Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream)
Young taro leaves slow-cooked with onion and coconut cream into a soft, silky green dish, the Cook Islands staple vegetable.
Cook Islander · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 45 min
~293 cal · 4g protein · 27g carbs · 20g fat · 5g fiber · 4g sugars · 18g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Rukau is the everyday green of the Cook Islands: young leaves cooked down slowly with until soft and creamy. leaves are the islands' staple leafy vegetable, and rukau is one of the most loved and recognisable dishes in Cook Islands cuisine.
The leaves are simmered gently with onion, and is stirred in near the end. Cooked long enough, the leaves lose the needle-like oxalate crystals that would otherwise burn the throat and turn tender and mild. Corned beef or fish is often added, but rukau is just as traditional made as a plain vegetable dish.
Traditionally it is baked in bundles in the umu earth oven, though a covered pot or oven does the same work today. It is served alongside roasted meats or fish and root crops such as , kumara and , a quiet green counterpoint to the rest of the plate.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
1 lb young leaves (or spinach/chard), tough stems removed
1 onion, finely chopped
1.5 cups
to taste salt
to taste black pepper
Instructions
1
Wash the taro leaves well and cut out the tough central veins, then tear the leaves into large pieces.
✎ Chef’s note
Taro leaves carry needle-like calcium oxalate crystals that catch at the throat if undercooked, so this dish needs long, thorough cooking, never a quick wilt.
2
Layer the leaves with the chopped onion in a pot or baking dish, season with salt and pepper, and cook gently, covered, so the greens wilt down in their own moisture. Top up with a little water if needed.
3
Cook, covered, over low heat (or in a 350°F oven) for about 40 minutes, until the leaves are completely soft and wilted right down.
4
Stir in the coconut cream and bring back to a gentle simmer until hot and creamy, then serve with roasted meat or fish and root crops.
✎ Chef’s note
For the everyday meaty version, layer in a tin of corned beef or some flaked fish with the onion; without it the dish is fully vegetarian.
Cook Islands home cooking, Rarotonga.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Rarotonga. Rarotonga is the main Cook Island, where ika mata cures raw reef fish in citrus before drowning it in fresh coconut cream. Taro, breadfruit, and pork cooked in the umu earth oven fill the Sunday table after church.
🗺️
Cook Islands. Cook Islands cuisine is Polynesian, raw fish marinated in coconut cream (ika mata), taro, and the earth-oven umukai feast. The lagoon and the coconut palm define an island table of fish and root crops.
🌍
Oceania. The staple crops here were carried on purpose. Lapita voyagers moving east from roughly three thousand years ago brought taro, yam, banana, breadfruit and coconut with them along with pigs and chickens, because most of the islands they settled had almost nothing edible growing on them. The earth oven travelled too, as umu, imu, hangi, lovo, mumu, motu and um.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Cook Islands
Ika MataRaw fish cured in lime and bathed in fresh coconut cream with cucumber, tomato, and spring onion.
Cook Islands PokeCooked ripe banana bound with arrowroot and baked until translucent, drowned in thick coconut cream, eaten at breakfast, at teatime, or alongside the main meal.
Curried SausagesBrowned sausages simmered in a mild curry-and-coconut gravy over rice, a Rarotongan family lunch.
Browse all Cook Islands recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Oven.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Cook Islands meal
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Pawpaw PokeDessert
Eke Takare (Curried Octopus in Coconut Cream)Dinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream)?
Young taro leaves slow-cooked with onion and coconut cream into a soft, silky green dish, the Cook Islands staple vegetable.
Where does Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream) come from?
Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream) is a Cook Islander dish from Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
Can Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Rukau (Taro Leaves in Coconut Cream) take to make?
About 60 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 45 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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