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Palusami (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream)

Name: Palusami (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream)
Total time: 50 min
Yield: Serves 2
Cuisine: Tuvalu
Ingredients: 200g Spinach; 200ml Coconut milk; 1 Onion; 100g Canned corned beef; To taste Salt; As needed Aluminum foil

Main Dish

⏱ 50 min

👥 Serves 2

Difficulty ⭐⭐

Leafy greens wrapped around coconut cream and corned beef, steamed until tender — a Pacific Islands feast dish.

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📖 The Story Behind This Dish

Using taro leaves as an edible wrapper for coconut cream, onion, and sometimes fish or corned beef, palusami is found across the Pacific islands, including Tuvalu. It's said to have arrived with Polynesian voyagers and taken root as a resourceful way to cook with what's on hand.

🌆 Where it's eaten: An essential dish at church gatherings and weddings. Traditionally wrapped in banana leaves and steamed in an underground earth oven called an "umu."

🥕 Ingredients (serves 2)

Spinach 200g
Coconut milk 200ml
Onion 1
Canned corned beef 100g
Salt To taste
Aluminum foil As needed

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Rinse the spinach and use whole, larger leaves.
Mince the onion and mix with the corned beef and coconut milk.
Layer 2–3 spinach leaves, place the filling in the center, and wrap.
Wrap again in aluminum foil and steam for 30–40 minutes.
It's done once the leaves are tender and the cream inside is silky.

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