Despite the name, 'island cabbage' usually isn't cabbage at all — it's typically slippery cabbage simmered in coconut cream, and it outsells any imported vegetable at local markets.
Island cabbage refers to leafy greens, most often slippery cabbage or amaranth, cooked down with coconut cream, onion and sometimes tinned fish until soft. An everyday side dish sold at Honiara's Central Market.
Why it's made this way: Leafy greens grow easily and cheaply across the islands, and simmering them in coconut cream rather than imported oils reflects the coconut-based cooking common throughout Melanesia.
Roughly what's in it
180kcal
4gprotein
12gcarbs
13gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.