserved coconut cream over the top, and serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. This is Tuvalu's fresh-cooked table, not the fermented keeping food, so keep it simple and generous. Enough for one more.
Chef Tips
- •Choose the breadfruit by feel and smell. Mature mei should be heavy, green-yellow, a little soft at the stem, and faintly sweet. If it's hard as a stone, cook it for a savory table instead.
- •Fresh coconut cream carries this bowl. A good thick can is fine when that's what you've got, but stir it smooth and warm it gently before it meets the breadfruit.
- •The sugar is the modern hand, not the ancestor. Start with 2 tablespoons, taste, then decide. Ripe mei and coconut already know their job.
- •Frozen breadfruit wedges from a Pacific market work. Cook them fully tender, then mash while warm. Eat what you have, no need make it precious.
- •Tuvaluan tables carry rice, tinned fish, corned beef, and cabin biscuits now too, and no shame in that. This poi doesn't push the everyday foods out; it reminds the table what the fenua can still feed.
Advance Preparation
- •Squeeze fresh coconut cream the morning you plan to cook; it separates quickly and can sour if it sits too long.
- •Cook the breadfruit up to 1 day ahead if needed, but mash it warm for the smoothest poi. Rewarm the flesh gently before mashing.
- •Finished poi keeps covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It thickens as it rests, so loosen it with warm coconut cream or a spoonful of water before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 230g)
Calories
360 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
15 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
1 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
170 mg
Total Carbohydrates
52 g
Dietary Fiber
9 g
Sugars
22 g
Protein
3 g
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