Meat

Pua (pua)

Pork wrapped in banana leaves and slowly cooked in an umu, the traditional Polynesian earth oven. The meat becomes very tender and fragrant, and pua is the star dish of big Tongan celebrations.

4 h 30
6 servings
Medium
Moderate
🇹🇴 Tonga

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Instructions

Cut the meat into large chunks, rub them with the salt and pepper, then let them rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
Rinse the banana leaves and soften them by passing them quickly over a flame or in hot water.
Wrap each piece of pork in two leaves, forming a tightly closed parcel, then tie it with strips of leaf or kitchen string.
In an oven or a large dish covered with foil, place the parcels with the sliced onions and seal tightly.
Cook at 150 °C for 4 hours, until the meat comes away from the bone easily.
Open the parcels at the table and serve the pork with yam or taro.

Variations and tips

Without a special oven. In a very tightly closed casserole dish, cook the parcels over very low heat on the hob for 3 hours, checking the moisture level.