Recipe
🍳 BREAKFAST
Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls)
Warm sticky rice rolled by hand into balls and coated in freshly grated coconut, a Marshallese staple served with fish.
Marshallese · easy · serves 6
prep 15 min · cook 20 min
~361 cal · 4g protein · 42g carbs · 20g fat · 6g fiber · 8g sugars · 18g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Chukuchuk, also written jukjuk, is one of the simplest and most beloved foods of the Marshall Islands: sticky rice shaped into balls and rolled in freshly grated coconut. It is coconut and rice, essentially two ingredients, that have shaped Marshallese life for generations, and it functions much as bread does elsewhere.
Warm cooked rice is mixed with a little sugar and salt, rolled by hand into balls about the size of a golf ball, and pressed into grated coconut until well coated. No machinery, no fuss, just the handmade rhythm of shaping food the way earlier generations did.
Though rice is imported, it has become a staple, and chukuchuk is made for weddings, birthdays and everyday meals alike, usually served alongside grilled fish or chicken. It is a small, sweet, communal food that carries real meaning on the atolls.
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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
3 cups sticky (Calrose) rice, cooked and still warm
1.5 cups freshly grated coconut
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
as needed water, for shaping
Instructions
1
While the cooked rice is still warm, stir in the sugar and salt until evenly mixed.
2
With lightly wetted hands, roll the rice into balls about the size of a golf ball.
✎ Chef’s note
Moistening your hands with a little water keeps the rice from sticking and helps the balls hold together.
3
Roll each ball in the grated coconut, pressing gently so it coats evenly.
4
Serve fresh, traditionally alongside grilled fish or chicken.
✎ Chef’s note
Best eaten the day they are made; freshly grated coconut gives the truest flavour.
Marshallese tradition, Majuro.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Majuro. Majuro is an atoll capital eating reef fish, tuna, and breadfruit that is often fermented and preserved for the lean season. Marshallese cooking centres on coconut, pandanus, and arrowroot, with rice and tinned goods now everyday.
🗺️
Marshall Islands. Bwiro is preserved breadfruit: the fruit is packed into a leaf-lined pit and left to ferment, where it will keep for a year or more, and the dried forms made from it are called jaankun and manakajen. That is what a breadfruit tree is for on an atoll, a harvest that can be stored rather than one that must be eaten.
🌍
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 Marshall Islands
Bwiro with FishPreserved-breadfruit dumplings in sweet coconut, served with grilled reef fish.
Marshallese Banana PancakesThick, sweet banana pancakes flecked with coconut, griddled golden, a modern Marshall Islands breakfast favorite.
Marshallese Macaroni SaladA cool, creamy macaroni salad with tinned tuna and crisp vegetables, the potluck staple of the Marshall Islands.
Browse all Marshall Islands recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Marshall Islands meal
JekaroDrink
Benben in Mokmok (Arrowroot and Coconut Sap Dumplings)Dessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls)?
Warm sticky rice rolled by hand into balls and coated in freshly grated coconut, a Marshallese staple served with fish.
Where does Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls) come from?
Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls) is a Marshallese dish from Majuro, Marshall Islands.
Can Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls) 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 Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls) 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 Chukuchuk (Coconut Rice Balls) take to make?
About 35 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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