~381 cal · 6g protein · 60g carbs · 13g fat (estimated, per serving)
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Golden puffed Fijian fried bread
🇫🇯 Viti Levu
Babakau is Fiji's breakfast fried bread, sold from roadside stalls and made in village kitchens across Viti Levu. The yeasted dough fries up golden and hollow, and it is eaten simply — plain, with butter and jam, or dunked into a mug of sweet lemon-leaf or milky tea.
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Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 6 —
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3 cups all-purpose flour
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1/3 cup sugar
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2 tsp instant yeast
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1.25 cups warm water
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4 cups neutral oil, for frying
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1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
1
Mix the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt, then stir in the warm water to a soft, slightly sticky dough.
2
Knead until smooth, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour.
3
Punch down and shape into flat rounds, resting them a few minutes while the oil heats to 350°F.
4
Fry until puffed and deep golden on both sides, drain, and serve warm with tea, butter, or jam.
Viti Levu roadside and village cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
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Viti Levu. Fiji’s main island, where fish is “cooked” in lime and coconut.
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Fiji. Three hundred islands where the reef is the pantry.
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Oceania. Island kitchens where coconut and the sea rule.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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