(
anglicized as ), or , is a
Hawaiian pudding
Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal.
In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...
made primarily with cooked
sweet potatoes
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of the ...
mixed with
coconut cream.
It is similar to other
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiʻi was set ...
puddings like and .
It was once a dish well documented by many non-Hawaiians as an everyday dish, or as a dessert found at (or ) found alongside , and was noted by
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
during his visits in the late 1800s.
History
Sweet potato
The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...
is one of the most earliest, cultivated crop carried into the central
Pacific Islands
The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...
by
Austronesian peoples
The Austronesian people, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples who have settled in Taiwan, maritime Southeast Asia, parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melan ...
around 1300 AD, where they became a staple crop of
Polynesians
Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sout ...
.
Although associated as a root vegetable, all parts of the sweet potato was utilized.
However, sweet potatoes were considered inferior and less valuable than
taro
Taro (; ''Colocasia esculenta'') is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, stems and Petiole (botany), petioles. Taro corms are a ...
, or ―a rare term used for "less desirable portions of meat or fish," but it was able to flourish in unfavorable growing conditions.
Preparation
Traditional recipes call for sweet potatoes roasted over coals or (cooked in an or
earth oven
An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. The earliest known earth oven was discovered in Central Europe and dated to 29,000 BC. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground ...
). In modern recipes, any method to cook sweet potatoes can be used such as steaming or boiling. The sweet potatoes are usually removed of its skin then thoroughly mashed.
Coconut milk, or milk substitute, is then mixed to the desired consistency. Optionally, additional sugar can be added or garnished with shredded coconut.
See also
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References
{{Puddings
Native Hawaiian cuisine
Hawaiian desserts
Puddings
Sweet potato dishes