One of my most asked-for recipes is that staple of Hawaiian dining, the lau lau. Hawaii's original one-dish dinner. The lau lau is versatile, ono, and ideal for make-ahead meals.

To local families, lau lau are a necessity for lu`au - baby lu`au, wedding lu`au, graduation, church, fundraiser... There is probably no local occasion that can't use some good lau lau! Because even one takes a horrendous amount of time to cook - I steam them five or more hours - it is much more efficient to make several at one time. Making lau lau is often quite the community affair! People will often make them assembly-line style, passing the "platter" of fresh lu`au down the line, each person piling on their piece of chopped meat, chicken, or whatever, with a couple of dexterous Aunties at the end of the line finishing off the wrapping and bundling them up in la`i.

The name "lau lau" simply means "many leaves" and really is descriptive. I like the proportion to be about 50% leaf and 50% filling. You can put just about anything you like in a lau lau. When I was a girl, my grandmother put a piece of pork, a piece of beef, and a piece of fish in the top lau before wrapping it in six to eight of the lu`au. But, depending on your taste, you may wish to use all beef, all pork, all chicken, all fish, or any combination. You can add vegetables to the meat, or even make a vegetarian lau lau.

The amount of filling I find ideal is as much as I can pack together in my two hands. That "ball" is then wrapped in a taro leaf, which is turned and wrapped from the opposite direction in another leaf. Keep turning and wrapping until "enough" lu`au are tightly wrapped around the filling.

The next step is to wrap the lau lau in la`i, ti leaves. There are probably several times as many ways to wrap the lau lau as there are cooks who make them. Here is my method: First, hemo the iwi (remove the mid-rib). Split the petiole and tie it in a knot. The parts that stick out will be your tying strings. Wrap the lau lau in the la`i, tying it in a tidy bundle. Place the bundle on a second prepared la`i and wrap the other direction.

When you have a whole collection of bundles, pile them in a steamer with ample water and steam for most of the day - five or so hours. I like to change the water after the first and third hours. After hour five, the lau lau needs to be checked. Open one and nibble just a little bit of the lu`au. you do not want to feel any itchy or burning sensation in your mouth. If it is ok, try a little bigger piece. If it still is ok... oh, go ahead, eat the whole thing. after all that work, you deserve it!

Thorough cooking is critical. Taro contains significant amounts of calcium oxalate crystals. The crystals grow little points on each end, which cut their way into the tissues of the mouth, or any other mucous membrane they contact. Thorough cooking destroys the crystals and renders the leaves edible.

Once lau lau are cooked, they freeze very well, keeping for quite some time. Leave them in their la`i wrappers and they will not be so likely to stick together. They can be steamed or microwaved to reheat.

There, now that you have the basic idea for the lau lau, the hard part is figuring out the mechanics. Following are some photos I took to try and illustrate the steps:

There are many varieties of kalo grown in Hawai`i. Left, is Chinese Taro, a variety which is popular for leaf. The root is often boiled. Right is `Elepaio, a Hawaiian variety. The variegated leaves make it a beautiful landscape plant, as well as a nutritious vegetable.

Choose well-formed undamaged leaves. The younger the leaf, the less calcium oxalate.

Older leaves can still be used if the `iwi, the midrib, is removed. Simply slide a sharp knife parallel to the leaf, and lift off the `iwi.

Place the filling on washed and prepared lu`au.

Wrap in the lu`au.

Ki, or ti, is an important plant in Hawaiian culture. It is used ceremonially, medicinally, in food preparation, in games, and many other ways. Most Hawaiian homes have ki growing at the corners, or near by. This one is in front of my home. I harvest the la`i by firmly grasping the petiole and giving a sharp yank down. I only remove a few from each plant so that the plant will stay strong and keep making nice leaves for me.

Wash the leaves.

Remove the iwi.

Split the petiole and tie it in a knot.

Wrap the lau lau in the la`i.

Our Lau Lau Steamer. Fill the bottom portion with water and fill the stacking trays with lau lau. Be sure to keep replenishing the water in the bottom!

When the lau lau is cooked, it will look like this.

Serve with poi!

Glossary

`elepaio - a small brown forest bird, name of a variety of taro
hemo- remove
iwi - bone, carcass, midrib
kalo - taro
la`i - ti leaf
lau - leaf
lau lau - bundle of taro leaves wrapped around meat or other food and steamed or baked
lu`au - taro leaf, slang for Hawaiian feast