Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Te Bua Toro ni Baukin
A hearty baked cake of grated pumpkin, shredded cabbage and tinned corned beef, a modern Kiribati staple born of the atoll shop shelf.
I-Kiribati · easy · serves 6
prep 25 min · cook 50 min
~282 cal · 19g protein · 25g carbs · 12g fat · 1g fiber · 4g sugars · 4g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Te bua toro ni baukin, whose name is often read as vegetable and meat cake, is one of the most popular everyday dishes in modern Kiribati. It belongs to a newer chapter of atoll cooking, one shaped by the tinned corned beef and imported flour that arrive by supply ship, married to the pumpkin and cabbage that grow on the islands.
Grated pumpkin and shredded cabbage are squeezed of their water, then bound with flour, a little milk and baking powder and folded through with flaked corned beef. Seasoned with salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon, the mixture is pressed into a tray and baked until the top browns and the inside sets into a moist, savoury cake that slices like a bake.
It is filling, cheap and easy to stretch across a family, and it turns up at gatherings and weekday dinners alike. Alongside the older coconut and reef-fish dishes, it shows how the I-Kiribati kitchen has folded the tin can into its own traditions.
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 egg-, nut- 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
1.5 lb pumpkin, peeled and grated
1/2 small head green cabbage, finely shredded
12 oz tinned corned beef, flaked
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp oil, for greasing
Instructions
1
Heat the oven to 350F and grease a baking dish with the oil.
2
Squeeze the grated pumpkin firmly to drive out its water, then tip it into a large bowl with the shredded cabbage.
✎ Chef’s note
Wringing the pumpkin out is the step people skip and regret; left wet it weeps into the cake and leaves the middle soggy rather than set.
3
Add the flaked corned beef, flour, milk, baking powder, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and mix into a thick, spoonable batter.
4
Spread the mixture level in the dish and bake until the top is golden brown and a skewer comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
5
Let it settle for a few minutes, then cut into squares and serve warm.
Modern Kiribati home cooking.
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
📍
Tarawa. The crop is genuinely at risk. Saltwater intrusion and rising seas are getting into the pits, and imported rice and tinned food have taken over much of the everyday diet. What the atoll still gives freely is coconut, in every form from drinking nut to toddy, and fish off the reef.
🗺️
Kiribati. Karewe, the toddy tapped from the cut coconut spathe, is drunk fresh and sweet or left to ferment, and it is boiled down into a syrup that keeps. The pits that grow babai are threatened by saltwater intrusion as sea level rises, which is a plain fact about these atolls rather than a metaphor.
🌍
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 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.
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.
Browse all Kiribati recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Keeps 3 to 4 days refrigerated and reheats covered in the oven. Most bakes can be assembled a day ahead and baked when needed.
Make it a Kiribati meal
Te KareweDrink
Buatoro (Pumpkin Coconut Cake)Dessert
Kiribati Palu (Marinated Reef Fish)Lunch
Similar dishes from around the world
Tavë KosiAlbania
Aussie Meat PieAustralia
Rocoto RellenoPeru
Empanadas MendocinasArgentina
MoussakaGreece
Pastel de Choclo (Corn and Beef Pie)Chile
Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Te Bua Toro ni Baukin?
A hearty baked cake of grated pumpkin, shredded cabbage and tinned corned beef, a modern Kiribati staple born of the atoll shop shelf.
Where does Te Bua Toro ni Baukin come from?
Te Bua Toro ni Baukin is a I-Kiribati dish from Tarawa, Kiribati.
Can Te Bua Toro ni Baukin be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Te Bua Toro ni Baukin 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 Te Bua Toro ni Baukin 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 Te Bua Toro ni Baukin take to make?
About 75 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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.