Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Dingon
Pounded breadfruit or banana worked with fresh coconut and fragrant pandanus, shaped into dense little patties and baked or pan-fried, a classic Nauruan savory food.
Nauruan · easy · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 25 min
~449 cal · 4g protein · 55g carbs · 27g fat · 14g fiber · 22g sugars · 19g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Dingon is among the most distinctive of Nauru's traditional foods, a dense, faintly floral patty built from the three ingredients that have always anchored the island's kitchen: , coconut and pandanus. On a raised coral island with thin soil, these were the reliable crops, and dingon is the everyday way of bringing them together.
Cooked , or sometimes ripe banana, is pounded soft and worked with freshly grated coconut and mashed pandanus until it comes together into a stiff dough. Shaped into small cakes, wrapped in banana leaf and cooked in the embers, or simply baked or pan-fried, it firms into a savoury patty with the subtle, grassy sweetness pandanus lends everything it touches.
Eaten warm as a snack or a light meal, dingon carries the flavour of old Nauru, the coconut-and-pandanus taste that older Nauruans reach for as imported food has crowded so much of it aside.
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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 4
1.5 lb (or 3 ripe cooking bananas), cooked and mashed
1 cup freshly grated coconut
1/3 cup mashed ripe pandanus fruit or pandanus paste, leave it out if you cannot find it; the patties are still good
3/4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp oil, for the tray or pan
as needed banana leaf or foil, for wrapping (optional)
Instructions
1
Boil or steam the peeled breadfruit until very soft, then pound or mash it smooth in a bowl while it is still warm.
2
Work in the grated coconut, pandanus and salt until the mixture holds together as a stiff, slightly sticky dough.
✎ Chef’s note
If it feels too wet to shape, let it cool a little and it will firm up as the starch sets.
3
Shape into small flat patties about the size of your palm, wrapping each in banana leaf if you like.
4
Bake on an oiled tray at 375F, or pan-fry in a little oil turning once, until set through and lightly golden, about 20 to 25 minutes in the oven.
5
Serve warm, on their own or alongside fish.
Traditional Nauruan home cooking.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Yaren. Phosphate mining left roughly four fifths of the island stripped and unusable, which is why so little is grown here and why almost all food arrives by ship. The shift from fish, coconut and pandanus to imported rice, tinned meat and sugar is one of the better documented dietary changes anywhere.
🗺️
Nauru. Nauru, one of the world's smallest nations, relies on the sea and the coconut, fresh fish, coconut, and imported rice. Simple, ocean-driven eating defines the tiny Pacific island.
🌍
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 Nauru
Coconut FishNauru's national dish: freshly caught tuna diced raw and steeped in thick coconut cream with lime, served cool with rice.
Banana in Coconut CreamRipe bananas warmed in sweet coconut cream with a hint of lime, a soft, quick Nauruan breakfast from the Pacific's smallest republic.
Nauruan Chop SueyNauru's everyday plate: chicken stir-fried fast with cabbage, carrot and onion in a light soy sauce, a dish the island's Chinese kitchens made a staple.
Browse all Nauru recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven, Steamer.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
Make it a Nauru meal
Coconut WaterDrink
Nauruan Coconut MousseDessert
Coconut FishDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Dingon?
Pounded breadfruit or banana worked with fresh coconut and fragrant pandanus, shaped into dense little patties and baked or pan-fried, a classic Nauruan savory food.
Where does Dingon come from?
Dingon is a Nauruan dish from Yaren, Nauru.
Can Dingon be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Dingon 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 Dingon 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 Dingon take to make?
About 50 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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