Laulau Wrapping
Yesterday I described my recipe for laulau. Just between you and I, that post was getting long enough already and I hadn't gotten to the detailed explanation for how to wrap your laulau for steaming. Too many other laulau recipes skim over this step, but we want to make sure we do it justice, eh? The wrapping is the part of the process that benefits the most from gleaning the wisdom of all the laulau makers that have come before us.
Described below are two basic methods I've been taught for wrapping laulau, which I've arbitrarily named package style and ho'okupu style. I have no idea if other people call them by other names, but I suspect it's usually just, "making laulau." If you haven't already, you'll want to read the laulau recipe. The images below aren't meant to stand apart from the main recipe.
The package style of wrapping laulau appeals to the organized and tidy side of my personality. Each laulau is well-contained with no leakage through gaps in the wrapping. The trick of splitting a single stem to use as two ties is pretty darn clever, and the resulting packages take a minimum of space in my steamer. It is effective and elegant.
Picking up where the recipe left off...
Stack four to five lu`au leaves on a flat surface, with leaf tips pointing in different directions. Place a piece of pork in the center of the leaf stack, and then a slice of fish on top. If you've decided to use the reserved lu`au stems, add a tablespoon of diced stems.
Fold the lu`au leaf to enclose the bundle, much like you would enclose a burrito or wrap.
Lay a ti leaf on your work surface and place the lua`au bundle at the tip end. It doesn't matter much if the ti leaf is shiny side up or down.
Roll the lu`au bundle from the tip end of the ti leaf to the stem end, keeping it as tightly bundled as possible. Split the stem lengthwise all the way up to where it joins the main portion of the leaf. Pull the two stem lengths around the bundle, cinch them tight, then tie them together to hold the bundle in place.
Place the tied bundle at the tip end of a second ti leaf, then roll it tightly from tip to stem end.
Split the stem of the outer leaf all the way up to where it joins the main portion of the leaf and use it to tie off the bundle. You now have a neat laulau package, ready for steaming. Return to the main recipe.
To ho`okupu is to pay a tribute to an honored person by giving a ceremonial gift. The gifts are traditionally wrapped in a ti leaf bundle that looks essentially identical to this laulau wrapping method. Although a h`okupu style for wrapping laulau is more prone to leak through gaps between the leaves and takes more space in the steamer, the resulting packages make for a better show. They appeal to the artist side of me.
Picking up where the recipe left off...
Stack four to five lu`au leaves on a flat surface, with leaf tips pointing in different directions. Place a piece of pork in the center of the leaf stack, and then a slice of fish on top. If you've decided to use the reserved lu`au stems, add a tablespoon of diced stems.
Fold the lu`au leaf to enclose the bundle, much like you would enclose a burrito or wrap.
Place the lu`au bundle in the middle of a ti leaf and bring the two ends of the ti leaf together over the top.
Add a second ti leaf, so that the two ti leaves form a "t" shape under the lu`au, and gather the ends of the ti leaves together at the top of the bundle.
Make sure the ti leaves are gathered as tightly as you can, with no gaps between the leaves where lu`au can leak out. If you have gaps, either reposition the leaves, or add a third leaf for additional coverage. Take the stem of one leaf and hook it around your thumb (to hold its position) then pull it around the gathered leaves.
Tie the stem off securely with the stem of another leaf. You now have a neat laulau package, ready for steaming. Return to the main recipe.
There you go, two different laulau wrapping techniques!
Whichever wrapping method you choose, just relax and have fun with it. If you pay attention to your ingredients and "listen" to how they respond to rolling, cinching and tying, I'm confident the end result will be pono. And delicious. Good luck!
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Are the leaves to be eaten?
Topher, when the laulau are done steaming, the outer ti leaves are discarded, but the lu`au leaves (or spinach, if that was used as a substitute) are eaten.
Hi Alan - The more I read and look at this post, the more impressed I am at the amount of effort you put into it! No wonder I just buy it!
Kirk, this isn't work, this is fun!
Excellent ways of wrapping lau-laus...
Mahalo Nui Loa:
Jeff
Thanks Jeff, and thanks for taking a sec to comment.
Hey this Laulau sounds a lot like a dish we have here in India, called Paturi or Pathuri. Except that its made with fish, either Beckti or Hilsa(if hilsa is used it must be de-boned and made into a paste though, and that is no mean job considering HOW bony it is. Beckti however is practically boneless and can be used in fillet form. However Hilsa has a distinct beautiful aroma of its own so its worth all the trouble), wrapped in just one big banana leaf and smoked. Also the marination is done with mustard paste, grated coconut, mustard oil, a dash of lemon, salt and black cumin and green chillies split in half lengthwise. All this is then gift-wrapped in a banana leaf cut in a square and tied up using one of the veins of the leaf or sometimes even a fibre from the stem of the banana tree and steamed. Traditionally no specific temperature is used for steaming. Just the wrapped fish is put in a box like a metallic tiffin box, with the edges sealed off with dough and floated in a pressure cooker with water inside and cooked till the fish is done (my mom knows from experience the time required for the fish to cook but im not sure of it). The resulting dish has a very tart, sharp , slightly tangy flavour something like a milder version of wasabi, but if you are open too new tastes, its just wonderful. I dont know the formal recipe but from what i remember of seeing mom cook it I think this is how its done..
10 fillets of fish (about 2 1/2 inch in breadth and length and)
Probably 4 tsp lemon juice (not too sure about the volume though)
5 teaspoons of mustard paste (mustard seeds ground with a pestle after moistening with water)
8 green chillies split though the middle
2 tsp ground back cumin seeds
4 tbsp grated coconut
25 gms mustard oil
salt to taste
10 banana leaf squares about 8" x 8" (basically the middle part of a banana leaf, with the tapering parts cut off)
Basically you first marinate the fish peices in lemon juice, salt and the rest of the spices. Then you wrap them up in the banana leaf squares much in the same way as the laulau, the rest of the protocol of course I've already mentioned.
Hope you like it..
Shaon, your recipe sounds intriguing. I'm not familiar with either of those fish you've mentioned, but I could probably find something similar as a substitute. This sounds delicious!