Solomon Islands

🇫🇯Fiji

Babakau

Yeasted dough cut into triangles and deep fried until puffed and hollow, eaten plain, with butter and jam, or split around a curry.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Cassava Pudding

Poudine manioc

Grated cassava, coconut milk, sugar, and vanilla bake into dense, translucent-chewy pudding slices served across island tables.

🇳🇨New Caledonia

Coconut Crab

Unga

Large land crab prized as a delicacy, especially on the outer islands of the Cook Islands; protected in some areas due to declining populations; a rare and sought-after island food.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Curried Coconut and Lime Gourd Soup

Solomon Islands coconut-lime gourd soup simmers gourd with coconut milk, lime, onion, garlic, ginger, and curry seasoning until creamy.

🇫🇯Fiji

Fiji Asparagus

Duruka

The unopened flower of a wild cane, peeled from its sheath and cooked in coconut milk — available for only a few weeks a year.

🇫🇯Fiji

Fish Suruwa

Suruwa

Firm white fish cooked in a thin coconut-milk curry with cumin, turmeric, garam masala, tomato and chilli.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Galip Nut

Canarium almond from the galip tree — a native PNG nut eaten raw, roasted, or incorporated into dishes; one of the staple nuts of the PNG diet, found alongside karuka in local dishes.

🇫🇯Fiji

Green coconut

Bu

A young drinking coconut opened with a machete at the roadside and drunk straight from the shell, then split so the soft flesh can be scooped.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Green PawPaw Curry

Green pawpaw curry uses firm unripe papaya simmered in coconut cream with curry aromatics and served with rice or another island staple.

🇫🇯Fiji

Gulgula

Small sweet fritters of flour, banana and cardamom fried into dark balls, made in Indo-Fijian homes for tea and prayer days.

🇺🇸Hawaii, United States

Hawaiian Coconut Pudding

Haupia

A firm coconut pudding thickened with arrowroot or cornstarch, traditionally cut into chilled squares and served at Hawaiian and wider Polynesian gatherings.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Hibiscus spinach

Bele

Hibiscus spinach (Abelmoschus manihot) is a tender, slightly mucilaginous Pacific leafy green known as bele, aibika, pele, and island cabbage, usually cooked with coconut milk or added to soups and stews.

🇫🇯Fiji

Ika Vakalolo

Whole fish or fillets simmered in coconut milk with onion, chilli and lime until the cream thickens around them.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Kaukau

Sweet potato — the everyday starch of the PNG Highlands, baked, boiled, or roasted, then mashed with coconut milk, garlic, and ginger; eaten at almost every meal.

🇵🇬Papua New Guinea

Kokoda

Papua New Guinean kokoda is fresh fish cured in lime juice and finished with coconut milk, onion, chili, and other coastal vegetables.

🇻🇺Vanuatu

Laplap

Tanna Laplap

Laplap is Vanuatu's grated root-crop or breadfruit mixture, combined with coconut and ordinary meat, fish, or vegetables, wrapped in leaves and baked until dense and tender.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Lolo

Coconut cream squeezed by hand from freshly grated flesh, the fat that carries almost every Fijian dish.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Masimasi

Slippery cabbage (aibika) with mashed ngali nut, wrapped in banana leaves and baked in a motu (earth oven); a traditional vegetarian dish combining the nutritious green with the rich, almond-like ngali nut; a specialty of the Kastom Gaden tradition.

🇸🇧Central Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal / Malaita / Makira), Solomon Islands

Megapode Egg

Megapode eggs are gathered from legal, managed nesting sites on Savo and cooked as a seasonal Solomon Islands food; the unusually large egg has a rich yolk.

🇸🇧Polynesian Outliers (Temotu / Rennell and Bellona), Solomon Islands

Nambo

Traditional breadfruit biscuit from Santa Cruz in Temotu province; breadfruit is roasted, peeled, cut into squares, and further heated to harden into a biscuit texture; keeps for 2+ years; used for fishing trips and disaster preparedness; a Polynesian outlier specialty.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Ngali Nut

Ngali nut is the rich kernel of Canarium indicum, eaten roasted or crushed into foods; it has a buttery, almond-like flavour and firm shell.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Pia Sua

Coconut cream custard thickened with cocoyam starch (or cornflour), cooled and served in chunks; a traditional Solomon Islander dessert; the cocoyam gives a smooth, silky texture distinct from gelatin-based custards.

🇸🇧Central Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal / Malaita / Makira), Solomon Islands

Sisikolo

Traditional stew from Langa Langa Lagoon in Malaita; main ingredient is koa, the fruit of the Bruguiera gymnorhiza mangrove, combined with coconuts, fish (yellowfin tuna), and onions; served with savory cassava pudding; a rare, regional specialty.

🇸🇧Central Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal / Malaita / Makira), Solomon Islands

Six-Month Pudding

Six-month pudding from Makira uses giant swamp taro, known as kakake, and concentrated coconut milk; the cooked mixture is fermented and kept for months.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Cocoa

Solomon Islands cocoa is fermented and roasted cacao used to make a dark, aromatic chocolate drink or food preparation.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Fern Salad

Fern Salad

Fern fronds boiled half-cooked, mixed with shallots, peppers, tomatoes, and heated coconut cream; a traditional Solomon Islands vegetable dish using edible ferns (Diplazium esculentum); the coconut cream binds the ingredients and adds richness.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Kokoda

Kokoda

Solomon Islands kokoda is raw tuna or reef fish briefly cured in lime, then mixed with coconut milk, tomato, onion, chili, and herbs.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Mumu

Mumu

Solomon Islands mumu combines pork or chicken, root vegetables, and coconut in banana leaves, then slow-cooks the parcel underground over hot stones.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Poi

Poi

Solomon Islands poi is fermented pounded taro made into a smooth, tangy paste and served as a starchy accompaniment to fish, meat, or vegetables.

🇸🇧Western Solomon Islands (Western / Choiseul / Isabel), Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Seaweed

Solomon Islands seaweed is fresh edible marine algae served raw or lightly dressed with coconut, lime, or chilli as a crisp vegetable side.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Tuluk

Tuluk

Solomon Islands tuluk is a banana-leaf parcel of cassava and sweet potato enclosing steamed chicken or pork, often cooked in an earth oven.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands Tuna Curry

Solomon Islands tuna curry cooks fresh or canned tuna with coconut milk, onion, garlic, ginger, and chili, usually served with rice or root crops.

🇸🇧Central Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal / Malaita / Makira), Solomon Islands

Venda-venda

Venda-venda is a Solomon Islands leafy vegetable preparation, cooked with coconut and aromatics until soft and served alongside fish or roots.

🇸🇧Solomon Islands

Yam Pudding in Bamboo

Grated yam mixed with coconut cream and salt, stuffed into a bamboo tube (70cm), sealed with banana leaves, and cooked over a fire; the bamboo is split open to serve; a traditional cooking method that infuses the pudding with bamboo flavour.