Ingredients
Breadfruit
- 3mature breadfruit (mahi), firm, full-sized and still green, about 1.5 kg each
- Banana leaves, wilted over a flame, for lining and covering
Coconut cream
- 2mature coconuts, grated, squeezed once with no water added to give about 400 ml thick cream
- ½ tspsalt
Equipment
- 1flat pounding stone or a heavy wooden board
- 1basalt or hardwood pestle
- A bowl of clean water, for wetting hands and pestle
Directions
- Choose breadfruit at full size while the skin is still green and the latex still runs. Soft, sweet, over-ripe fruit will not pound to a smooth mass; it turns to a slack, sugary puree.
- Cook the whole fruit in the uhmw, the earth oven: bury them among fire-heated stones, cover with leaves and earth, and leave 1 hour 30 minutes, until the skin is blackened and a stick pushes into the flesh with no resistance.
- Lift them out, let them cool just enough to handle, and scrape off the charred skin. Cut out the core and the fibrous centre with a shell scraper or a knife.
- Work while the flesh is still hot. Cold breadfruit stiffens and will never come smooth, so pound in batches and keep the rest covered.
- Put a batch on the pounding stone and strike it with the pestle in a steady rhythm, turning and folding the mass in with wet hands between strokes. The rhythm of breadfruit pounding is a familiar village sound and the work is usually shared.
- Keep the pestle and your hands wet so nothing sticks, and keep folding the edges into the middle so the whole mass is worked evenly.
- Pound for 15–20 minutes per batch until there is not a lump or a fibre left and the mass is dense, elastic, pale cream and glossy, stretching slightly when you pull at it.
- Squeeze the coconut cream from the freshly grated flesh without adding water, and season it with the salt.
- Shape the pounded breadfruit into a mound or into individual rounds on a banana leaf, press a hollow in the top, and pour the thick coconut cream into it.
- Serve warm, torn off in pieces with the fingers and dipped through the cream. It is feast food, made in quantity for church gatherings, funerals and the presentation of first fruits.
Technique
- Baking in the earth oven, not boiling, is what gives the mass its slightly smoky, nutty taste and drier texture. Boiled breadfruit carries too much water and pounds to a sticky paste.
- Breadfruit is a seasonal glut crop across Micronesia, which is why the same fruit is also pit-fermented for storage. The pounded form is the celebratory way to eat it fresh.
- Pound hot and pound long. The elasticity that lets the mass hold a hollow for the cream comes only from working the starch thoroughly while it is warm.
- Names and details vary across the region: Pohnpei, Chuuk, Yap and Kosrae each pound breadfruit slightly differently and mix in different amounts of coconut or ripe banana.
Substitutions
- No earth oven: bake whole breadfruit at 200°C (400°F) for 1 hour 15 minutes until the skin blisters and blackens and the flesh is soft through, which is the closest home equivalent.
- No pounding stone: work the hot flesh in a heavy mortar, or on a sturdy board with a rolling pin, in small batches; a food processor gives a gluey texture and is not a real substitute.
- No breadfruit: mature green plantain or taro can be baked and pounded the same way, and both are used across the Pacific for related dishes.
Variations
- Pounded breadfruit mixed with ripe mashed banana is a sweeter version for children and elders.
- Some households work the coconut cream into the mass as they pound rather than pouring it over.
- In Chuuk the same preparation is called kon and is often wrapped in leaf and baked again after pounding.
History
Breadfruit is pounded on a wooden board with a stone pestle into a smooth mass, the traditional way to serve it at feasts.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pounded Breadfruit?
Pounded Breadfruit is a salad & side from Micronesia: breadfruit pounded to a smooth mass, eaten with coconut cream. Breadfruit is pounded on a wooden board with a stone pestle into a smooth mass, the traditional way to serve it at feasts.
How long does Pounded Breadfruit take to make?
Pounded Breadfruit takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min in the earth oven of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Pounded Breadfruit?
Yes, within limits. No earth oven: bake whole breadfruit at 200°C (400°F) for 1 hour 15 minutes until the skin blisters and blackens and the flesh is soft through, which is the closest home equivalent. No pounding stone: work the hot flesh in a heavy mortar, or on a sturdy board with a rolling pin, in small batches; a food processor gives a gluey texture and is not a real substitute. No breadfruit: mature green plantain or taro can be baked and pounded the same way, and both are used across the Pacific for related dishes.
What is the most important thing to get right in Pounded Breadfruit?
Cook the whole fruit in the uhmw, the earth oven: bury them among fire-heated stones, cover with leaves and earth, and leave 1 hour 30 minutes, until the skin is blackened and a stick pushes into the flesh with no resistance.
