An "Underground Feast" Born of the South Pacific Earth
The highlands of Papua New Guinea. As the morning mist begins to clear, the men of the village dig a pit in the ground, stack firewood, and set stones carried up from the riverbed into the fire. The women spread out banana leaves, cut the pork, brush the soil from the sweet potatoes, and squeeze coconut milk. Hours later, when the leaves are opened amid the steam rising from the stones, what appears is a plain, powerful feast cooked only by the heat of the earth. This is mumu.
Mumu is Papua New Guinea's national way of cooking and the country's dish itself: heated stones are laid in a pit dug in the ground, and food wrapped in banana leaves is steam-roasted by the heat of the stones. This technique, called an "earth oven" in English, is widely found across the Pacific islands, but mumu strongly reflects the ingredients and culture unique to Papua New Guinea and is a dish you can taste nowhere else in the world.
It shares roots with Hawaii's "imu," the Maori "hangi" of New Zealand, and Fiji's "lovo," but mumu is characterized by its generous use of coconut milk and by highland root vegetables (the sweet potato called kumara, taro, and yam) taking the lead.
Mumu is Tok Pisin, the language of Papua New Guinea, for "earth-oven steaming." It is a traditional cooking method in which heated stones are laid in a pit and pork, chicken, and root vegetables wrapped in banana leaves are steam-roasted with coconut milk. It is also a ritual of communal cooking that is indispensable at life's milestones: weddings, harvest festivals, celebrations of birth, and the welcoming of guests. It is practiced throughout Papua New Guinea but is especially prevalent in the Highlands region, belonging to a culture of "steaming" by the heat of stones and steam, in contrast to the charcoal "grilling" of something like Kenya's nyama choma.
Search for "mumu dish" in Japanese and you find little more than a few lines in travel writing; almost no recipes. In English-language sources, the food channel of Australia's public broadcaster SBS and Papua New Guinean food bloggers have published detailed recipes. This article faithfully introduces the traditional Papua New Guinean method and also explains in detail how to reproduce it in a home kitchen with a Dutch oven or oven.
Ingredients (serves 6)
Taro is often sold frozen at Asian and halal grocers. Banana leaves are sometimes found in the frozen section of Asian grocers. Plantains (cooking bananas) are available at African and Caribbean grocers. If you cannot find them, increase the sweet potato to substitute. Coconut milk can be bought in the canned goods aisle of an ordinary supermarket.
Cooking Tips
Canned coconut milk can separate, with a solid cream layer at the top and a watery layer at the bottom. Shake it well before opening to get an even thickness that reaches all through the mumu. If you pour it still separated, only the ingredients on top will be rich and those below watery.
Banana leaves are not merely wrapping. They add a faint green, grassy fragrance and sweetness to the ingredients. If you substitute aluminum foil, this flavor is lost entirely. Use banana leaves whenever you can get them. Even frozen ones are quite effective.
Laying the sweet potato on the bottom lets it soak up the fat dripping from the meat and the coconut milk, so it is in a state of being "naturally soaked in gravy." This is why the sweet potato in mumu tastes better than from any other cooking method. In Papua New Guinea there are quite a few people who make mumu in order to eat the kumara in it.
During the steam roast you will be tempted to lift the lid and turn the meat, but resist. Breaking the circulation of steam in the sealed space lengthens the cooking time and makes the result uneven. The "courage not to touch" produces the meltingly tender result.
Variations
Fish mumu (coastal style)
On the coast of Papua New Guinea and on the island of New Britain, fish mumu, in which white fish such as sea bream or tuna is wrapped in banana leaves and steamed, is common. Season 600 g fillets with lime juice and salt, wrap them in banana leaves with coconut milk, and steam in the oven for an hour and a half. Sea bream or cod fillets are good substitutes. Squeezing lime at the finish gives the flavor of a South Pacific seaside eatery. It is a lime-and-seafood combination that connects to Peruvian ceviche (in Japanese).
Vegetarian mumu
Leave out the meat and increase the root vegetables (5 sweet potatoes, 500 g taro, 1/2 pumpkin). Increase the coconut milk to 1.5 cans, and adding 100 g dried lentils supplements the protein. In the highlands of Papua New Guinea the daily meal is mumu of only root vegetables and greens, and the version with meat is the special edition for festival days. India's khichdi likewise carries a vegetarian wisdom of getting nutrition from only beans and grain.
BBQ grill version (outdoor cooking)
If you have a barbecue grill, you can reproduce it in the way closest to the tradition. Light charcoal in the grill, line a large aluminum tray with banana leaves, layer the ingredients, seal completely with aluminum foil, and close the grill lid. Cook 2 to 3 hours with indirect heat (charcoal pushed to the sides, tray in the center). The smoke aroma added brings it much closer to traditional mumu.
Soy sauce and miso arrangement (Japanese style)
Adding 2 tbsp miso, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and 1 tbsp mirin to the pork belly marinade makes the sweetness of coconut milk and the fermented flavor of miso go together surprisingly well. It also pairs with the sweetness of Japanese sweet potatoes and becomes a new dish as "Japanese-style mumu." Traditionalists from Papua New Guinea might be angry, but dishes travel.
Background of the Dish
Papua New Guinea's food culture and the "dish of the earth"
Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world, with more than 800 languages spoken. Yet mumu alone functions as one of the few shared food languages across the whole country. Around Mount Hagen in the highlands, in coastal Rabaul, and in the capital Port Moresby, mumu means a "meal for a special day."
The lineage of the earth oven: a cooking method that crossed the Pacific
The earth-oven technique of digging a pit in the ground and steaming food with heated stones is widely distributed across the Pacific islands. It is called "imu" in Hawaii, "hangi" among the Maori of New Zealand, "lovo" in Fiji, and "umu" in Samoa, and is thought to have spread across the whole Pacific with the expansion of the Austronesian-speaking peoples (from about 5,000 years ago).
The idea of steaming food with the heat of the earth is a universal wisdom that humanity has "invented" independently many times.
The sociology of mumu: bonds tied by communal cooking
Mumu cannot be made alone. Someone digs the pit, someone heats the stones, someone prepares the ingredients, someone cuts the leaves, someone tends the fire. Everyone in the village has some role, and it is completed only after hours of communal work. This process of "making it together" is itself the essence of mumu.
In Papua New Guinea the pig is called a "walking savings account." Pigs are used for paying bride price, settling disputes, and forming alliances, and the number and size of pigs served at a mumu are an index of the importance of the occasion and the wealth of the host. In rural Papua New Guinea this "pig economy" still operates in parallel with the cash economy.
Read Together
Mumu is one part of the Pacific "earth oven" culture. Please also try other traditional dishes of Asia and the Pacific.
- Nasi goreng (Indonesia) (in Japanese): Indonesia's national dish, fried rice
- Nasi lemak (Malaysia): Rice cooked in coconut milk
- Rendang (Indonesia) (in Japanese): A masterpiece of coconut milk stew
- Adobo (Philippines) (in Japanese): A stewed dish of vinegar and soy sauce
Compare with traditional African dishes too.
- Nyama choma (Kenya): The East African version of charcoal grilling
- Fufu (Ghana): A pounded root-vegetable staple
- Mafé (Mali) (in Japanese): A peanut butter stew
More to Cook Together
- How to make amok (in Japanese): Ingredients and aromas of the same region can be reused.
- Overview of Indonesian cuisine (in Japanese): Ingredients and aromas of the same region can be reused.
- How to make mie goreng: Ingredients and aromas of the same region can be reused.
- How to make seblak (in Japanese): Ingredients and aromas of the same region can be reused.
FAQ
Can I make it without banana leaves?
Yes. Wrap the ingredients doubly in aluminum foil and cook in the Dutch oven at the same temperature and for the same time. However, the distinctive green fragrance and sweetness that banana leaves give cannot be reproduced. The flavor of the banana leaves is an important part of "why mumu is mumu," so for a first-time cook we strongly recommend using the leaves. Frozen banana leaves can be bought online.
How do I make it the traditional way (digging a pit in the ground)?
If you have a yard, you can try. Dig a hole 30 cm square and 40 cm deep, lay river stones in it (never use wet stones; there is a danger of explosion), and heat them with firewood for more than 2 hours. When the stones turn white, remove the ash, lay banana leaves, layer the ingredients, cover with more banana leaves and a damp cloth, and finally cover with soil and wait 3 to 4 hours. Choosing the stones is the most important point for safety; stones that contain water can explode when heated, so use river stones dried for more than a week.
How do I store leftover mumu?
It keeps 3 days in the refrigerator and about 1 month in the freezer. To reheat, rather than the microwave, transfer to a pot, add 2 tbsp coconut milk, and warm it slowly over low heat to bring the flavor back. In Papua New Guinea, "mumu fry-up," in which the leftover meat and root vegetables are stir-fried in a skillet the next morning, is a standard breakfast.
Nutrition (one serving of six)
Mumu is a high-energy dish rich in the fat of coconut milk and the carbohydrate of sweet potatoes. It has a nutritional balance that makes sense as a meal that efficiently replenishes the calories spent on highland farm work. Like nasi lemak, coconut milk is the main source of fat.
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 520 kcal |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Carbohydrate | 48 g |
| Fiber | 6 g |
| Sodium | 620 mg |
| Potassium | 890 mg |
| Vitamin C | 35 mg |
Sources
- Kirikilik, M. (2024). "Mumu recipe." SBS Food, Sydney.
