Chef Makoa
Ahimaʻa Puaʻa (Tahitian Earth-Oven Pork)
Tahitian puaʻa cooked in the spirit of the ahimaʻa, the earth oven of maʻa Tahiti, wrapped in banana leaf and held low and slow until the meat gives in two fingers.
Culinary Explorer
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Umu ʻUlu (Sāmoan Earth-Oven Whole Breadfruit)
Created by
Whole Sāmoan ʻulu cooked in the umu until the skin chars black and the flesh goes golden and soft. One ocean, one canoe, one root, brought home to the table.
Side Dishes
Polynesian
Celebration
Comfort Food
Outdoor Dining
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 30 min cook•1 hr 50 min total
Yield6 to 8 servings
The canoe carried ʻulu like a promise. In Sāmoa, that promise still sits in the umu, the above-ground hot-stone oven, until the skin goes black and the inside turns soft and golden. This is Sāmoan food, my cousins' hand, and I cook it open-handed. For the deeper parts of the umu and the family order around it, go sit with Sāmoan elders, a matai or an auntie who carries that work.
Breadfruit is not just a starch you roast because the plate needs filling. ʻUlu is a canoe crop, one of the old foods that traveled with the people, feeding aiga, the family, when rice and flour were not yet the center. Back home in Hawaiʻi we know it too as ʻulu, and in Tahiti it is ʻuru, in the Marquesas mei, in the Cooks kuru. One ocean, one canoe, one root, but every island cooks it with its own hand.
The method is simple and it is not small. You blacken the outside so the inside can soften without drying out. You wait until the green smell turns to warm bread. Then you open it and feed everybody from the same fruit, with salt, coconut cream if you have it, maybe next to palusami, sapasui, fish, corned beef, whatever the table is carrying that day. Deep food can live right beside everyday food. No need make it precious.
Breadfruit was one of the major canoe crops carried through Polynesia, planted from western islands such as Sāmoa and Tonga eastward to Tahiti, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, Rapa Nui, and north to Hawaiʻi. In Sāmoa, whole ʻulu cooked in the umu belongs to the older starch grammar of the table, before imported rice and flour became everyday staples. Its cousins across the Triangle, Hawaiian imu-roasted ʻulu, Tahitian ʻuru, Cook Islands kuru, and Marquesan mei, show how one carried tree became many island foods without becoming one blurred dish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mature firm breadfruit (ʻulu)
Quantity
2 (2 to 3 pounds each)
coconut oil (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for the cut flesh after cooking
sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
or to taste
banana leaves
Quantity
as needed
for wrapping or lining
fresh coconut cream (optional)
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mature firm breadfruit (ʻulu) | 2 (2 to 3 pounds each) |
| coconut oil (optional)for the cut flesh after cooking | 2 tablespoons |
| sea saltor to taste | 1 teaspoon |
| banana leavesfor wrapping or lining | as needed |
| fresh coconut cream (optional) | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Long metal tongs or a sturdy green stick for turning in the umu
- •Heavy sheet pan for the oven adaptation
- •Sharp paring knife for venting and coring
Instructions
- 1
Choose the ʻulu
Pick mature firm ʻulu, breadfruit, with green to yellow-green skin and a little give, not soft and collapsing. If the fruit is hard as a stone, it will cook starchy and plain. If it is too ripe, it turns sweet and custardy, good for another day but not this Sāmoan umu table.
- 2
Wash and vent
Wash the ʻulu well and dry it. Cut a shallow cross into the stem end and prick the skin in a few places with a knife tip so the heat has somewhere to go. No need peel it. The black skin is the wrapper, the same way the leaf protects palusami in the umu.
Do not skip the vent cuts. Whole breadfruit can split hard when the heat builds inside. - 3
Heat the stones
For a true umu, the Sāmoan above-ground hot-stone oven, heat clean dry cooking stones over a hardwood fire until they hold fierce steady heat. Use stones known for fire cooking, never wet river rocks. When the flames die down and the stones are hot, rake a few aside for the ʻulu.
- 4
Cook on stones
Set the whole ʻulu right among the hot stones, turning every 20 minutes with tongs or a stick, until the skin is blackened all over and the fruit feels heavy-soft when pressed. The smell changes from green sap to warm bread and nut. That is the fruit telling you it's ready.
- 5
Home oven way
If you don't have an umu, heat the oven to 425F. Set the vented ʻulu on a banana-leaf-lined sheet pan and roast 75 to 90 minutes, turning once, until the skin is deeply blackened in patches and a skewer slides through the center without fight. Eat what you have. The oven is not the umu, but it can still feed the family.
- 6
Rest and open
Rest the cooked ʻulu for 10 minutes so the flesh settles. Split it open, pull out the core, and cut the golden flesh into big wedges. Brush with coconut oil if you like, salt it while it is warm, and serve with fresh coconut cream on the side.
Chef Tips
- •Choose the ʻulu by feel. Mature firm fruit cooks like bread and potato together. Fully ripe soft ʻulu is sweeter and better for dessert-style cooking.
- •If you use an outdoor fire, use only dry stones known for cooking. Wet or wrong stones can crack or burst when heated.
- •Leftover ʻulu is a gift. Pan-fry wedges the next morning, mash them with coconut cream, or tuck them beside eggs, fish, Spam, or corned beef and rice. Keeper, not gatekeeper.
Advance Preparation
- •Buy the ʻulu 1 to 3 days ahead and let it sit at room temperature until it has slight give but is not soft.
- •Banana leaves can be rinsed, wiped dry, and held wrapped in the refrigerator the day before.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
345 calories
Total Fat
9 g
Saturated Fat
7 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
2 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
300 mg
Total Carbohydrates
63 g
Dietary Fiber
11 g
Sugars
25 g
Protein
3 g
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