Traditional te bua toro ni baukin: Kiribati pumpkin cooked in coconut cream with sugar and lime

Kiribati is a country of coral atolls scattered along the equator, where almost nothing grows besides coconut palm, pandan, breadfruit and a few vegetables that withstand salt and sun. Pumpkin, arrived with the ships, is one of those that took hold, and baukin, as it is called in Gilbertese, became one of the islands' most beloved dishes, always with the cream squeezed from freshly grated coconut.

The recipe is the simplicity of those who have little and do it well: pumpkin cooked in coconut cream with a pinch of sugar and salt, sometimes with lime zest or with the pulp of the pandan fruit, until the coconut reduces and coats the pieces in a creamy sauce. It is eaten as a side for grilled fish, as dessert, or in the morning with tea.

The same method works for breadfruit, banana and sweet potato, and is the base of the cooking of the whole central Pacific: coconut, a root or fruit and low heat. At home, kabocha or Japanese pumpkin and thick canned coconut milk give a very close result.

Recipe card

• Origin: Kiribati
• Category: Side or dessert, pumpkin in coconut
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 40 minutes
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 800 g kabocha or Japanese pumpkin, peeled, in 3 cm cubes
• 400 ml thick coconut cream (or unshaken canned coconut milk, only the thick part, plus a little of the liquid)
• 2 tablespoons sugar (or more, for dessert)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Zest of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 piece of pandan or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Method

1. Put the pumpkin in a pot with the water and salt, cover and cook on medium for 10 minutes, until it begins to soften.
2. Add the coconut cream, sugar and pandan and cook on low, half-covered, for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring carefully now and then, until the pumpkin is very soft and the coconut reduces to a thick sauce coating the pieces.
3. Mash a few cubes against the pot to thicken more, if you like.
4. Turn off the heat, add the lime zest and serve hot or warm.

Tips and variations

• Low heat and no hard boiling: coconut cream splits at a high boil.
• As dessert, double the sugar and serve chilled with grated coconut on top.
• As a side, reduce the sugar to one spoon and serve with grilled fish and lime.
• Breadfruit, ripe plantain or sweet potato cook the same way.
• Fresh or frozen pandan is found in Asian stores; vanilla is the Western substitute.
• Keeps 3 days in the fridge and firms up.
• A pinch of grated ginger is the touch for those who want contrast.

Pumpkin in coconut cream is Kiribati in its purest form: two ingredients, low heat and the taste of the atoll. Sweet, creamy and ready in under an hour.