Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut
Slippery cabbage greens cooked and coated with pounded ngali nut, featuring the sacred indigenous nut of the Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islander · easy · serves 4
prep 15 min · cook 20 min
~43 cal · 2g protein · 10g carbs · 0g fat · 3g fiber · 5g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The ngali nut, a canarium, is the Solomon Islands' signature delicacy: cracked from a hard shell, eaten raw or smoked, and ground into a rich paste much like a nut butter. The ngali tree is sacred here, and its annual harvest traditionally marks the start of the islands' calendar year.
In this everyday dish the pounded nut is stirred through cooked slippery cabbage, the local name for aibika. The greens turn silky and slightly mucilaginous as they cook, the way does, while the ngali nut lends a deep, oily richness that carries the plate. It is a garden-and-forest dish rather than a plantation one, built from what grows wild and in home gardens.
Cooked down and served with , kumara or , it is nourishing home food that puts the islands' most prized ingredient at the centre of a simple green dish.
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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 lb slippery cabbage (aibika) or spinach, leaves stripped
1 cup ngali (canarium) nuts, shelled
1 onion or spring onion, chopped
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Pound or grind the ngali nuts to a coarse, oily paste, not too fine.
✎ Chef’s note
Ngali is a canarium nut and behaves like a rich nut butter when ground; toasted sunflower seeds give a similar body for a nut-free version.
2
Strip the slippery cabbage leaves from their stalks and cook them with the onion in a little water until wilted and tender.
✎ Chef’s note
Leave the leaves in big pieces and cook them well; aibika turns silky and slightly viscous, which is the point of the dish.
3
Drain off most of the cooking water, then stir the ground ngali nut through the leaves until it coats them evenly and the dish is hot and creamy.
✎ Chef’s note
The oil released from the pounded nut is what makes the dish rich; add a splash of the cooking water back if it seems too dry.
4
Season with salt and serve with taro, kumara or cassava.
Solomon Islands cooking, adapted from Kastom Gaden / WorldFish community recipes.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Honiara. Honiara sits on Guadalcanal and eats fish with kumara sweet potato and slippery cabbage cooked in coconut milk. Solomon Islands cooking relies on taro, cassava, and reef fish, often baked in a motu stone oven for gatherings.
🗺️
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. Oceania spans Australia, New Zealand, and thousands of Pacific islands, where the ocean and the coconut palm define the pantry. Traditional Polynesian and Melanesian cooking centers on root crops, taro, yam, cassava, and sweet potato, slow-cooked in earth ovens (the umu or mumu) alongside fresh reef fish and rich coconut cream. Modern Australian and Māori kitchens blend these deep roots with waves of Asian and European influence.
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
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Solomon Islands meal
KulauDrink
Solomon Islands Cassava PuddingDessert
Chili Taiyo (Tinned Tuna Noodles)Lunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut?
Slippery cabbage greens cooked and coated with pounded ngali nut, featuring the sacred indigenous nut of the Solomon Islands.
Where does Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut come from?
Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut is a Solomon Islander dish from Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Can Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut 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 Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut 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 Slippery Cabbage with Ngali Nut take to make?
About 35 minutes total (15 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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