Making Mumu in Tari Papua New Guinea

coconut milk

🥗Healthier: almond milk

💰Cheaper: water + coconut extract

Almond milk reduces calories while maintaining a creamy texture.

meat

🥗Healthier: tofu

💰Cheaper: chicken

Tofu provides a plant-based option, while chicken is more affordable.

Dig a medium sized, shallow, circular hole in the ground.

Place firewood across the pit to form a platform.

Place medium sized stones on the platform.

Light fire and monitor carefully until the stones are heated to an extremely high temperature.

Lay the hot stones evenly in the base of the hollow and up the sides of the hole creating a ground oven and remove excess firewood and embers.

Place banana leaves and ‘kunai’ grass over the stones.

Place a variety of food such as green vegetables, edible ferns, gourd vegetables, corn, cooking bananas, kaukau, fresh meat such as pork on the banana leaves. Place larger vegetables and meat requiring a longer time to cook such as whole pumpkin and sides of pork on the bottom first and layer other foods about two or three times.

Place a couple of sticks horizontally poking out of ground.

Cover food in banana leaves and kunai grass, placing a hessian bag or two over the top to help keep the heat/steam in, then completely cover back up with the soil that was dug up.

Sometimes another hessian bag or corrugated iron piece may be placed over the top to keep the heat in as much as possible.

Remove the two sticks and pour a cup of water down the outlets to create steam from the rocks inside the ground oven.

Leave for 2-3 hours to cook by steam.

Remove the hessian bag and/or corrugated iron piece and spread over the ground beside the oven.

Using shovels, carefully remove the dirt and place it away from the vicinity of the oven.

Remove the banana leaves that are directly in contact with the soil and place far away as well.

Place the ‘clean’ leaves on the hessian and/or corrugated iron sheet to form a bed.

Carefully remove food from the oven, place on the bed of leaves.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary