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.
ʻUlu Mash (Hawaiian Mashed Breadfruit)
Created by
Mature Hawaiian ʻulu boiled until it gives, then mashed with warm broth, paʻakai, and a little fat if you want it. Soft, humble, and real weeknight food.
Side Dishes
Polynesian, Hawaiian
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Make Ahead
15 min
Active Time
35 min cook•50 min total
Yield6 servings
The canoe carried more than people. It carried relatives. In Hawaiʻi, ʻulu, the breadfruit, came in the old migrations with kalo, ʻuala, niu, and the other canoe plants, and when that tree takes hold on the ʻāina, the land, it feeds you like an auntie who never makes a speech about it.
This is Hawaiian ʻulu mash, not a nameless Polynesian side. Back home we boil the mature starchy fruit until it gives, then mash it with broth and paʻakai, Hawaiian sea salt, until it eats soft and humble like mashed potato. Across the Triangle the cousins keep breadfruit too: ʻuru in Tahiti, mei in the Marquesas, and the long-keeping fermented traditions like popoi and masi in the atoll and eastern islands. One ocean, one canoe, one root, but every island has its own hand.
The why is simple. Mature ʻulu is dry and generous, so it wants warm liquid added slowly, not dumped in all at once. Mash while it is warm, taste as you go, and don't make it precious. This is weeknight food, plate-lunch food, food next to fish or pork or vegetables, old knowledge sitting easy in a pot on your stove.
Papa Kainoa used to say, Eat what you have. Same law here. If you have good broth, use it. If you saved kālua drippings, use a spoon. If all you have is salted cooking water, no shame. No blame the ʻulu. Feed the people.
Breadfruit is one of the great Polynesian canoe crops, carried by voyagers and planted from the western islands through Tahiti, Hawaiʻi, the Marquesas, and beyond because one tree could feed a household for generations. In Hawaiʻi, ʻulu was never just a substitute starch; in districts such as Kona and Puna it became part of an agroforestry system where breadfruit, coconut, banana, and other crops fed people from the same living canopy. Modern ʻulu revival work in Hawaiʻi connects that old abundance to food sovereignty today, bringing the fresh cooked fruit back beside poi, rice, and the everyday plate.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mature firm ʻulu (breadfruit)
Quantity
1 (about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds)
neutral oil
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for the knife and hands
paʻakai (Hawaiian sea salt)
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
plus more to taste
warm chicken broth, vegetable broth, or salted cooking water
Quantity
1 to 1 1/2 cups
butter, coconut oil, or rendered pork drippings (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
green onion (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
thinly sliced
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature firm ʻulu (breadfruit) | 1 (about 2 1/2 to 3 pounds) |
| neutral oilfor the knife and hands | 1 tablespoon |
| paʻakai (Hawaiian sea salt)plus more to taste | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| warm chicken broth, vegetable broth, or salted cooking water | 1 to 1 1/2 cups |
| butter, coconut oil, or rendered pork drippings (optional) | 2 tablespoons |
| green onion (optional)thinly sliced | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Large 6-quart pot
- •Potato masher or heavy wooden spoon
- •Sharp chef's knife rubbed with oil
Instructions
- 1
Choose the ʻulu
Use mature firm ʻulu, the Hawaiian breadfruit, green to yellow-green with the bumps filled out and heavy in the hand. It should smell clean and faintly sweet, not fermented. If it is soft and ripe, save it for dessert cooking, not this mash.
- 2
Cut with respect
Rub a little oil on your knife and hands because ʻulu gives off sticky white sap. Cut off the stem end, quarter the fruit, and leave the skin on for boiling. Trim out the spongy core if it pulls away easily, or wait until after cooking when it gives up cleaner.
- 3
Boil until tender
Set the quarters in a large pot, cover with water by an inch, add a good pinch of paʻakai, and simmer 25 to 35 minutes. The ʻulu is ready when a fork slides through the thickest part with no fight and the flesh looks creamy instead of chalky.
- 4
Peel and core
Drain, saving a cup of the cooking water if you want to use it for the mash. When the pieces are cool enough to handle, pull away the skin and any remaining core. Work while it is still warm, because cold ʻulu stiffens up on you.
- 5
Mash it soft
Put the warm ʻulu flesh back in the pot and mash it with paʻakai. Pour in warm broth a little at a time, mashing and folding until it eats soft like mashed potato, thick but not dry. Add the butter, coconut oil, or pork drippings if you want that everyday richness.
- 6
Taste and serve
Taste for salt and loosen with more warm broth if the mash tightens. Spoon it into a wooden bowl, smooth the top in broad strokes, and scatter green onion only if that is the table you are setting. Serve warm beside fish, kālua puaʻa, stew, or whatever dinner already has going.
Chef Tips
- •Pick mature firm ʻulu for mash. Soft ripe ʻulu is sweet and fragrant, good for baking or dessert, but it will not mash like potato.
- •Oil your knife before cutting. The sap is sticky, and this one small step saves you from fighting the fruit before you even cook it.
- •Warm liquid matters. Cold broth makes the starch seize and turn heavy, while warm broth folds in smooth and keeps the mash soft.
- •This belongs beside real everyday food: fried fish, stew, eggs, kālua puaʻa, grilled meat, or vegetables. Keeper, not gatekeeper.
Advance Preparation
- •Boil, peel, and core the ʻulu up to 2 days ahead, then chill it covered. Reheat with warm broth before mashing.
- •Finished ʻulu mash keeps 3 days in the refrigerator. Warm it gently with a splash of broth because it thickens as it sits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 230g)
Calories
220 calories
Total Fat
5 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
10 mg
Sodium
660 mg
Total Carbohydrates
43 g
Dietary Fiber
9 g
Sugars
10 g
Protein
3 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Breadfruit: The Canoe Crop
Browse the full collection
Chef Makoa
Fried ʻUlu Mochi (Hawaiian Breadfruit Mochi)
Sweet ripe ʻulu from Hawaiʻi, mashed with mochiko and fried into chewy-crisp little rounds, the old canoe crop meeting island mochi at a Kalihi table.
Chef Makoa
Gratin de ʻUru (Tahitian Breadfruit Gratin)
Tender slices of Tahitian ʻuru, breadfruit, baked in coconut milk until the edges go gold, with just enough cheese from the French island pantry to brown the top.
Chef Makoa
Kuru Salad (Cook Islands Breadfruit Salad)
Cook Islands kuru, breadfruit boiled tender, cooled, and tossed with crisp vegetables and a clean lime dressing. The canoe crop comes to the picnic table, unfussy and still full of mana.