Lu pulu

lū pulu

Parcels of taro leaves with corned beef, onion, tomato and coconut milk, baked in an earth oven.

Eaten in: Tonga

Prep: 25 min
Cooking: 1 h 30 min
Total: 1 h 55 min
Servings: 4

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About the dish

Lu is the Tongan word for taro leaves and for the parcels made from them, and lu pulu is the favourite version with beef, usually tinned corned beef. The leaves are layered, filled with the meat, onion, tomato and thick coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaf and foil and baked in the ʻumu earth oven. After a few hours the leaves are as soft as spinach and the coconut milk and meat fat become a rich, salty sauce. Lu pulu is a must at Sunday lunch after church and at every feast, alongside roast suckling pig, yam and taro. Other versions include lu sipi with mutton and lu ʻika with fish.

Main ingredients

taro leaves
corned beef
coconut milk
onion
tomato

Recipe

Lu pulu

https://foodmap.ominuvo.com/dish/lu-pulu

Ingredients

4 servings

24 young taro leaves (or large spinach or chard leaves)
340 g tinned corned beef
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, diced
400 ml thick coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
4 pieces of banana leaf and 4 squares of aluminium foil

Method

Heat the oven to 180°C; trim any tough stalks from the taro leaves.
On each square of foil lay a piece of banana leaf and stack 6 taro leaves on top.
Crumble the corned beef and mix it with the onion, tomato and salt, then pile it in the middle of the leaves.
Fold the leaves up into cups and pour the coconut milk into each one.
Wrap the leaves, then the banana leaf and foil, into tight parcels.
Bake on a tray for 1.5 hours until the leaves are completely tender; serve hot with boiled taro, yam or rice.