Tuluk

Medium·50 min active + 1 hour 10 min resting

Vanuatu pork dumpling — ground pork seasoned with garlic, onion, and salt, wrapped in young taro leaves with coconut milk and steamed in banana-leaf parcels.

Tuluk is the iconic Vanuatu pork-and-taro-leaf preparation, particularly common in Efate and Tanna islands. Part of the wider Pacific 'food in leaves' tradition.

Unwrap a tuluk — taro leaf releases its grassy aroma; pork bundle steaming gently. Bite: pork moist and savory, garlic-and-ginger sharp, the coconut milk's tropical fat coating; taro leaf adds subtle earthy-vegetable note (taro leaves have a unique flavor distinct from spinach). Each parcel is a complete bite. With rice and a side of fresh chili, this is the Vanuatu Sunday lunch.

Taro leaves must be cooked (raw leaves have calcium oxalate crystals); softening over flame or blanching activates this. Wrapping ensures steaming infuses flavors. The banana-leaf outer wrap prevents bursting.

Variations

With chicken instead of pork. With added pumpkin. With more spice. Vegetarian (no meat, with mushroom). With grated cassava added. Smaller appetizer-sized portions.

On the Palate

Where Tuluk sits in the Vanuatu flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 4

16 squaresBanana Leaf

2 tbspCilantro

1 tspSalt

1/2 tspBlack Pepper

How it's made

10 steps · 50 min active + 1 hour 10 min waiting

1
6 min
Combine 500 g ground pork + 1 finely chopped onion + 4 minced garlic + 1 thumb grated ginger + 1 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp pepper + 2 tbsp chopped cilantro.
2
2 min
Mix thoroughly.
3
6 min
Wash 16 large young taro leaves (or substitute spinach + chard layered).
4
4 min
Soften taro leaves over flame or briefly blanch.
Watch out
Wilt the taro leaves over the flame just until they go limp and darken — this cooks out the calcium-oxalate crystals that sting the mouth; a raw leaf makes it itch and prickle.
5
6 min
On each taro leaf, place 2 tbsp pork mixture; drizzle 1 tsp coconut milk.
6
6 min
Roll up into small parcels.
Watch out
Roll the parcels snug so no filling pokes out the ends — a loose roll lets the juices leak and the parcel falls apart while steaming.
7
8 min
Wrap each in a banana-leaf square; tie with twine.
8
32 min
Steam in a covered pot 30-35 min until pork is cooked through.
Watch out
Steam until the pork parcel feels firm through the leaf and any juice runs clear, about half an hour; pork that's still soft and pink inside needs longer.
9
11 min
Cool 10 min; unwrap (or eat directly from the leaf).
10
1 min
Serve hot with rice or boiled cassava.