page_title: Vanuatuan cuisine
section_title: Traditional foods
hierarchical_section_title: Vanuatuan cuisine / Traditional foods
caption_attribution_description: English: Laplap sosor, traditional dish from Vanuatu (Malekula version). Français&#160;: Laplap sosor, plat traditionnel du Vanuatu (variante de l'île de Malekula).
context_page_description: The cuisine of Vanuatu incorporates fish, root vegetables such as taro and yams, fruits, and vegetables. Most island families grow food in their gardens, and food shortages are rare. Papayas, pineapples, mangoes, plantains, and sweet potatoes are abundant through much of the year. Coconut milk and cream are used to flavor many dishes. Most food is cooked using hot stones or through boiling and steaming; little food is fried. Since Vanuatu is one of the few South Pacific regions influenced by the outside world, Vanuatu's food has a multicultural nature.
context_section_description: The national dish of Vanuatu is lap lap. Lap lap is a baked pudding. It is made up of grated yam, banana, manioc, or taro that is mixed with coconut milk and salt, wrapped up in banana leaves, then baked under hot volcanic stones. There is a variety of lap lap styles from island to island.Malekula has a unique technique in they way they bake their Lap lap, specifically called 'Sosor', where they place a glowing hot volcanic stone in the center of the unbaked pudding, with chicken wings, onion and tomato on top of the stone. They then squeeze coconut milk over the whole pudding, wrap it up and bake it. Once baked, the Sosor is opened, the stone removed and all the meat is cooked (steamed from the coconut milk), a well is made in the centre of the pudding and more coconut milk is squeezed out as a dipping sauce. The local markets often have stall hawkers selling local lap-lap with various toppings e.g. chicken, beef, octopus or fried fish.
  Another popular dish is simboro. Simboro resembles the Greek dish dolmades. It is a steamed roll of grated banana, manioc, yam, taro, or flour that is wrapped in banana leaves and covered in coconut milk.
  Flying foxes are also captured, kept in cages, and eaten as a stew in some islands
  The traditional diet is also rich in marine-life animals. Many of the rural villages that live near the coastal areas (or lake and rivers) are well-known skilled fishermen, and incorporate all manner of shellfish, deep sea and reef fish into their daily household meals. Locals are celebrated as skillful fishermen if they are able to catch deep sea fish such as Tuna, Barracuda or Marlin, with traditional methods. Other types of marine life commonly eaten are Red Emperor, Parrotfish, Cod, Trevally, common periwinkle shellfish, lobster and sandcrabs.
  The Coconut crab is also considered as a unique delicacy in Vanuatu. However, many restaurants in Vanuatu have stopped serving this dish as the crab is at risk of becoming an extinct species.
caption: Laplap sosor, a variant of the national dish from Malekula island.
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