flipHaupia (coconut cream set with pia)
Haupia (coconut cream set with pia)
Why this dish? Haupia closed the royal banquets over which the queen presided. Composer of the tender 'Aloha ʻOe', Liliuokalani savored this delicate sweetness, at once festive and tender.
Coconut milk thickened into a firm cream using pia (Polynesian arrowroot), lightly sweetened, cut into cool, melting squares served on a tī leaf.
To finish a feast on a sweet note, I have haupia brought to you. The grated coconut was pressed to extract the milk, which was bound with pia, that starch from our forests, and sweetened with a hint of kō, our sugarcane. Barely set, still trembling, it was poured onto lāʻī leaves where it cooled into a pearly white. Cut into small squares, melting on the tongue — that is how one leaves the table with a light heart.
- •Fresh coconut milk (wai niu) — the milk of several nuts (creamy base)
- •Pia (Polynesian arrowroot) — a few spoonfuls (thickener)
- •Sugarcane juice (kō) — to taste (light sweetener)
Haupia (coconut cream set with pia)
Coconut milk thickened into a firm cream using pia (Polynesian arrowroot), lightly sweetened, cut into cool, melting squares served on a tī leaf.
Why this dish? Haupia closed the royal banquets over which the queen presided. Composer of the tender 'Aloha ʻOe', Liliuokalani savored this delicate sweetness, at once festive and tender.
To finish a feast on a sweet note, I have haupia brought to you. The grated coconut was pressed to extract the milk, which was bound with pia, that starch from our forests, and sweetened with a hint of kō, our sugarcane. Barely set, still trembling, it was poured onto lāʻī leaves where it cooled into a pearly white. Cut into small squares, melting on the tongue — that is how one leaves the table with a light heart.
Ingredients (period version)
- Fresh coconut milk (wai niu) — the milk of several nuts (creamy base)
- Pia (Polynesian arrowroot) — a few spoonfuls (thickener)
- Sugarcane juice (kō) — to taste (light sweetener)
Ingredients
- Coconut milk — 40 cl (creamy base)
- Arrowroot (or cornstarch if needed) — 4 tbsp (thickener)
- Sugar — 3 tbsp (light sweetener)
- Water — 10 cl (dissolve starch)
Method
- Dissolve the arrowroot in cold water until completely smooth.
- Heat the coconut milk with the sugar over low heat without boiling.
- Pour in the dissolved starch while whisking; cook, stirring, until it thickens noticeably (2–3 min).
- Pour into a square dish, smooth, cool, then refrigerate for 2 h. Cut into squares and serve chilled.
How it was made : The milk was extracted by pressing grated coconut pulp, and thickened with pia (Tacca leontopetaloides), a traditional starch, long before cornstarch replaced it. The sweetness remained subtle, as sugarcane was cultivated on the islands.
The contemporary twist : Squares coated with a veil of dark chocolate and toasted coconut flakes, plated like palace petits-fours.
Sources : Rachel Laudan, The Food of Paradise, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1996 · Mary Kawena Pukui & Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary
Liliuokalani · Charactorium
