Haupia

One of the things we enjoyed most at our first Hawaiian luau was haupia, a type of coconut pudding. The pudding had a consistency close to Jello and was served in pieces about 2 inches by 1 inch. We tried a few haupia recipes and mix packets before finding the perfect recipe. It has the light, delicious coconut flavor we both loved from the haupia at the luau. Jarrod actually preferred the firm, gelatinous texture the luau haupia, but I like this recipe because it's creates a more creamy pudding. It's a LOT of work though. Tons of stirring, but well worth the effort. Here's a link to the recipe: http://gohawaii.about.com/od/luaurecipes/r/haupia.htm

And a word of advice if you do decide to give it a try: dissolve the cornstarch in the cocount milk before cooking. I used a large measuring cup and vigourously mixed 3 Tbsp. of cornstarch with 1/2 cup coconut milk, then repeated the process with the remaining 1/2 cup coconut milk and 2 Tbsp. of cornstarch. Yum!