Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Poi (Pounded Taro)
Cooked taro pounded to a smooth paste and often left to ferment slightly, the tangy staple side considered the national dish of the Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islander · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 40 min
~254 cal · 5g protein · 59g carbs · 0g fat · 9g fiber · 1g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Poi is considered the national dish of the Solomon Islands, a smooth paste of pounded that has fed the islands for thousands of years. has been cultivated here for over three millennia, and poi is one of the oldest ways of turning it into food for a shared meal.
Cooked is pounded on a wooden board with a hand-carved pestle of basalt, coral or wood until it becomes a thick, smooth paste, loosened with a little water. Eaten fresh it is mild; left to for a day or two it develops a pleasant sourness, a little like sourdough, which also lets it keep. Pounding poi was traditionally a communal activity that brought families together.
Poi is a starchy side rather than a dish on its own, eaten alongside grilled fish, greens, stews or roasted meat. Simple and filling, it is the Solomon Islands' answer to rice or bread, deeply woven into island life.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and gluten-, dairy-, nut-, 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
2 lbs roots, peeled
1/2 cup water, as needed
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Cover the taro with water, bring to a boil, and cook until fully tender and easily mashed, about 30 to 40 minutes.
✎ Chef’s note
Taro must be cooked right through: raw or undercooked taro carries irritating calcium oxalate that catches at the throat. Clean your surfaces and hands after handling the raw root.
2
Drain the taro and let the steam escape for a few minutes.
3
Pound the warm taro in a large mortar (or mash thoroughly), adding water a little at a time, until it forms a smooth, thick, slightly elastic paste. Season with a little salt.
4
Serve fresh as a side to fish, greens or stew; or, for traditional sour poi, cover with a thin layer of water and leave at room temperature for 12 to 48 hours until it smells faintly sour before serving.
✎ Chef’s note
Fresh poi is mild and starchy; the longer fermentation breaks down the starch and builds a tangy, faintly fizzy sourness. Both are traditional.
Solomon Islands tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Honiara. The distinctive local thing is not the reef fish but the ngali nut, a canarium nut gathered from tall forest trees, eaten raw, smoked or pressed for oil and traded between islands. Past that it is taro, cassava, kumara and whatever the lagoon gave up that morning.
🗺️
Solomon Islands. The ngali nut, a canarium, is the Solomons' signature delicacy: cracked from a hard shell, eaten raw or smoked over a fire, pressed for oil, and traded between islands. It grows in gardens and forest rather than being planted in rows, and it is the kind of food that a reef-and-garden economy produces and a plantation one does not.
🌍
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 Solomon Islands
Fish with Slippery Cabbage & KumaraReef fish and kumara simmered in coconut cream with slippery cabbage (aibika) greens.
Boiled Kumara with Fresh CoconutTender boiled kumara (sweet potato) tossed with fresh grated coconut and a little salt, an honest, everyday Solomon Islands breakfast.
Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles)The Solomon Islands' favorite fast lunch: tinned Taiyo tuna tossed with noodles, fresh chili, tomato and onion into a quick, fiery plate.
Browse all Solomon Islands recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Steamer, Mortar and pestle.
Storing it: Thickens as it sits. Reheat with extra water or milk to loosen, and keep 2 to 3 days refrigerated.
Make it a Solomon Islands meal
KulauDrink
Solomon Islands Cassava PuddingDessert
Fish with Slippery Cabbage & KumaraDinner
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Frequently asked questions
What is Poi (Pounded Taro)?
Cooked taro pounded to a smooth paste and often left to ferment slightly, the tangy staple side considered the national dish of the Solomon Islands.
Where does Poi (Pounded Taro) come from?
Poi (Pounded Taro) is a Solomon Islander dish from Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Can Poi (Pounded Taro) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Poi (Pounded Taro) 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 Poi (Pounded Taro) 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 Poi (Pounded Taro) take to make?
About 50 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 40 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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