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
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ʻUlu Fries (Hawaiian Breadfruit Fries)
Created by
Mature Hawaiian ʻulu cut into wedges, par-cooked until it gives, fried golden, and finished with paʻakai. The canoe crop takes the potato's place without pretending to be one.
Side Dishes
Polynesian, Hawaiian
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Game Day
20 min
Active Time
25 min cook•45 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings
The canoe carried more than people. It carried the trees that would feed the children not born yet, and in Hawaiʻi one of those trees was ʻulu, breadfruit, standing in the yard like a quiet elder with food hanging from every branch. Back home on Oʻahu, when the fruit was mature and still green, somebody always knew what to do with it. Boil it. Bake it. Fry it. Feed everybody.
This is Hawaiian ʻulu, from Hawaiʻi's hand, but its cousins stand all over the Triangle. Sāmoa calls it ʻulu too, Tahiti says ʻuru, Tonga says mei, the Cook Islands know kuru, and in the cooler south of Aotearoa the kūmara, sweet potato, carried more of that starch work. One ocean, one canoe, one root stock, but never one nameless plate. Each island kept the crop in its own weather, its own language, its own hunger.
Fries are the weeknight shape of an old food. No shame in that. The kūpuna didn't carry ʻulu across the ocean so we could only talk about it in ceremony and never eat it during the game. You cook it until the starch gives, dry it well, fry it golden, and salt it while it shines. The potato can move over a little. The elder tree has been feeding people longer.
ʻUlu was one of Hawaiʻi's canoe plants, carried by Polynesian voyagers as living shoots and root cuttings, then planted beside kalo, ʻuala, maiʻa, and niu as part of an island food system that fed people from their own ʻāina. In 1787, the British sent William Bligh on the Bounty to collect Tahitian ʻuru for plantation food in the Caribbean, which is why many outsiders learned breadfruit through empire before they learned it through the Polynesian people who carried it first. Today, Hawaiian ʻulu is back in food-sovereignty work across the islands, not as a museum piece, but as dinner.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mature firm ʻulu (Hawaiian breadfruit)
Quantity
1 (2 to 3 pounds)
green and starchy, not soft-ripe
neutral oil (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for rubbing the knife and hands if the ʻulu is sappy
sea salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for the cooking water
neutral frying oil
Quantity
about 4 cups
or enough for 2 inches in the pot
paʻakai ʻalaea (Hawaiian red sea salt)
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
or coarse sea salt, to finish
garlic powder (optional)
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
lime or calamansi wedges (optional)
Quantity
as needed
Hawaiian chili pepper water (optional)
Quantity
as needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature firm ʻulu (Hawaiian breadfruit)green and starchy, not soft-ripe | 1 (2 to 3 pounds) |
| neutral oil (optional)for rubbing the knife and hands if the ʻulu is sappy | 1 tablespoon |
| sea saltfor the cooking water | 1 tablespoon |
| neutral frying oilor enough for 2 inches in the pot | about 4 cups |
| paʻakai ʻalaea (Hawaiian red sea salt)or coarse sea salt, to finish | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| garlic powder (optional) | 1/2 teaspoon |
| lime or calamansi wedges (optional) | as needed |
| Hawaiian chili pepper water (optional) | as needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5-quart Dutch oven or deep fryer
- •Fry thermometer
- •Wide spider skimmer
- •Rimmed sheet pan with wire rack
Instructions
- 1
Choose the ʻulu
Pick a mature Hawaiian ʻulu, the breadfruit, that is still firm and green, with white sap at the stem and only a little give under your thumb. Soft-ripe ʻulu is sweet and fragrant, good for another table, not for fries. Eat what you have, yeah, but use the right stage for the right work.
If the ʻulu is very sappy, rub a little neutral oil on your knife and hands. The latex sticks to everything, and no need make the work harder than it is. - 2
Cut the wedges
Trim off the stem, quarter the ʻulu, cut away the firm core, and peel off the green skin. Slice the flesh into thick wedges, about 3/4 inch wide, like a sturdy potato wedge. Keep the pieces even so they cook together and one cousin doesn't come out hard while the other one falls apart.
- 3
Cook until tender
Bring a large pot of salted water to a gentle boil, add the ʻulu wedges, and cook 8 to 12 minutes, until a fork slides in with just a little resistance and the edges still hold their shape. You're not trying to make them collapse. You just want the starch cooked through so the fry can crisp outside and stay soft within.
- 4
Drain and dry
Lift the wedges out and spread them on a rack or a clean towel for 10 minutes. Let the surface dry until it looks matte, not wet. That's where the crisp edge comes from. If you rush this part, the oil has to fight the water first, and the ʻulu won't brown clean.
- 5
Fry in batches
Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy pot to 350F. Fry the wedges in small batches, 3 to 5 minutes each, turning once or twice, until the ridges are deep golden and the corners crisp. Don't crowd the pot, and don't fill it more than halfway with oil. Hot oil needs respect, same as fire in the imu.
No thermometer? Drop in one small piece of ʻulu. It should bubble right away and rise steady, not sink quietly and not brown in a panic. - 6
Salt and share
Move the fries to a rack or brown paper and salt them while the oil sheen is still on the surface. Toss with paʻakai ʻalaea and garlic powder if you're using it, then serve right away with lime, calamansi, or chili pepper water. Put them beside grilled fish, poke, kālua puaʻa, or a plate lunch. Deep food and everyday food can sit on the same table.
Chef Tips
- •Use mature firm ʻulu for fries. If the fruit is soft-ripe and sweet-smelling, don't force it into this dish. Roast it, bake it, or turn it toward dessert. Eat what you have, but listen to what it's ready to be.
- •Fresh local ʻulu from a grower is best because they can tell you the stage of the fruit. Frozen cooked breadfruit works on a weeknight too. Thaw it, pat it very dry, and fry from there.
- •Salt has to hit while the fries still carry that light oil sheen. Wait too long and the paʻakai bounces off instead of holding on.
- •If you want less oil, toss the par-cooked dry wedges with 2 tablespoons oil and cook in an air fryer at 400F for 12 to 16 minutes, turning once. It won't be the same as the pot, but it will feed the table.
- •Ketchup, chili pepper water, garlic mayo, whatever your house eats, put it out. Keeper, not gatekeeper. The main thing is that the ʻulu is cooked right and nobody wastes good food.
Advance Preparation
- •Cut and par-cook the ʻulu up to 1 day ahead, then dry the wedges well and refrigerate them covered. Fry straight from chilled.
- •If the cut ʻulu has to wait before cooking, keep the wedges in cold water so they don't darken, then drain well before boiling.
- •Fried ʻulu is best right away. Leftovers can be reheated on a rack in a 425F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, enough to bring back the edges.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 190g)
Calories
330 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
13 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
700 mg
Total Carbohydrates
50 g
Dietary Fiber
9 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
3 g
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