Lau Lau

Recipe by Chef Göran Streng

– 12 luau leaves
– 1 pound ti leaves
– 1 pound Smithfield pork butt, cubed into 1-inch pieces
– ½ pound Okuhara Foods salted butterfish, cubed into 1-inch pieces
– ½ pound Crown Pacific International purple Okinawan sweet potato, peeled and cubed
– Hawaiian sea salt

First, prep the two types of leaves.

LUAU LEAVES: take the luau leaves and wash them thoroughly one by one. Chop off the bottom stem that extends past the bottom of the leaf. Chop that stem into ½-inch pieces and set aside.

TI LEAVES: wash the ti leaves and pat dry. Remove the main/thickest vein that runs through the center of the ti leaf. Removing this vein allows the ti leaf to be more pliable/easy to fold as you will be using it to wrap the fillings. Set aside.

At a clean workstation, stack 3-5 luau leaves on the counter. Arrange them so that the biggest leaf is on the bottom and the smallest leaf is on top.

In the center of the leaf, put in a few chunks of the pork butt and butterfish. Add 2-3 pieces purple Okinawan sweet potato. Add several of the chopped luau leaf stems. Sprinkle over Hawaiian sea salt.

Use the luau leaves to fold and wrap all the fillings in a tight bundle.
Next, wrap the ti leaves around the luau leaf bundle. Use the ti leaf ends to tie a topknot. If the ends are too short, use a string to tie/secure the bundle.

Put the wrapped lau lau in a steamer. Steam for three to four hours till nice and tender. Remove the ti leaf (you can’t eat the ti leaf),and serve! Ideally with rice and/or poi, chili pepper water and all your favorite Hawaiian side dishes like lomi lomi salmon and chicken long rice. Don’t forget the kulolo for dessert.