Firi firi (Tahitian coconut doughnuts)
Firi firi is a yeast-raised coconut doughnut piped into long pieces and deep-fried at 170°C, traditionally eaten for breakfast or dessert in Tahiti.
Traditional method
Tahitian coconut bread
Tahitian coconut bread logs
Sweet dough with grated coconut is divided into ten logs, wrapped in foil and baked slowly in this Polynesian Cultural Center version demonstrated by Gina Pasi.
A particular oven-baked version
The Polynesian Cultural Center records Gina Pasi demonstrating a Tahitian coconut bread made from a sweet, baking-powder dough with grated coconut. The dough is divided into ten logs, wrapped in foil and baked on oven racks. The source's alternate coconut-frond wrapping is a separate route; this recipe gives the complete foil method only.
The page says fresh grated coconut should be toasted first. It allows unsweetened shredded coconut when fresh is unavailable and recommends reducing the sugar if the substitute is sweetened. The recipe uses water as its only added liquid and contains no yeast.
Sources for this section
Gina Pasi's family memory
Pasi is described as coming from Hikueru in the Tuamotu Archipelago. She remembers her grandmother preparing coconut bread by deep-frying it or shaping it as dumplings. Those recollections give family and place context, but the source does not say that the grandmother used the exact oven-baked formula here.
The recipe published by the center is a demonstration version: a batch of ten foil-wrapped logs baked for one to one and a quarter hours. The source does not specify the logs' dimensions, a temperature inside the finished bread, or how the loaf is stored.
Sources for this section
History
The Polynesian Cultural Center presents this as traditional Tahitian coconut bread. It records Gina Pasi, from Hikueru in the Tuamotu Archipelago, recalling her grandmother's coconut bread as deep-fried or made into dumplings. That memory describes related family preparations; this body follows the separate oven-baked, foil-wrapped version Pasi demonstrated. The source does not date the first attestation or establish a single French Polynesian formula.
Ingredients
Yield 10 logs · Scaling: source batch only
15 mL3 tsp as recorded
710 mL3 cup as recorded
Use 2½ cups if using sweetened shredded coconut, as the source directs.Wateradd gradually
355 mL1½ cup as recorded
All-purpose flourplus extra if the dough is sticky
1.06 L4½ cup as recorded
extra amount not specifiedFreshly grated coconuttoast at 175°F (80°C); unsweetened shredded coconut is a stated substitute
473 mL2 cup as recorded
the source says to use as much or as little as desiredMethod
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
The source gives no storage instructions or measured center-temperature endpoint. Its doneness cue is that the center is no longer doughy; no storage duration or additional limit is inferred.
- Before mixing, toast the grated coconut at 175°F (80°C); the source gives no duration, so watch it and remove it once toasted. Then heat the oven to 350°F (about 177°C).
- Stir the baking powder, sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Fold in the toasted coconut.
- Add the water gradually, mixing until incorporated and a soft dough forms. Add flour if the dough is too sticky. Knead until smooth, scraping the bowl to bring in any remaining flour.
- Divide the dough into ten equal portions and roll each into a log. Wrap each log snugly in aluminum foil, folding and pinching the ends closed.
- Place the foil-wrapped logs directly on oven racks, arranged diagonally so they bake evenly. Bake for 1 to 1¼ hours, until fully cooked and no longer doughy in the center.
Conditions
Yield10 logs
Temperature controlAmbient, monitored
Places
French Polynesia
Traditional preparation · Country evidenceThe Polynesian Cultural Center presents this as traditional Tahitian coconut bread and records Gina Pasi's demonstration. It does not establish one formula across French Polynesia.
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Sources
Polynesian Cultural CenterRecipe · Cultural context · Geographic association
Traditional Tahitian Coconut Bread RecipeThe PCC describes a long-running Tahiti Village demonstration and identifies Gina Pasi and her Hikueru/Tuamotu background and memories of family coconut-bread preparations.
The formula, grated coconut toasting instruction, sweetened-coconut substitution, dough mixing and kneading, ten logs, foil wrapping and 1–1¼ hour bake.
The source's center doneness cue and absence of storage or measured internal-temperature directions.
Cited in: A particular oven-baked version; Gina Pasi's family memory