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Fish and seafood from Hawaii

Palupalu

Palu is a Hawaiian relish made from fish head or stomach, or from a whole fish chopped fine with the gall bladder removed, mixed with roasted kukui nut relish, chilli peppers and seaweed, and left to season for a few days before eating with poi.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Palu itself.

Short entryFish and seafood

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedA household relish with no fixed amounts in the sources.
Fish head or stomach, or a whole fish with only the gall bladder removed, chopped fine[pukui-elbert][starbulletin1956]
Kukui nut relish (roasted kukui nuts)[pukui-elbert][starbulletin1956]
Chilli peppers and garlic[pukui-elbert]
Limu (seaweed)[starbulletin1956]
Start
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What changes: The gall bladder is removed and the whole fish is chopped fine

Step 1 of 3
Remove the gall bladder and chop the whole fish fine
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Palu is a Hawaiian relish made from fish head or stomach, or from a whole fish chopped fine with the gall bladder removed, mixed with roasted kukui nut relish, chilli peppers and seaweed, and left to season for a few days before eating with poi.

What makes this one different

Palu is a short-seasoned relish of fish parts with kukui nut and chilli, not a long salt ferment like bagoong or a fish sauce.

Related ferments

Safety

The Hawaiian Dictionary makes palu from fish head or stomach. The 1956 review removes only the gall bladder and uses the whole fish, chopped and mixed with chilli, limu and kukui nut, then left to season a few days before eating; it mentions no cooking of the mixture. FDA says the spores of Clostridium botulinum are very common and have been found in the gills and viscera of finfish, crabs and shellfish. It says fish that is salted, dried, pickled or fermented should be eviscerated first, because without that step toxin can form during the process. FDA says that without antitoxin and respiratory support, death from the toxin is likely.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Abbott (1978) records raw fish mixed with chopped limu kohu as palu or poke.

  1. [pukui-elbert] Pukui M.K., Elbert S.H. 1986, Hawaiian Dictionary, entry palu (via the Wehewehe Wikiwiki dictionary site), read 2026-10book
  2. [starbulletin1956] Taylor C.B. 1956, review of Titcomb and Pukui, Native Use of Fish in Hawaii, Honolulu Star-Bulletin 45(62):4, 13 March 1956 (reprinted on the Nupepa blog)archive
  3. [abbott1978] Abbott I.A. 1978, The uses of seaweed as food in Hawaii, Economic Botany 32(4):409–412paper
  4. [fda-ch13] US FDA, Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance, Chapter 13, Clostridium botulinum toxin formationgov