🍽️ DINNER
Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk)
A big banana-leaf bundle of chicken, taro, kumala and yam layered over island cabbage and soaked in fresh coconut milk, steamed with hot stones in Vanuatu and baked in a covered dish at home.
Ni-Vanuatu · medium · serves 6
prep 40 min · cook 120 min
~1004 cal · 51g protein · 107g carbs · 42g fat · 15g fiber · 14g sugars · 31g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Bunia, also written bunya, is a Ni-Vanuatu feast dish: meat, root crops and greens are laid on banana leaves, drenched in , folded into one large parcel and cooked with hot stones or in an underground oven. The name and the method are shared with bougna, the celebrated Kanak feast dish of neighbouring New Caledonia, and in Vanuatu it is the kind of dish made for Independence Day and other celebrations, because one bundle feeds a crowd.
There is no single fixed recipe. The Vanuatu Daily Post's version uses chicken wings and octopus with , kumala (sweet potato), tomatoes, spring onion and a leafy green, and seasons the with salt and a little curry powder, while noting that the meat, vegetables and seasoning are up to the cook. Chicken with , yam and island cabbage (aelan kabis) is the everyday combination.
This card bakes the bundle in a covered dish in the oven, which is how it has to be done without a stone oven: the roots soften and drink up the , though without the smoke of the stones.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally 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
- 1 kg chicken wings or bone-in thighs
- 800 g , peeled and cut into large chunks
- 600 g kumala (sweet potato), peeled and cut into large chunks
- 600 g yam or (manioc), peeled and cut into large chunks
- 300 g island cabbage (aelan kabis) or bok choy, roughly choppedHard to find? spinach or silverbeet (Swiss chard) - island cabbage is a slippery, mild hibiscus-family green; spinach wilts faster and is a little more mineral, but does the same job
- 3 tomatoes, cut into wedges
- 4 (about 60 g) spring onions, sliced
- 800 ml (freshly squeezed or tinned)
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp curry powder (optional, as some Vanuatu cooks use)
- 6 large banana leaves, softened over a flameHard to find? baking parchment inside a layer of foil - it holds the bundle and steams it just as well; you lose the grassy perfume of the leaf. Frozen banana leaves are stocked by most Asian and Pacific grocers
Instructions
- 1Heat the oven to 180C. Line a large, deep ovenproof dish with overlapping banana leaves, leaving plenty hanging over the sides.
- 2Spread the greens over the leaves, then layer on the taro, kumala and yam, and lay the chicken on top. Scatter over the tomatoes and spring onions.
- 3Stir the salt (and the curry powder, if using) into the coconut milk and pour it evenly over everything.
- 4Fold the banana leaves over to close the bundle tightly, then cover the dish with a lid or a double layer of foil.✎ Chef’s noteSeal it well: the bundle cooks in its own coconut steam, and a leaky parcel dries the roots out.
- 5Bake 1 3/4 to 2 hours, until the chicken is falling from the bone and the roots are soft right through when pierced.
- 6Rest 10 minutes, then open the leaves at the table and serve with the coconut milk spooned over.
Ni-Vanuatu feast tradition, Efate; home-oven method.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Efate (Port Vila). Efate holds Port Vila, where lap lap bakes for hours under hot stones: grated root vegetable spread on leaves, soaked in coconut cream, and wrapped tight. Vanuatu's kitchen runs on taro, yam, breadfruit, coconut, and reef fish.
🗺️
Vanuatu. Vanuatu's cuisine is rooted in root crops and the earth oven, epitomized by laplap, grated taro or yam baked in banana leaves with coconut cream. Fresh fish, tropical fruit, and communal cooking define island life.
🌍
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 Vanuatu
Lap LapGrated root vegetables and coconut cream wrapped in banana leaf and baked in an earth oven, Vanuatu's national dish.
SimboroGrated cassava rolled in island-cabbage leaves and simmered in coconut cream, Vanuatu's everyday take on laplap.
Nalot (Pounded Breadfruit with Coconut Cream)Roasted breadfruit pounded to a smooth, heavy paste and served with a well of hot coconut cream poured into the middle.
Browse all Vanuatu recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Oven.
Storing it: Keeps 2 to 3 days refrigerated. Resteam or warm through gently to serve.
Make it a Vanuatu meal
Nakamal KavaDrink
Sweet Banana LaplapDessert
SimboroLunch
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk)?
A big banana-leaf bundle of chicken, taro, kumala and yam layered over island cabbage and soaked in fresh coconut milk, steamed with hot stones in Vanuatu and baked in a covered dish at home.
Where does Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk) come from?
Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk) is a Ni-Vanuatu dish from Efate (Port Vila), Vanuatu.
Can Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk) 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 still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), 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 Bunia (Ni-Vanuatu Chicken and Root Crops in Coconut Milk) take to make?
About 160 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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