Chef Makoa
Fēʻi (Tahitian Roasted Cooking Bananas)
Tahiti's fēʻi are orange-fleshed mountain bananas, cooked until tender and served like a starch, warm with sea salt, coconut cream, and the quiet sweetness of the high valleys.
Culinary Explorer
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Fāfā (Tahitian Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream)
Created by
Tahiti's fāfā cooks young taro leaves down with onion and coconut cream until they turn dark, silky, and rich enough to feed the whole table.
Side Dishes
Polynesian, Tahitian
Comfort Food
Special Occasion
Potluck
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 15 min cook•1 hr 40 min total
Yield6 servings
The canoe carried the elder brother far before any of us had a map, and in Tahiti that kinship comes to the table as fāfā, young taro leaves cooked down in coconut cream until they turn dark and tender. This is Tahiti's hand, not mine from home, so I cook it open-handed and name it straight. Reo Tahiti calls the leaf fāfā, and the people of that fenua, that land, know how a tough green can turn rich enough to hold a whole meal.
Taro was among the canoe crops carried through central East Polynesia, and Tahiti became one of the great voyaging hearths from which plants, language, and food knowledge moved on to Hawaiʻi, the Cook Islands, and Rapa Nui. Fāfā belongs to Tahiti's everyday and feast table, and its better-known poulet fāfā shows the post-contact layer, chicken folded into an older taro-leaf and coconut grammar. The same gesture has cousins across the Triangle: Cook Islands rukau, Sāmoan palusami, Tongan lū, and Hawaiian lūʻau or laulau, each one named by its own island.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
young taro leaves (fāfā leaves or lūʻau leaf)
Quantity
2 pounds
thick stems and ribs removed
coconut oil or neutral oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
onion
Quantity
1 large
thinly sliced
garlic
Quantity
3 cloves
finely chopped
sea salt
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons
plus more to taste
thick coconut cream
Quantity
2 cups
preferably fresh-pressed from grated mature coconut
water
Quantity
1 cup
plus more as needed
fresh lime juice (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| young taro leaves (fāfā leaves or lūʻau leaf)thick stems and ribs removed | 2 pounds |
| coconut oil or neutral oil | 2 tablespoons |
| onionthinly sliced | 1 large |
| garlicfinely chopped | 3 cloves |
| sea saltplus more to taste | 1 1/2 teaspoons |
| thick coconut creampreferably fresh-pressed from grated mature coconut | 2 cups |
| waterplus more as needed | 1 cup |
| fresh lime juice (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 5-quart Dutch oven or deep covered pot
- •Long wooden spoon for folding the leaves
- •Fine grater and clean cloth if pressing fresh coconut cream
Instructions
- 1
Clean the leaves
Wash the taro leaves well, then strip away the thick stems and big ribs. Raw taro leaf carries that needle-bite from oxalate crystals, so respect it. This leaf has to cook fully, no shortcut, until every bit of sharpness is gone.
- 2
Soften the onion
Warm the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and sweet-smelling, about 8 minutes, then stir in the garlic for another minute. You want fragrance and softness, not browning.
- 3
Wilt the fāfā
Add the taro leaves by handfuls, salting lightly as you go, turning them until they collapse into the pot. They start big and proud, then they give. Keep folding until the leaves are glossy, deep green, and sitting low in their own moisture.
Frozen taro leaves are fine if that is what you can find. Thaw, squeeze lightly, and still cook them the full time. - 4
Cook it down
Pour in the water, cover the pot, and lower the heat. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, stirring now and then, until the leaves turn dark, tender, and lose all their bite. If the pot gets dry, add a splash more water. No blame the taro. Give it the time it needs.
- 5
Add coconut cream
Stir in the coconut cream and cook uncovered for 15 to 25 minutes more, until the cream thickens around the leaves and leaves a white-gold shimmer in the folds. The fāfā should be soft enough to spoon, rich but not soupy.
- 6
Finish and share
Taste for salt. Add a little lime only if the cream feels heavy and wants brightness. Serve warm in a wooden bowl, beside fish, chicken, roasted ʻuru, rice, or as the dark green base under poulet fāfā. Enough for one more, always.
Chef Tips
- •Cook taro leaves all the way. If your throat feels any scratch when you taste, it is not done. Keep simmering until the leaf is silk.
- •Fresh coconut cream gives the deepest body, especially when pressed from mature coconut. A thick canned coconut cream is honest weeknight food, no shame, just choose one without added sugar.
- •This vegetarian fāfā is the base. Tahitian tables also know poulet fāfā with chicken, and modern kitchens make room for what people have. Eat what you have, but name whose dish you are cooking.
Advance Preparation
- •Strip and wash the taro leaves up to 1 day ahead, then wrap them in a damp towel and refrigerate.
- •Fresh coconut cream is best pressed the morning you cook. It separates quickly, so stir it well before adding.
- •Fāfā reheats gently over low heat with a splash of water or coconut cream. Do not boil it hard or the cream can split.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 250g)
Calories
425 calories
Total Fat
34 g
Saturated Fat
29 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
590 mg
Total Carbohydrates
19 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
11 g
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