🍽️ DINNER
Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish in Coconut Cream)
Firm reef fish lightly fried, then simmered in lolo (coconut cream) with onion, garlic, tomato, chilli and greens, finished with lemon and served with boiled cassava or dalo.
Fijian · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 30 min
~910 cal · 44g protein · 80g carbs · 47g fat · 9g fiber · 11g sugars · 32g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Ika vakalolo means fish cooked with lolo, the Fijian word for , and it is one of the country's best-loved everyday dishes. Fiji's reefs and lagoons keep kitchens supplied with fish, and the coconut palm supplies the sauce, so the pairing turns up at family meals, church lunches and gatherings across the islands, and as counter food with or dalo in town restaurants.
The fish is usually a firm white reef fish such as walu (Spanish mackerel), snapper or grouper, cut into steaks, dusted lightly and fried golden. It then goes into a pan of onion, garlic, tomato and chilli, often over a bed of greens like rourou (young leaves) or spinach, and in until the sauce is rich and the fish just flakes. A squeeze of lemon lifts it at the end.
Do not confuse it with the Fijian dessert also called vakalolo, a sweet and coconut pudding, or with kokoda, where the fish is raw in citrus: here the fish is cooked right through.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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 4
- 800 g firm white fish steaks or thick fillets (walu, snapper or grouper)
- 3 tbsp plain flour, for dusting
- 1 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 to 2 fresh red chilli, sliced
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
- 200 g leafy greens (spinach or bok choy), roughly chopped, Fijian cooks often use rourou (young taro leaves); if you do, simmer them in the sauce at least 15 minutes before the fish goes back in, as taro leaves must be cooked right through
- 125 ml water
- 400 ml thick (lolo)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 600 g or dalo (), peeled and boiled, to serve
Instructions
- 1Pat the fish dry, season with salt and dust lightly with flour. Fry in the hot oil over medium-high heat for 2 to 3 minutes a side until golden, then lift out.
- 2In the same pan soften the onion, garlic and chilli for 2 minutes. Add the greens and water and cook 2 to 3 minutes until wilted.
- 3Lay the fish back on the greens and tuck the tomato slices around it.
- 4Pour the coconut cream over, bring just to a simmer and cook gently for 5 to 8 minutes, spooning the sauce over the fish, until the fish flakes and the sauce is thick.✎ Chef’s noteKeep it at a gentle simmer; hard boiling makes coconut cream split and turn oily.
- 5Finish with the lemon juice, taste for salt, and serve with boiled cassava or dalo.
Fijian home cooking, Viti Levu.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Viti Levu. Fiji's main island, Viti Levu, cooks the lovo earth-oven feast, coconut-marinated kokoda, and Indo-Fijian curries. Taro, cassava, and reef fish anchor a table of two cultures.
🗺️
Fiji. Fijian cuisine is defined by the reef and the coconut, kokoda (fish 'cooked' in citrus and coconut cream), taro, cassava, and the earth-oven lovo feast. Indigenous iTaukei and Indo-Fijian curry traditions meet across three hundred islands.
🌍
Oceania. The twentieth century changed the Pacific plate faster than anything before it. White rice, tinned corned beef, mutton flaps, flour and sugar arrived by ship and are now entirely everyday, and the public health consequences are among the most closely studied anywhere. Alongside that, Australian and New Zealand kitchens have taken up Asian technique and Maori and Pasifika cooking in a way they had not before.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Fiji
BabakauPuffy, faintly sweet Fijian fried bread, crisp outside and pillowy within, torn and dunked in sweet milky tea for breakfast.
VakaloloDense baked cassava under a dark coconut caramel, one of Fiji's oldest sweets, cut into sticky squares.
Fiji Roti ParcelA soft griddle roti wrapped around spiced potato-and-pea curry, the everyday one-handed lunch of Fiji's towns.
Browse all Fiji recipes →
Good to know
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 Fiji meal
Kava (Yaqona)Drink
VakaloloDessert
Fiji Roti ParcelLunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Moqueca Baiana (Bahian Fish Stew)Brazil
MarmitakoSpain
Eke Takare (Curried Octopus in Coconut Cream)Cook Islands
Brudet (Dalmatian Fish Stew)Croatia
Callaloo and CrabDominica
DemokPalau
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish in Coconut Cream)?
Firm reef fish lightly fried, then simmered in lolo (coconut cream) with onion, garlic, tomato, chilli and greens, finished with lemon and served with boiled cassava or dalo.
Where does Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish in Coconut Cream) come from?
Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish in Coconut Cream) is a Fijian dish from Viti Levu, Fiji.
Can Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish in Coconut Cream) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish in Coconut Cream) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Ika Vakalolo (Fijian Fish in Coconut Cream) take to make?
About 45 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.