Pacific Cuisine: PMN’s top island dish of 2025

Summer is officially underway. This year's calendar has something for everyone - from sports, art, music, faith, and food to families and friends enjoying a fun day out and creating lasting memories.

At Pacific Media Network (PMN), two things are guaranteed at any gathering: laughter and food, specifically Pacific food. Whether it’s a language week celebration, someone’s birthday or plates brought in from a wedding, there’s never a shortage of food in the office.

So for our Summer Series, we asked the true experts, PMN staff, to name their number one Pacific dish of all time. Their answers take us across the region, from Tonga to Fiji, with enough coconut cream to sink a small island.

Luau or palusami: An office favourite

Atutahi Potaka-Dewes, a Multimedia Journalist, goes straight for the Sāmoan dish, luau or palusami. Luau is a rich, savoury blend of taro leaves, coconut cream, and onions, often with added fillings like corned beef or fish.

The selected protein is wrapped and traditionally slow-cooked in an earth oven, or umu, lovo, koua, but commonly baked or steamed today. Potaka-Dewes says it’s her number one dish because “it goes with everything”.

“You can have it with meat, with taro. I'd have it first thing in the morning because it's not too heavy. It's one of those good hangover feeds because it's creamy,” Potaka-Dewes says.

Sapa Sui/Chop Suey and taro: The comfort combo

Latonya Lole, sports reporter and Pacific Huddle host, picks the classic sapa sui (chop suey) and coconut cream taro, but with a twist. She swears by her dad’s chicken sapa sui, perfected just a couple of months ago. Lole also confesses to tomato-flavoured blasphemy.

“He tried different kinds of sauces and he's really perfected this recipe. It was made literally two months ago. It was delicious, it was so good. This may be a really unpopular opinion but I put tomato sauce on my chop suey. That’s not popular with a lot of people specifically in my household but it's really good because I'm a condiments person,” Lole says.

Raw fish: A true Pacific staple

For George Moungatonga, the 531pi Programme Director, nothing beats Raw Fish - whether you call it ‘oka ‘ika, ‘oka ita, or kokoda. It’s a bright mix of fresh white fish, like snapper, cured in citrus juice like lemon or lime, and tossed with fresh vegetables such as tomato, cucumber or onion.

The dish is topped with a generous amount of coconut cream. Moungatonga prefers it the old-school way, with coconut cream squeezed straight from fresh coconut flesh. He grew up eating mostly seafood in Tonga.

“It's hard to get fresh coconut in New Zealand though. You have to be there when the fresh coconuts are coming into the supermarket. Otherwise, if it's a few weeks or a few months, it will be just old. But Kara coconut milk is the closest substitute.

Finally, Digital and Communications coordinator Ruth Alesana picks her dad’s raw fish. She says it’s her favourite comfort food and that it “tastes like home” as it’s her father’s.

“It has to be freshly squeezed lemon juice, not the one from the bottle. Salt and a little MSG too. I only like my raw fish to have only cucumber and tomato. Unpopular opinion, but my dad uses fresh cream rather than coconut cream. Sometimes I feel like coconut cream is a little too heavy,” Alesana says.

Honourable mentions

• Cook Islands Mainese is a vibrant pink potato salad made with boiled potatoes, eggs, mixed vegetables and beetroot, dressed in mayonnaise or yoghurt and finished with paprika or turmeric, often served on lettuce with grated egg on top.

• Otai is a bright pink, icy-cold Pacific fruit drink, sweet and refreshing, the perfect companion for summer and backyard gatherings.

• Bisupo with coconut cream taro pairs canned corned beef with soft taro topped in rich coconut cream, a classic at many Pacific tables.

Winner winner raw fish dinner

With the most votes across the newsroom, raw fish takes out PMN’s Pacific dish of the year. Honestly? Fair enough. It’s versatile, refreshing, and edible all year round. But it does hit different during summer.

As we head into the holidays, enjoy the sunshine, stay safe, and eat until you pass out. You’ve earned it!