DISH RESEARCH · Main dish

Faiai eleni

Jenny’s tuna-and-spinach Faiai eleni adaptation. The Wai Sik Lady writer explicitly substitutes canned tuna for the canned mackerel in a coconut fish stew enjoyed during her honeymoon in Hawaii. Her own complete recipe uses spinach, coconut cream in the selected branch, onion, garlic, two separately named mayonnaises and powdered seasonings. Measina Samoa’s first-person mackerel account remains distinct local context.

About Faiai eleni

Research draft based on the references below. These notes describe particular recipes and presentations; ingredient connections are still being reviewed.

Jenny’s tuna-and-spinach Faiai eleni adaptation. The Wai Sik Lady writer explicitly substitutes canned tuna for the canned mackerel in a coconut fish stew enjoyed during her honeymoon in Hawaii. Her own complete recipe uses spinach, coconut cream in the selected branch, onion, garlic, two separately named mayonnaises and powdered seasonings. Measina Samoa’s first-person mackerel account remains distinct local context.

A personally described less-fishy fish choice. Jenny says tuna gave her home adaptation a less “fishy” taste than the mackerel brands she tried; this is a bounded comparison from her experience. She describes the Faiai eleni family as a savoury coconut fish stew. A precise sweetness, salt level or coconut-flavour intensity for every serving is not established by the ingredients.

Chunky tuna retained among wilted spinach. The method cooks the spinach until wilted and asks the cook not to break down the tuna too much, so it stays chunky before the mixture is baked. Jenny describes the coconut fish-stew family as creamy, but does not independently describe a final post-baking texture contrast. Rice and its furikake garnish are separate serving components.

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Dish type

Main dish

A baked coconut fish-stew meal, served over a separate rice accompaniment in this selected version.

Preparation

Read the preparation

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Dice onion, mince garlic and sauté until soft and brown; the source names no separate sautéing medium. Deglaze with the selected coconut cream, add spinach, cover and cook until wilted. Add tuna, both named mayonnaise portions, bouillon powder, sugar and white and black peppers, mixing without breaking the tuna down too far. Taste and conditionally adjust the unspecified seasoning. Transfer to the author’s deep glass dish described as 9-by-13, with its unit unstated, bake 25 minutes and cool five minutes. Onion powder appears in the ingredient card, but its addition point is not provided.

Source limits: No extra oil, seasoning identity or onion-powder addition step invented. The separate optional stovetop-only finish is not the selected baked branch.

Serving presentation

The recipe serves two to four. After the stated five-minute cooling, spoon the baked stew over plain white rice and sprinkle with furikake nori rice seasoning. The author’s separately suggested garlic, ginger and coconut-oil rice is not substituted into the selected plain accompaniment.

Source limits: Rice/garnish amounts, complete rice preparation and an explicit final serving-temperature value are not provided.

Before you order

This selected adaptation contains tuna, a fish ingredient; the author’s original mackerel version is a different fish choice. Ask which fish is used, what is in both mayonnaise products, the bouillon powder, coconut product and rice seasoning, and which leaf and rice versions are served. Confirm additions and shared equipment where relevant. The named mayonnaise alone does not supply its actual egg or other ingredient declaration.

Source limits: Venue fish species, product formulations, substitutions and contact practices unknown.

Prepare your questions →

Ingredients in Faiai eleni

Selected home adaptation: four garlic cloves, one large onion, two cans tuna, 16 oz spinach, one can coconut cream, two tablespoons mayonnaise, one tablespoon Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise, one tablespoon chicken bouillon powder, one tablespoon onion powder, two teaspoons white pepper powder, one teaspoon ground black pepper and one tablespoon sugar. Unspecified extra seasoning is conditional. Plain white rice is selected as the separate accompaniment, with the named furikake nori rice seasoning at serving. Coconut milk, canned mackerel, taro leaves and garlic-ginger-coconut-oil rice remain distinct unselected choices.

Source limits: Tuna/mackerel species and packing liquids, both mayonnaise declarations, coconut product, bouillon and furikake formulas unknown. Rice amount and complete method not supplied; no sautéing medium is named. Onion powder has no addition step in the method.

Garlic^[3]Recipe ingredient
Onion^[3]Recipe ingredient
Tuna^[3]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Spinach^[3]Recipe ingredient
Coconut cream^[3]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Mayonnaise^[3]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Mayonnaise^[3]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
chicken bouillon^[3]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Onion Powder^[3]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
White pepper^[3]Recipe ingredient
Black Pepper^[3]Recipe ingredient
Sugar^[3]Recipe ingredient
Unspecified seasoning adjustment^[3]Identity unresolved
white rice^[3]Recipe ingredientSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Furikake^[3]Topping or garnishSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Coconut milk^[3]OptionalSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Mackerel^[3]OptionalSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Taro Leaf^[3]OptionalSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Garlic^[3]OptionalSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Ginger^[3]OptionalSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.
Coconut Oil^[3]OptionalSource-specific formulation remains unresolved.

These foods describe the cited recipe. Ask the kitchen about its version and any additional ingredients or handling.

Origins & food traditions

Explore the countries and cooking traditions associated with this dish. These connections do not establish a single birthplace or limit where the dish is eaten today.

Measina Samoa recounts canned mackerel, coconut and onion baked in an umu while the writer lived in Samoa, and a modern oven alternative. Jenny first ate the dish in Hawaii and asked her host about it, then adopted tuna after trying different mackerel brands. This is her explicitly attributed home adaptation of that named family, not a single universal Samoan fish formula or an eel substitution.

Source limits: No exclusive national origin or exact mackerel species established. The named local mackerel account and selected tuna formula remain separate.

Countries

Samoa

Cuisines & regions

Samoan Cuisine

Associations in the cited sources

These describe source-specific cultural or geographic connections. Catalogue links may still need review.

Countries & places: Samoa
Cooking traditions: Samoan Cuisine

AI-generated illustration of one possible presentation. Recipes and ingredients vary; the image does not establish allergen content.

Sources & references

Jenny / The Wai Sik Lady Food Blog, “Coconut Tuna & Spinach Faiai Eleni Fish Stew” (2 February 2022), supplies the selected personally cooked adaptation. Measina Samoa, “How to make 5 of our favourite Samoan foods” (21 May 2020), and The Coconet’s Pafelio and Leilani Momoiseā cooking account provide separately bounded Samoan family context, without a borrowed full formula.