American · Hawaiian · dessert

Haupia

Haupia reads sweetness 7.7, fruity 4.2 and richness 3.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a American · Hawaiian dessert, about 5 hr 6 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 7.7 · Fruity 4.2 · Richness 3.9 · Salinity 3.7 · Nutty 2.6 · Floral 1.6 · Umami 0.9 · Earthy 0.9 · Sourness 0.9

What's in it (8)

Time & effort: about 5 hr 6 min (1 hr 6 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 262 kcal, 2.2 g protein, 22.3 g fat, 17 g carbs

Dietary: Vegan — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

  1. Haupia is the coconut pudding cut into squares on every luau plate, and in its original form it was not a pudding at all — it was coconut cream thickened with pia, the starch of Polynesian arrowroot, and set on ti leaves. Cornstarch replaced pia in the twentieth century and most modern recipes use it. Pia is still grown and still sold in Hawaii and it sets softer and cleaner, with none of the slightly chalky mouthfeel cornstarch leaves. Use it if you can find it and say which you used.
  2. Press your own coconut milk if you possibly can — this dish is coconut and almost nothing else, so tinned milk with stabilisers in it shows immediately. Crack the coconuts, prise the flesh from the shells, and grate it. Cover the gratings with 500 ml of hot water, let stand 15 minutes, then squeeze them hard through muslin. Squeeze a second time with the remaining hot water and combine. You want about 800 ml of thick milk.
  3. Whisk the pia or cornstarch with the cold water until there are no lumps at all.
  4. Bring the coconut milk, sugar and salt to a bare simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly. Do not let it boil hard — coconut milk splits and the fat separates out in beads.
  5. Pour in the starch slurry in a steady stream, whisking the whole time, and cook 8 minutes, stirring without stopping, until it is thick enough that the whisk leaves a track that holds for a second before closing.
  6. Line a 20 cm square tin with the ti leaves, shiny side up, and pour the haupia in. Smooth the top.
  7. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate 4 hours until completely firm. Cut into 5 cm squares with a wet knife and scatter the fresh grated coconut over. It should hold a clean edge but yield instantly on the tongue — a haupia you can bounce has too much starch in it.
  8. Substitutions: cornstarch can stand in for the pia.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Keep reading: what sweetness, fruity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.