Haupia (coconut pudding)
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
- 800 ml full-fat coconut milk, canned; stir or shake well before measuring rounded
- 100 g granulated sugar rounded
- 80 g cornstarch rounded
- 240 ml cold water, for whisking the cornstarch into a smooth slurry rounded
- 1 g fine salt rounded
Method
Method
- Make the slurry. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until completely smooth, with no dry lumps anywhere. Do this before any heat is involved: cornstarch that meets hot liquid before it’s fully dispersed seizes into unworkable clumps that never fully smooth out again.
- Warm the coconut milk. Combine the coconut milk, sugar, and salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is warm and steaming. Do not let it come to a full rolling boil.
- Temper in the slurry. Whisk the cornstarch slurry once more to recombine, as it settles fast, then pour it into the warm coconut milk in a steady stream while whisking constantly.
- Cook to thicken. Reduce the heat to medium-low and keep whisking constantly, working the whisk into the corners and along the base of the pan, for 10 to 12 minutes. The mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and hold a clean trail when a spatula is dragged through it, thickly bubbling at the center. Do not step away once it starts to thicken: a cornstarch base can scorch on the bottom within seconds, and the whisk can hide a browning base until it’s too late.
- Pour and cool. Pour the hot pudding into the ungreased 20 cm by 20 cm pan and spread it level with a spatula. Leave it uncovered at room temperature for about 15 minutes so it stops steaming before it goes into the fridge.
- Chill until set. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until fully cold and firm to a fingertip.
- Cut into squares. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan to loosen it, then cut into 16 squares, wiping the blade clean between cuts for sharp, clean edges. Serve chilled, straight from the pan or lifted onto a plate.
Notes
- Avoiding lumps. The one rule that matters most is whisking the cornstarch into cold water first, to a smooth slurry, before it ever meets heat. Adding dry cornstarch straight to hot coconut milk, or adding the slurry too fast without whisking, is how lumps happen. If a few lumps do form, push the finished pudding through a fine sieve before pouring it into the pan.
- Storage. Keep haupia covered and refrigerated, and eat it within 2 to 3 days for the best texture; it’s at its silkiest the first day or two.
- It doesn’t freeze well. Like most starch-thickened puddings, haupia weeps and separates as it thaws, leaving a grainy, watery texture instead of a smooth set. Make it fresh rather than freezing it ahead.
Ingredient substitutions
Canned full-fat coconut milk and cornstarch are both routine supermarket items in Germany and Canada, so no substitution is needed for either. Traditionally, Hawaiian cooks thickened haupia with pia, starch from the Polynesian arrowroot plant, before cornstarch became the standard once pia grew scarce and expensive. If you want to try that older route, arrowroot starch is available at health-food stores and online in both regions and can be used in the same quantity as the cornstarch here, giving a slightly glossier, less opaque set.