Lu Sipi (Week 43, Tonga)

Written by Published on in Global Vegan Challenge, Main Course

This recipe is a part of my Global Vegan Challenge where each week I research and develop a recipe from a different country in the world. Many of these recipes are veganized based off their omnivore counterparts. While not all of these recipes are a one for one what you’ll find in their country, I hope you’ll still find them delicious!

Recipe Notes

  • Important note about taro leaves — they are toxic uncooked. As long as they are cooked fully they are safe to consume, so don’t skimp on oven time.
  • When purchasing taro leaves you ideally want to have enough to use one or two leaves to wrap each one. If you can’t find leaves large enough, you can use multiple smaller leaves and use foil to keep them together (I had to use foil to prepare mine).

Vegan Lu Sipi

Details

Servings

4 to 6

Prep time

25 minutes

Cooking time

80 minutes

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Ingredients

  • Taro Leaves (see note)

  • 16 ounces Seitan

  • 13.5 ounces Coconut Milk

  • 7 Garlic Cloves

  • 2 Tomatoes

  • 1 Yellow Onion

  • 1 Bullion Cube (or enough for 1 cup of broth)

  • 1/2 inch Ginger

  • 3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

  • 1 tablespoon Black Pepper

  • 2 teaspoons Salt

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Directions

  • Wash and remove stems from the taro leaves. Slice onion into crescents, dice tomatoes, and mince garlic. Set aside.
  • Heat a sauce pan over medium high heat. Once to temperature add oil, onions, and garlic. Saute until onion begins to turn translucent.
  • Add seitan to pan and saute for 5 to 7 minutes or until it begins to brown.
  • Add coconut milk to pan and deglaze. Add pepper, bullion cube, salt, and 1/2 inch of grated ginger. Bring to a low simmer and allow to thicken for 5 to 7 minutes, or until desired thickness.
  • Once thickened remove from heat. Fold in diced tomatoes and set aside.
  • Preheat oven to 350F and begin assembly. Place two large taro leaves on top of each other. In the center of the leaves ladle some of the seitan mixture. Once filled, fold over the taro leaves to seal and place into a baking dish (if leaves aren’t big enough see note above). Repeat until you run out of seitan.
  • Place any remaining taro leaves on top of the seitan rolls (if you run out, cover the dish with foil). Place dish in oven and allow to cook for 60 minutes.
  • Once cooked remove from oven. Serve and enjoy hot.

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