Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish)
Raw reef fish cured in lime and salt, then folded through fresh coconut cream with onion and chili, a bright, no-cook lunch of the atolls.
I-Kiribati · easy · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 0 min
~538 cal · 35g protein · 16g carbs · 39g fat · 4g fiber · 7g sugars · 29g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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On the coral atolls of Kiribati, where fresh water is scarce and cooking fuel scarcer, the smartest way to prepare the morning's catch is often not to cook it at all. Palu is the I-Kiribati answer, a cousin of the raw-fish dishes found across the Pacific, and a staple of the midday meal.
Cubes of the freshest reef fish are tossed with lime juice and sea salt and left just long enough for the acid to firm and whiten the flesh, the same gentle chemistry behind a . Then comes the coconut: thick cream pressed from a grated mature nut, poured over with sliced onion and a little chili so the dish turns rich and cool at once.
Palu depends entirely on the catch being impeccably fresh, which on an atoll it always is, straight from the lagoon to the bowl. Eaten with rice or on its own in the heat of the day, it is that the finest island food can ask nothing of the fire.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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 4
1.25 lb very fresh reef fish fillet, cubed
4 limes, juiced
1 tsp sea salt
1.5 cups thick
1 small red onion, finely sliced
1 red chili, minced
Instructions
1
Toss the cubed fish with the lime juice and salt in a bowl until every piece is coated.
2
Leave it to cure at cool room temperature until the flesh turns opaque and firm, 15 to 20 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Use fish you would happily eat raw and keep it cold until it goes in; the lime firms it but does not make questionable fish safe.
3
Drain off most of the lime so the dish stays rich rather than sharp.
4
Fold in the coconut cream, onion, and chili, and check the salt.
5
Serve straight away, cool, with rice or on its own.
I-Kiribati atoll cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Tarawa. Tarawa is a low atoll capital sustained by swamp taro grown in dug pits, coconut in every form, and reef fish eaten raw or grilled. Kiribati cooking is spare and resourceful, built on what an atoll can actually grow and catch.
🗺️
Kiribati. Kiribati's atoll cuisine is defined by the coconut and the sea, reef fish, giant swamp taro (babai), and coconut toddy. On these low coral islands, the palm and the ocean are the whole pantry.
🌍
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 Kiribati
Babai with Coconut FishGrated giant swamp taro (babai) steamed with coconut cream, served with reef fish poached in coconut.
Kiribati Coconut RiceRice simmered in fresh coconut milk and sweetened with coconut toddy, a soft, fragrant breakfast from the atolls of Kiribati.
Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake)A moist Kiribati cake of grated pumpkin or swamp taro baked with coconut milk and kamaimai, the islands' dark coconut toddy syrup.
Browse all Kiribati recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
Make it a Kiribati meal
Te KareweDrink
Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake)Dessert
Babai with Coconut FishDinner
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish)?
Raw reef fish cured in lime and salt, then folded through fresh coconut cream with onion and chili, a bright, no-cook lunch of the atolls.
Where does Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish) come from?
Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish) is a I-Kiribati dish from Tarawa, Kiribati.
Can Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish) 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 Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish) 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 Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish) take to make?
About 25 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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