Faiai Eleni

Ingredients

Fish

• 2 tinsherring in tomato sauce
• or 2 tins herring or mackerel
• about 400 g in total

The pan

• 400 mlthick coconut cream
• 2onions, sliced
• 2garlic cloves, crushed
• 1tomato, chopped, optional
• 1chilli, chopped, optional
• black pepper
• salt, to taste

To serve

• plain white rice
• or boiled taro or breadfruit
• a squeeze of lemon

Directions

1. Use the thick part from the top of the tin. Grate the flesh of a mature coconut. Add a little warm water to it. Squeeze it hard in a clean cloth. The first pressing is the thick cream.
2. Drain off some of the sauce if it is very salty. Keep some of it back for flavour. Put the sliced onions in a wide pan.
3. Add about half the coconut cream. Add all of the crushed garlic. Warm it gently over a low heat. Never let coconut cream boil hard.
4. Let the onion soften for about eight minutes. Add the tinned fish with a little of its sauce. Add the chopped tomato if you are using it. Add the chilli if you want heat.
5. Turn it over gently in the cream. Do not stir it hard at any point. Add the rest of the coconut cream. Season it well with black pepper.
6. Taste it before adding any salt at all. Let it simmer away very gently. Give it about eight full minutes.
7. Take the lid off to reduce it if it is thin. Do not cook it so long that the cream splits. Ladle it over plain white rice. Squeeze a little lemon over it. It keeps two days refrigerated.

Technique

• Tinned fish and rice arrived with trading ships and were absorbed into a coconut cream cooking style that was already there, which is how the dish came about.
• Imported tinned food is common across the Pacific because low atolls grow very little, and health authorities across the region have noted that it has displaced some local foods and is high in salt.
• Faiai means cooked in coconut cream, and the same method covers other ingredients, as in faiai fe’e made with octopus.

Substitutions

• Tinned mackerel or sardines stand in for herring.
• Fresh fish works equally well and is lower in salt.

Variations

• Faiai fe’e is the octopus version made the same way.
• Some households add tomato or chilli to the pan.
• Similar coconut cream fish dishes are cooked across Polynesia.

History

Tinned fish and rice arrived with trading ships and were absorbed into the coconut-cream cooking style, making this a weekly household dish.

Frequently asked questions

What is Faiai Eleni?

Faiai Eleni is a main from Tuvalu: tinned herring simmered in coconut cream with onion, ladled over rice. Tinned fish and rice arrived with trading ships and were absorbed into the coconut-cream cooking style, making this a weekly household dish.

How long does Faiai Eleni take to make?

Faiai Eleni takes 10 minutes of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Faiai Eleni?

Yes, within limits. Tinned mackerel or sardines stand in for herring. Fresh fish works equally well and is lower in salt.

What is the most important thing to get right in Faiai Eleni?

Add about half the coconut cream. Add all of the crushed garlic. Warm it gently over a low heat. Never let coconut cream boil hard.