Touʻkutu (Tongan Cassava Coconut Bread)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Box grater with fine holes or food processor grating disk
• •Clean kitchen towel or nut-milk bag for squeezing cassava
• •9 by 13 inch metal baking pan
• •Banana leaf and parchment for lining, if available

Instructions

1. 1

   Line the pan

   Heat the oven to 350F. Lightly oil a 9 by 13 inch pan and line it with banana leaf if you have it, or parchment if you don't, leaving enough overhang to lift the bread. The leaf gives a clean green smell, but the bread still knows what it is without it.

2. 2

   Prepare the manioke

   Use sweet cassava only. Peel thickly through the waxy bark and the pinkish layer, split it lengthwise, lift out the woody cord, and grate it fine. If any root smells sharply bitter or shows blue-black streaks, don't argue with it; discard it. Raw cassava is not food yet. It becomes food after peeling, grating, and a full bake.

   Frozen grated cassava is a good modern shortcut. Thaw it fully, then treat it the same way as fresh.
3. 3

   Squeeze it damp

   Wrap the grated manioke in a clean kitchen towel or nut-milk bag and squeeze until the heavy dripping slows. Discard the liquid. The cassava should clump in your hand like wet sand, not pour like batter and not crumble like dry coconut.

4. 4

   Fold with lolo

   In a wide bowl, stir the lolo, sugar, melted coconut oil or butter, salt, and baking powder if you're using it. Fold in the grated manioke and the grated coconut until everything is evenly wet and thick. It should look heavy and humble, more like a wet root batter than a wheat dough.

5. 5

   Bake it golden

   Spread the batter into the lined pan and press it level, all the way into the corners. Brush the top with the extra lolo and scatter on the reserved grated coconut if using. Bake 60 to 75 minutes, until the edges are caramel-gold, the top has a coconut sheen, and a skewer from the center comes out with moist crumbs, not milky paste.

   If the top browns before the center sets, cover it loosely with foil and keep baking. Manioke needs the full time.
6. 6

   Rest and share

   Let the touʻkutu rest at least 20 minutes so the starch settles and the slices cut clean. Lift it from the pan, cut into thick squares, and serve warm or at room temperature with tea, coffee, or the rest of the Sunday spread. This is not a precious little slice. Put enough out for the cousins who said they weren't hungry.

Chef Tips

• •Fresh lolo, coconut cream squeezed from grated mature coconut, gives the cleanest sweetness. A good thick can is fine on a weeknight, but use coconut cream, not thin coconut milk.
• •Frozen grated cassava from a Pacific, Filipino, or Latin market is no shame. Eat what you have. Thaw it fully and squeeze it damp, because too much water makes the center gummy.
• •Cook manioke all the way through. The center should spring back lightly and show moist crumbs on a skewer, not raw white paste.
• •Old hands may leave out the baking powder and make a denser bread. The home-oven version here uses a little lift so it slices clean for today's kitchen.
• •This is Tonga's dish. For the old hand-work, the feast setting, and the obligations around the table, sit with a Tongan grandmother, church auntie, or the kāinga who carries it.

Advance Preparation

• •Fresh manioke is best grated the day you bake. If you must work ahead, grate and squeeze it up to 12 hours ahead, cover tightly, and refrigerate.
• •Touʻkutu can be baked one day ahead. Cool completely, wrap well, and rewarm gently in a 300F oven with a light brush of lolo on top.
• •Cut leftovers into squares and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw overnight and warm gently so the coconut sheen comes back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 150g)