Laplap

Ingredients

The pudding

• 2 kgyam, taro, cassava or green banana, peeled (a single crop or a mix)
• 600 mlthick coconut cream, from 3 grated mature coconuts
• 2 tspsalt

Wrapping and layering

• 12–16large banana leaves, plus laplap leaves (Heliconia) if you have them, passed briefly over a flame to soften
• 300 gisland cabbage (aibika) leaves, or spinach
• 2onions, sliced, optional
• 1red chilli, sliced, optional

Earth oven

• About 30 smooth volcanic stones, fist sized
• Firewood, and coconut husks
• Clean sacking or more leaves, to cover

Directions

1. Grate the coconut flesh and squeeze it through cloth with a little warm water to yield thick cream, then squeeze again with more water for a thinner second pressing.
2. Beat the salt and about half the thick coconut cream into the grated root mash until it is a heavy, smooth batter that just falls from the spoon. Overlap the softened banana leaves shiny side up into a mat about 60 cm across, spread the batter over it 3–4 cm thick, lay the island cabbage leaves and any onion and chilli over the surface, and pour the remaining coconut cream on top.
3. Fold the leaves over into a flat parcel, tucking the ends under, and tie it with strips of leaf or vine so it is completely sealed. Rake the embers off the hot stones, lay half the stones flat, set the parcel on them, cover with more leaves and the remaining hot stones, then bury the whole thing under sacking and earth.
4. Cook 1.5–2 hours. It is done when the parcel smells sweet and nutty, the leaves are dry and browned, and a skewer pushed in comes out clean with the pudding set firm like a dense cake.

Technique

• Laplap is Vanuatu’s national dish and each island argues for its own root crop: yam laplap is the most prized, banana laplap the sweetest, taro laplap the smoothest.
• The grating must be fine and even. Any lumps stay hard in the middle of the pudding, and the batter should look like a thick pale porridge before it goes in the leaves.
• Traditionally the parcel is often layered with meat, poultry or reef catch; the version here is the plain vegetarian one eaten just as commonly, and the coconut cream carries all the richness.

Substitutions

• No earth oven? Wrap in banana leaves and then foil and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 2 hours, or steam in a covered pot for 2.5 hours. You lose the smoke, so add a scrape of burnt coconut husk ash for a hint of it.
• No banana leaves? Line a deep tray with baking parchment and cover tightly with foil; the flavour is plainer but the texture is right.

Variations

• Laplap sosur, the version rolled with island cabbage and grated coconut through the middle.
• Simboro, small laplap rolls wrapped in island cabbage and simmered in coconut cream.
• Banana laplap, made with grated green banana, notably sweeter and darker.

History

The national dish: root crops are grated onto banana leaves, soaked in coconut cream and baked under hot stones for hours, then cut into slabs.

Frequently asked questions

What is Laplap?

Laplap is a main from Vanuatu: national dish of grated root-crop pudding with coconut cream, baked in leaves. The national dish: root crops are grated onto banana leaves, soaked in coconut cream and baked under hot stones for hours, then cut into slabs.

How long does Laplap take to make?

Laplap takes 1 hr of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Laplap?

Yes, within limits. No earth oven? Wrap in banana leaves and then foil and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 2 hours, or steam in a covered pot for 2.5 hours. You lose the smoke, so add a scrape of burnt coconut husk ash for a hint of it. No banana leaves? Line a deep tray with baking parchment and cover tightly with foil; the flavour is plainer but the texture is right.

What is the most important thing to get right in Laplap?

Fold the leaves over into a flat parcel, tucking the ends under, and tie it with strips of leaf or vine so it is completely sealed. Rake the embers off the hot stones, lay half the stones flat, set the parcel on them, cover with more leaves and the remaining hot stones, then bury the whole thing under sacking and earth.