Tonga's Sunday-feast classic — salty corned beef and coconut cream wrapped in tender taro leaves, slow-baked in foil parcels until silky and rich.
Lu pulu is the national dish of Tonga, a beloved Sunday lunch and feast staple across the Polynesian kingdom and its diaspora communities in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. The name combines 'lu' (the Tongan word for taro leaves) and 'pulu' (a transliteration of 'bull,' meaning beef). The dish consists of corned beef cooked with onions and rich coconut cream, all wrapped in layers of tender young taro leaves and slow-baked in foil parcels in a traditional underground oven (umu) or a regular oven. As it cooks, the taro leaves wilt and absorb the coconut-beef juices, becoming silky and almost spinach-like, while the corned beef breaks down into a tender, salty richness balanced by the sweet coconut. The dish has roots in deep Polynesian tradition — taro and coconut have been Pacific staples for millennia — but the inclusion of canned corned beef reflects a more recent cultural shift, as canned meat became a prized commodity introduced through 19th-century European trade and a marker of celebration for special meals. Today, lu pulu appears at every Tongan Sunday lunch (the kava ceremony's accompaniment), at weddings, at funerals, and at any gathering important enough to warrant a feast. The taro leaves must be cooked thoroughly — raw taro contains calcium oxalate crystals that cause throat irritation — but the long baking time eliminates this completely and leaves you with one of Polynesia's great comfort dishes.
Serves 6
If using fresh leaves, wash thoroughly and remove the tough central stem from each leaf. If using frozen taro leaves (sold in bags at Pacific or Asian groceries as 'lu' or 'palusami leaves'), thaw and drain well. Lay the leaves flat in stacks — you'll need about 6–8 leaves per parcel.
Heat oil in a heavy skillet over medium. Add chopped onion and cook 6 minutes until soft and translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.
Break up the corned beef into a large bowl with a fork. Add the sautéed onions and garlic, half the coconut cream (about 200 ml) and the black pepper. Mix thoroughly — the filling should be moist, glossy and well combined. Taste a tiny bit; add salt only if needed (most canned corned beef is already very salty).
The traditional Tongan version uses a particular brand of canned corned beef — Palm or Ox & Palm are common. Don't substitute leaner deli corned beef; the fat content is essential.
Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F). Lay a 30 cm square of heavy-duty foil on the bench. In the center, lay 6–8 taro leaves overlapping in a circle (shiny side down) to form a 20 cm round cup. Spoon a generous portion of the corned beef mixture (about 1.5 cups) into the center of the leaves. Drizzle with 2 tbsp of the remaining coconut cream.
Fold the taro leaves over the filling to form a tight package, then bring up the edges of the foil and seal tightly into a tight parcel — squeeze out air. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make 4 parcels in total. Place all parcels on a baking tray.
Bake in the preheated oven for 2 hours. The slow cooking is essential — both for breaking down the taro leaves completely (raw taro causes throat irritation) and for the flavors to meld into a silky, rich filling. Check at 90 minutes that they're still steaming; the parcels should be hot and slightly puffy.
Remove parcels from the oven and rest 10 minutes before opening — they're full of hot steam. Carefully peel back the foil and the top layer of taro leaves. The lu pulu inside should be deep brown, glistening, and meltingly soft. Spoon directly onto plates with steamed rice or boiled cassava on the side. The dish is traditionally eaten with hands, scooping the lu pulu with pieces of cassava.
Taro leaves MUST be cooked thoroughly — undercooked taro contains oxalate crystals that cause throat scratching and irritation. Two hours of baking is non-negotiable.
Frozen taro leaves are sold at Pacific Islander, Filipino and Asian groceries — labels include 'lu,' 'gabi leaves,' or 'palusami leaves.' Spinach is a poor substitute (no Polynesian character) but acceptable as a last resort.
Use full-fat canned corned beef — leaner products give a dry, less authentic result. The fat is what makes the dish silky.
Make extra parcels — lu pulu reheats beautifully and many Tongan families freeze cooked parcels for quick weeknight meals.
Lu sipi — replace corned beef with mutton or lamb chops (Tonga's other beloved version), bone-in and slow-cooked even longer (3 hours).
Lu moa — use chicken thighs in place of beef for a lighter, more delicate version.
Vegetarian lu — substitute with mashed cassava and a generous amount of coconut cream; bake the same way.
Samoan palusami — a very similar dish from neighboring Samoa, made with the same technique but typically vegetarian (just coconut cream and onions wrapped in taro leaves).
Refrigerate cooked parcels in their foil up to 4 days; reheat in a 160°C oven for 25 minutes or in a microwave for 4 minutes. Freezes excellently in foil parcels up to 3 months; thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. The dish actually improves overnight as the flavors meld further.
Lu pulu evolved in 19th-century Tonga when canned corned beef was introduced via European trade and became a prized luxury food, especially for Sunday Christian feasts. The taro-leaf wrapping technique itself is ancient Polynesian, predating European contact by centuries. The modern dish became the canonical Tongan Sunday lunch through the 20th century and is now a defining marker of Tongan cultural identity worldwide.
Yes — but only when fully cooked. Raw taro contains calcium oxalate that irritates the throat. Two hours of baking destroys these compounds completely. Never eat lu pulu undercooked.
It's not the same dish — spinach lacks the meaty, almost-leathery texture of cooked taro leaves. If you absolutely can't find taro, collard greens or Swiss chard come closer than spinach.
Both to break down the taro leaves to soften them and destroy oxalates, and to render the corned beef fat into the coconut cream for a silky texture. Don't shortcut this.
Yes — place foil parcels in a slow cooker with 2 cm water in the bottom, cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours. Even better than oven baking because the moisture is more controlled.
Per serving (320g / 11.3 oz) · 6 servings total
Ask our AI cooking assistant anything about this recipe — substitutions, techniques, scaling.
Chat with AI Chef →Join the conversation
Sign in to leave a comment and save your favourite recipes