Lau lau — pork, fish, or butterfish wrapped in taro leaves, then wrapped in ti leaves, and steamed for 3–4 hours — is one of the most distinctive preparations in Hawaiian cooking. The taro leaves contain calcium oxalate crystals (the same compound that makes raw taro painful to eat) that break down only with prolonged moist heat. The result of the extended steaming: the taro leaves become silky, spinach-like in texture, and their bitterness transforms into a mild, earthy richness.
- **The taro leaf preparation:** Only luau (taro leaves) — other leafy greens are substitutes, not equivalents. The calcium oxalate requires the specific cooking time to fully convert. - **The calcium oxalate:** Present in crystals in the raw leaf. After 3 hours of steaming, these crystals have fully hydrolysed. Under-steamed taro leaves produce an unpleasant throat irritation from residual oxalate. - **The inner wrapping:** Luau leaf (taro) wraps directly around the protein — multiple layers. - **The outer wrapping:** Ti leaf wraps the entire package — the ti leaf is more moisture-resistant and provides structural integrity for the bundle. - **The steam:** 3–4 hours minimum at full steam. There is no shortcut for calcium oxalate hydrolysis. - **The butterfish:** Hawaiian 'ahi or black cod — its high fat content renders into the taro leaves during the long steam, providing self-basting.
Aloha Kitchen