flipTraveler's Braised ʻUala
Traveler's Braised ʻUala
Why this dish? Hiʻiaka's journey is immense: from Puna to Hāʻena to bring back Lohiʻau. On these long marches, sweet potato (ʻuala) cooked in the imu and then carried cold is the ideal provision — sweet, nourishing, it keeps and is eaten without fire.
Sweet potatoes cooked whole in embers or the imu until soft and caramelized, then wrapped and taken along to eat on the road. The "walking bread" of the ancient Hawaiians.
The road is long, longer than you think, and one does not find fire at every ridge. So I cook my ʻuala the night before, under the ashes, until their skin blackens and their heart becomes honey. I let them cool, tie them in a leaf, and they fit in my paʻū as I cross my sister's lava. Bite into it cold, while walking: it will sustain you from sunrise to sunset without asking for water or fire.
- •Sweet potatoes (ʻuala) — as many as one can carry (sweet storable starch)
Traveler's Braised ʻUala
Sweet potatoes cooked whole in embers or the imu until soft and caramelized, then wrapped and taken along to eat on the road. The "walking bread" of the ancient Hawaiians.
Why this dish? Hiʻiaka's journey is immense: from Puna to Hāʻena to bring back Lohiʻau. On these long marches, sweet potato (ʻuala) cooked in the imu and then carried cold is the ideal provision — sweet, nourishing, it keeps and is eaten without fire.
The road is long, longer than you think, and one does not find fire at every ridge. So I cook my ʻuala the night before, under the ashes, until their skin blackens and their heart becomes honey. I let them cool, tie them in a leaf, and they fit in my paʻū as I cross my sister's lava. Bite into it cold, while walking: it will sustain you from sunrise to sunset without asking for water or fire.
Ingredients (period version)
- Sweet potatoes (ʻuala) — as many as one can carry (sweet storable starch)
Ingredients
- Orange or purple-fleshed sweet potatoes — 6 medium (base)
- Sea salt (optional) — a pinch (enhances sweetness)
Method
- Wash the sweet potatoes without peeling.
- Bake whole at 200 °C for 45 to 55 minutes (or under embers), until soft and syrupy beads appear on the skin.
- Cool completely: the flesh firms up and becomes portable.
- Wrap in a leaf or cloth; keeps for one to two days in cool air.
- Eat cold on the road, peeling with one hand.
How it was made : ʻUala, introduced early to Polynesia long before Europeans, grew on dry lands where taro would not. Cooked in large quantities in the imu, it served as a reserve and travel food for long journeys on foot or by canoe.
The contemporary twist : Cut in half and placed under the broiler for a few minutes, the surface caramelizes: a "dessert" with no added sugar, just the plant and the fire.
Sources : E. S. Craighill Handy & Mary Kawena Pukui, The Polynesian Family System in Kaʻu, Hawaii · Patrick V. Kirch, Feathered Gods and Fishhooks
Hiʻiaka · Charactorium
