DISH RESEARCH · Dessert
Faikakai
Tongan banana-coconut dumplings with a sweet coconut-caramel sauce.

About Faikakai
Mike Benayoun identifies faikakai malimali as the banana version of Tonga’s faikakai dumpling dessert. His recipe combines mashed banana and coconut in the dough, then serves the dumplings with lolo, a sweet coconut syrup.
Banana, sugar and vanilla flavour the dumplings. Coconut appears in the dough, the buttery toasted coating and the caramel sauce, with coconut cream selected from the sauce options.
The dumplings are formed into small balls and boiled before their coconut coating is added. They reach the plate with the thick coconut caramel; the source does not prescribe a final serving-temperature category.
Allergens in this recipe
Contains: Milk.
Other allergen details are unconfirmed.
Ingredients vary by restaurant. Confirm your allergens with staff before ordering.
Ingredients in Faikakai
Mike Benayoun’s Tongan faikakai malimali banana dumplings.
- SugarSweetener
- Coconut creamLiquid
- FlourBaseIngredient page not linked
- Baking powderBinder
- Shredded coconutBase
- Ripe bananaBase
- Vanilla beanAromatic
- WaterLiquid
- ButterCooking medium
Ingredient details & uncertainties
Allergen information is incomplete. Unconfirmed details do not establish that an allergen is absent.
- Sugar: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Syrup58 and dough65 allocations consolidated.
- Coconut cream: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Actual cream option59 selected over thick coconut milk.
- Flour: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Source61 says only flour; cereal/product identity not established, no forced wheat mapping from protected scalar or unsupported absence label.
- Baking powder: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Carrier/full formula unprovided.
- Shredded coconut: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Dough76 and separately butter-toasted coating81 allocations consolidated.
- Ripe banana: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed
- Vanilla bean: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed
- Water: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Allergen details unconfirmed. Dough67/77 and explicit boiling-pot medium75/78 consolidated.
- Butter: Recipe-specific ingredient evidence; Milk source-confirmed. Literal dairy butter68/80 confirms Milk; exact product unknown.
Origins & food traditions
Countries
- Tonga
- TongaCatalogue link pending review
Cuisines & regions
- Tongan Cuisine
- Tongan cuisineCatalogue link pending review
AI-generated illustration of one possible presentation. Recipes and ingredients vary; the image does not establish allergen content.