Tonga

Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved or melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener. It is often garnished with whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate made with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate, characterized by less sweetness and a thicker consistency.

Pancakes, for example, banana pancakes (keke vai with banana)

Dumplings in coconut syrup

Banana dumplings with coconut syrup

Cassava dumplings with coconut syrup

Breadfruit dumplings with coconut syrup

Taro leaf dumplings with coconut syrup

Wheat flour dumplings in lolo, a sweet coconut syrup/sauce

Coconut syrup or caramel, commonly served with sweet dumplings

Steamed pudding

Pawpaw cooked in coconut milk

Banana cooked in coconut milk

Coconut water is the clear liquid inside young coconuts (fruits of the coconut palm). In early development, it serves as a suspension for the endosperm of the coconut during the nuclear phase of development. As development continues, the endosperm matures into its cellular phase and deposits into the rind of the coconut pulp. The liquid inside young coconuts is sometimes preferred to the liquid of a ripened coconut. Coconut water from young green coconuts is also known specifically as buko juice in Philippine English. Fresh coconuts are typically harvested from the tree while they are green. A hole may be bored into the coconut to provide access to the "meat" (liquid and pulp). In young coconuts, the liquid and air may be under some pressure and may spray slightly when the inner husk is first penetrated. Coconuts that have fallen to the ground are susceptible to rot and damage from insects or other animals.

Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially available. There are also various coffee substitutes. Typically served hot, coffee has the highest sales in the world market for hot drinks. Coffee production begins when the seeds from coffee cherries are separated to produce unroasted green coffee beans. The "beans" are roasted and then ground into fine particles. Coffee is brewed from the ground roasted beans, which are typically steeped in hot water before being filtered out. It is usually served hot, although chilled or iced coffee is common. Coffee can be prepared and presented in a variety of ways (e.g., espresso, French press, caffè latte, or already-brewed canned coffee). Sugar, sugar substitutes, milk, and cream are often added to mask the bitter taste or enhance the flavor.

Home-brewed alcohol made with fruit

Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved or melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener. It is often garnished with whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate made with melted chocolate is sometimes called drinking chocolate, characterized by less sweetness and a thicker consistency.

A beverage made from the powdered roots of the kava plant, known for its sedating effects

ʻOtai is a refreshing Polynesian beverage, typically made with coconut meat, coconut milk, and coconut water. It is most often associated with Tongan cuisine, though similar versions are enjoyed in other Polynesian islands, including Samoa, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu, Uvea, and Futuna. History of ʻOtai The drink has its origins in Western Polynesia, where it was traditionally served as a refreshing accompaniment to large meals. European colonists documented the Samoan version of ʻOtai in the late 19th century. The original recipe involved mixing grated ambarella fruit (known as vi in Samoan and Tongan and wi in Hawaiian) with young coconut meat, coconut milk, and coconut water. This mixture was poured into large coconut shells, corked with coconut husk, and chilled in cold water or waterfalls before serving.

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and northern Myanmar. Tea is also made, but rarely, from the leaves of Camellia taliensis. After plain water, tea is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral, or grassy notes. Tea has a stimulating effect in humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. An early credible record of tea drinking dates to the third century AD, in a medical text written by Chinese physician Hua Tuo. It was popularised as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking subsequently spread to other East Asian countries. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among the English, who started to plant tea on a large scale in British India.

The chicken is a large and round short-winged bird, domesticated from the red junglefowl of Southeast Asia around 8,000 years ago. Most chickens are raised for food, providing meat and eggs; others are kept as pets or for cockfighting. Chickens are common and widespread domestic animals, with a total population of 26.5 billion as of 2023[update], and an annual production of more than 50 billion birds. A hen bred for laying can produce over 300 eggs per year. There are numerous cultural references to chickens in folklore, religion, and literature.

Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve mollusc. The word is often applied only to those that are deemed edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the sea floor or riverbeds. Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot. They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in salt water they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the turbidity of the water required varies with species and location; the greatest diversity of these is in North America. Clams in the culinary sense do not live attached to a substrate and do not live near the bottom (whereas scallops do). In culinary usage, clams are commonly eaten marine bivalves, as in clam digging and the resulting soup, clam chowder. Many edible clams such as palourde clams are ovoid or triangular; however razor clams have an elongated parallel-sided shell, suggesting an old-fashioned straight razor.

Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura , which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax.[a] They live in all the world's oceans, in freshwater, and on land. They are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton. They generally have five pairs of legs, and they have pincer claws on the ends of the frontmost pair. They first appeared during the Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago. Crabs are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, composed primarily of highly mineralized chitin. Behind their pair of chelae (claws) are six walking legs and then two swimming legs. The crab breathes through gills on its underside; gills must be at least moist to work.

Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and the Bahamas, called crayfish, sea crayfish, or crawfish ("kreef" in South Africa), terms which elsewhere are reserved for freshwater crayfish. The furry lobsters (such as Palinurellus) were previously separated into a family of their own, the Synaxidae, but they are usually considered members of the Palinuridae. The slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae) are their next-closest relatives, and these two or three families make up the Achelata. Genera of spiny lobsters include Palinurus and a number of anagrams thereof: Panulirus, Linuparus, etc. The name derives from the small Italian port of Palinuro, which was known for harvesting the European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas) in ancient Roman times. The town itself was named for the legendary figure of Palinurus, who was a helmsman in Virgil's Æneid.

Dog meat, also known as fragrant meat or simply fragrant, is the meat derived from dogs. Historically human consumption of dog meat has been recorded in many parts of the world. In the 21st century, dog meat is consumed to a limited extent in Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Ghana, Laos, Nigeria, South Korea, Switzerland, and Vietnam. In these areas, the legality of dog meat consumption varies with some nations permitting it or lacking a nationwide ban. It was estimated in 2014 that worldwide, 25 million dogs are eaten each year by humans.

Humans and their hominid relatives have consumed eggs for millions of years. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especially chickens. People in Southeast Asia began harvesting chicken eggs for food by 1500 BCE. Eggs of other birds, such as ducks and ostriches, are eaten regularly but much less commonly than those of chickens. People may also eat the eggs of reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Fish eggs consumed as food are known as roe or caviar. Hens and other egg-laying creatures are raised throughout the world, and mass production of chicken eggs is a global industry. In 2009, an estimated 62.1 million metric tons of eggs were produced worldwide from a total laying flock of approximately 6.4 billion hens. There are issues of regional variation in demand and expectation, as well as current debates concerning methods of mass production. In 2012, the European Union banned battery husbandry of chickens.

Octopus or squid, grilled, in coconut sauce

Steamed, grilled

Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat . The term 'goat meat' denotes meat of older animals, while meat from young goats is called 'kid meat'. In South Asian cuisine, goat meat is called mutton, along with sheep meat. The culinary name "chevon", a blend of chèvre "goat" in French and mouton "sheep" in French, was coined in 1922 and selected by a trade association; it was adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture in 1928,: 19  however the term never caught on and is not encountered in the United States. "Cabrito", a word in Spanish and Portuguese, is the meat of a young, milk-fed goat. It is also known as chivo meat. Goat meat is both a staple and a delicacy in the world's cuisines. The cuisines best known for their use of goat include African cuisine, Middle Eastern, Indian, Indonesian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Abruzzese, Mexican, Caribbean (Jamaica), Haitian cuisine, Dominican cuisine and Ecuadorian. Cabrito, which is baby goat, is a typical food of Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico; in Italy it is called "capretto". Goat meat can be prepared in a variety of ways, such as being stewed, curried, baked, grilled, barbecued, minced, canned, fried, or made into sausage. Goat jerky is another popular variety.

Horse meat forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many countries, particularly in Europe and Asia. The eight countries that consume the most horse meat consume about 4.3 million horses a year. For the majority of humanity's early existence, wild horses were hunted as a source of protein. Archaic humans hunted wild horses for hundreds of thousands of years following their first arrival in Eurasia. Examples of sites demonstrating horse butchery by archaic humans include: the Boxgrove site in southern England dating to around 500,000 years ago, where horse bones with cut marks are associated with Acheulean stone tools made by Homo heidelbergensis, the Schöningen site in Germany (also thought to have been created by Homo heidelbergensis) dating to around 300,000 years ago, where butchered horses are associated with wooden spears (the Schöningen spears, amongst the oldest known wooden spears), as well as the Lingjing site in Henan, China dating to 125-90,000 years ago. During the Upper Palaeolithic, there is evidence for the hunting of horses by modern humans in Europe, as well as Asia. Early Paleoindians in North America hunted the continent's native horses shortly prior to their extinction.

Corned beef, bully beef, or salted beef in some Commonwealth countries, is a salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to corned beef recipes. Corned beef is featured as an ingredient in many cuisines. Most recipes include nitrates, which convert the natural myoglobin in beef to nitrosomyoglobin, giving it a pink color. Nitrates and nitrites reduce the risk of dangerous botulism during curing by inhibiting the growth of Clostridium botulinum bacteria spores, but have been linked to increased cancer risk in mice. Beef cured without nitrates or nitrites has a gray color, and is sometimes called "New England corned beef".

Cabbage, corned beef, onions and tomatoes in coconut cream

Lamb breast is a cut from the chest that contains ribs, commonly stuffed and roasted

Lobsters are malacostracans of the family Nephropidae or its synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, which are usually much larger than the others. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important and are often one of the most profitable commodities in the coastal areas they populate. Commercially important species include two species of Homarus from the northern Atlantic Ocean and scampi —the Northern Hemisphere genus Nephrops and the Southern Hemisphere genus Metanephrops.[citation needed]

Octopus in coconut cream

Corned beef with coconut cream

Horse meat, onions and coconut cream cooked inside taro leaves, for example, in an umu (underground oven)

Chicken, onions and coconut cream cooked inside taro leaves, for example, in an umu (underground oven)

Corned beef, onions and coconut cream cooked inside taro leaves, for example, in an umu (underground oven)

Lamb, onions and coconut cream cooked inside taro leaves, for example, in an umu (underground oven)

Mussel is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval. The word "mussel" is frequently used to mean the bivalves of the marine family Mytilidae, most of which live on exposed shores in the intertidal zone, attached by means of their strong byssal threads ("beard") to a firm substrate. A few species (in the genus Bathymodiolus) have colonised hydrothermal vents associated with deep ocean ridges.

People of several cultures eat octopus. The arms and sometimes other body parts are prepared in various ways, often varying by species and/or geography. Octopuses are sometimes eaten or prepared alive, a practice that is controversial due to scientific evidence that octopuses experience pain. Octopus is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, including sushi, sashimi, karaage, stew, sour salad, takoyaki and akashiyaki.

ʻOta ʻika is a Oceanian dish consisting of raw fish marinated in citrus juice and coconut milk. The Tongan, Tahitian, and Samoan variants are essentially identical in that the raw fish is briefly marinated in lemon or lime juice until the surface of the flesh becomes opaque. The fish is then mixed with coconut milk and diced vegetables . This is the national dish of Tonga. The dish is otherwise known as coconut fish in Nauru, kokoda in Fiji and Papua New Guinea, oka in Samoa, ika mata in the Cook Islands and New Zealand, oraora in Kiribati, and simply poisson cru on the French islands. The word "ota" means "raw" within the Polynesian language group, although the more common term for the dish in French Polynesia is its French equivalent, "poisson cru" (literally, "raw fish"). Any type of seafood can be used to make "ota," the word "ika" means fish ("i'a" in Samoan language), but the dish is often prepared with mussels ("ota pipi/maso"), prawns ("ota ulavai"), crab ("ota pa'a/paka"), lobster ("ota ula"), octopus/squid ("ota fe'e/feke"), sea urchin ("ota vana/tuitui"), and eel ("ota pusi"). A very similar dish are the kinilaw and ata-ata of the Philippines, and its descendant dish, the kelaguen of the Marianas Islands. The poke and lomi salmon of Hawaii are also similar. It is also similar to the Latin American ceviche, though the latter is relatively recent and may be a derivative dish, as citruses are not native to the Americas.

The Pacific imperial pigeon, Pacific pigeon, Pacific fruit pigeon or lupe is a widespread pigeon species in the family Columbidae. It is found in American Samoa, the Cook Islands, the smaller islands of eastern Fiji, Kiribati, Niue, the smaller satellite islands of Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna Islands. The Pacific imperial pigeon was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with all the other doves and pigeons in the genus Columba and coined the binomial name Columba pacifica. Gmelin based his description on the "Ferruginous-vented pigeon" from the "Friendly Isles in the South Seas" (now the Tonga Islands in the South Pacific) that had been described in 1783 by English ornithologist John Latham. The Pacific imperial pigeon is now placed with 40 other Imperial pigeons in the genus Ducula that was introduced in 1836 by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson. The genus name Ducula is from the Latin dux genitive ducis meaning "leader".

Pork, cooked in an umu (underground oven)

Roast suckling pig cooked on a spit

Corned beef, bully beef, or salted beef in some Commonwealth countries, is a salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to corned beef recipes. Corned beef is featured as an ingredient in many cuisines. Most recipes include nitrates, which convert the natural myoglobin in beef to nitrosomyoglobin, giving it a pink color. Nitrates and nitrites reduce the risk of dangerous botulism during curing by inhibiting the growth of Clostridium botulinum bacteria spores, but have been linked to increased cancer risk in mice. Beef cured without nitrates or nitrites has a gray color, and is sometimes called "New England corned beef".

Chop suey is a dish from American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, generally consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery, and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. It is typically served with rice, but can become the Chinese-American form of chow mein with the substitution of stir-fried noodles for rice. Chop suey has become a prominent part of American Chinese cuisine, British Chinese cuisine, Filipino Chinese cuisine, Canadian Chinese cuisine, Thai Chinese cuisine, Indian Chinese cuisine, and Polynesian cuisine. In Chinese Indonesian cuisine it is known as cap cai (tjap tjoi) (雜菜, "mixed vegetables") and mainly consists of vegetables. Chop suey is widely believed to have been developed in the U.S. by Chinese Americans. However, the anthropologist E. N. Anderson traces the dish to tsap seui (杂碎, "miscellaneous leftovers"), common in Taishan, Guangdong (Toisan) – the home of many early Chinese immigrants to the United States. Hong Kong doctor Li Shu-fan likewise reported that he knew it in Toisan in the 1890s.

A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders.

Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea . They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. They are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of known holothurian (/ˌhɒləˈθjʊəriən, ˌhoʊlə-/ HOL-ə-THURE-ee-ən, HOH-lə-) species worldwide is about 1,786, with the greatest number being in the Asia–Pacific region. Many of these are gathered for human consumption, and some species are cultivated in aquaculture systems. The harvested product is variously referred to as trepang, namako, bêche-de-mer, or balate. Sea cucumbers serve a useful role in the marine ecosystem as they help recycle nutrients, breaking down detritus and other organic matter, after which bacteria can continue the decomposition process. Like all echinoderms, sea cucumbers have an endoskeleton just below the skin, calcified structures that are usually reduced to isolated microscopic ossicles (or sclerietes) joined by connective tissue. In some species these can sometimes be enlarged to flattened plates, forming an armour. In pelagic species such as Pelagothuria natatrix (order Elasipodida, family Pelagothuriidae), the skeleton is absent and there is no calcareous ring.

Sea snails are slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the absence of a visible shell. Determining whether some gastropods should be called sea snails is not always easy. Some species that live in brackish water can be listed as either freshwater snails or marine snails, and some species that live at or just above the high tide level (for example, species in the genus Truncatella) are sometimes considered to be sea snails and sometimes listed as land snails. Sea snails are a very large and diverse group of animals. Most snails that live in salt water respire using a gill or gills; a few species, though, have a lung, are intertidal, and are active only at low tide when they can move around in the air. These air-breathing species include false limpets in the family Siphonariidae and another group of false limpets in the family Trimusculidae.

Sea urchins or urchins are typically spiny, globular animals, echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal to 5,000 metres (16,000 ft; 2,700 fathoms). Their tests (hard shells) are round and spiny, typically from 3 to 10 cm (1 to 4 in) across. Sea urchins move slowly, crawling with their tube feet, and sometimes pushing themselves with their spines. They feed primarily on algae but also eat slow-moving or sessile animals. Their predators include sharks, sea otters, starfish, wolf eels, and triggerfish. Like all echinoderms, adult sea urchins have pentagonal symmetry with their pluteus larvae featuring bilateral (mirror) symmetry; The latter indicates that they belong to the Bilateria, along with chordates, arthropods, annelids and molluscs. Sea urchins are found in every ocean and in every climate, from the tropics to the polar regions, and inhabit marine benthic (sea bed) habitats, from rocky shores to hadal zone depths. The fossil record of the Echinoids dates from the Ordovician period, some 450 million years ago. The closest echinoderm relatives of the sea urchin are the sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea), which like them are deuterostomes, a clade that includes the chordates. (Sand dollars are a separate order in the sea urchin class Echinoidea.)

Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs , crustaceans (e.g. shrimp, crabs, and lobster), and echinoderms (e.g. sea cucumbers and sea urchins). Historically, marine mammals such as cetaceans (whales and dolphins) as well as seals have been eaten as food, though that happens to a lesser extent in modern times. Edible sea plants such as some seaweeds and microalgae are widely eaten as sea vegetables around the world, especially in Asia. Seafood is an important source of (animal) protein in many diets around the world, especially in coastal areas. Semi-vegetarians who consume seafood as the only source of meat are said to adhere to pescetarianism.

Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some are found in freshwater. In addition, a few species of land crabs are eaten, for example Cardisoma guanhumi in the Caribbean. Shellfish are among the most common food allergens. Despite the name, shellfish are not fish. Most shellfish are low on the food chain and eat a diet composed primarily of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Many varieties of shellfish, and crustaceans in particular, are actually closely related to insects and arachnids; crustaceans make up one of the main subphyla of the phylum Arthropoda. Molluscs include cephalopods and bivalves (clams, oysters), as well as gastropods (aquatic species such as whelks and winkles; land species such as snails and slugs).

A shrimp or shrimps (UK)) is a crustacean (a form of shellfish) with an elongated body and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – typically belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchiata of the order Decapoda, although some crustaceans outside of this order are also referred to as "shrimp". More narrow definitions may be restricted to Caridea, to smaller species of either group or to only the marine species. Under a broader definition, shrimp may be synonymous with prawn, covering stalk-eyed swimming crustaceans with long, narrow muscular tails (abdomens), long whiskers (antennae), and slender legs. Any small crustacean which resembles a shrimp tends to be called one. They swim forward by paddling with swimmerets on the underside of their abdomens, although their escape response is typically repeated flicks with the tail driving them backwards very quickly. Crabs and lobsters have strong walking legs, whereas shrimp have thin, fragile legs which they use primarily for perching.

Corned beef, bully beef, or salted beef in some Commonwealth countries, is a salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added to corned beef recipes. Corned beef is featured as an ingredient in many cuisines. Most recipes include nitrates, which convert the natural myoglobin in beef to nitrosomyoglobin, giving it a pink color. Nitrates and nitrites reduce the risk of dangerous botulism during curing by inhibiting the growth of Clostridium botulinum bacteria spores, but have been linked to increased cancer risk in mice. Beef cured without nitrates or nitrites has a gray color, and is sometimes called "New England corned beef".

Suckling pig, chicken, spiny lobster (crayfish), pork, vegetables, served with tropical fruit

A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae (mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max length: 50 cm or 1.6 ft, weight: 1.8 kg or 4 lb) up to the Atlantic bluefin tuna (max length: 4.6 m or 15 ft, weight: 684 kg or 1,508 lb[citation needed]), which averages 2 m (6.6 ft) and is believed to live up to 50 years. Tuna, opah, and mackerel sharks are the only species of fish that can maintain a body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water. An active and agile predator, the tuna has a sleek, streamlined body, and is among the fastest-swimming pelagic fish – the yellowfin tuna, for example, is capable of speeds of up to 75 km/h (47 mph). Greatly inflated speeds can be found in early scientific reports and are still widely reported in the popular literature.

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtles), which differ in the way the head retracts. There are 360 living and recently extinct species of turtles, including land-dwelling tortoises and freshwater terrapins. They are found on most continents, some islands and, in the case of sea turtles, much of the ocean. Like other amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) they breathe air and do not lay eggs underwater, although many species live in or around water. Turtle shells are made mostly of bone; the upper part is the domed carapace, while the underside is the flatter plastron or belly-plate. Its outer surface is covered in scales made of keratin, the material of hair, horns, and claws. The carapace bones develop from ribs that grow sideways and develop into broad flat plates that join up to cover the body. Turtles are ectotherms or "cold-blooded", meaning that their internal temperature varies with their direct environment. They are generally opportunistic omnivores and mainly feed on plants and animals with limited movements. Many turtles migrate short distances seasonally. Sea turtles are the only reptiles that migrate long distances to lay their eggs on a favored beach.

Tuna cooked in coconut milk, other fish may also be used

A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus Musa. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing them from dessert bananas. The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a peel, which may have a variety of colors when ripe. It grows upward in clusters near the top of the plant. Almost all modern edible seedless cultivated bananas come from two wild species – Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, or hybrids of them. Musa species are native to tropical Indomalaya and Australia; they were probably domesticated in New Guinea. They are grown in 135 countries, primarily for their fruit, and to a lesser extent to make banana paper and textiles, while some are grown as ornamental plants. The world's largest producers of bananas in 2022 were India and China, which together accounted for approximately 26% of total production. Bananas are eaten raw or cooked in recipes varying from curries to banana chips, fritters, fruit preserves, or simply baked or steamed.

The coconut tree is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus Cocos. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which botanically is a drupe, not a nut. They are ubiquitous in coastal tropical regions and are a cultural icon of the tropics. The coconut tree provides food, fuel, cosmetics, folk medicine and building materials, among many other uses. The inner flesh of the mature seed, as well as the coconut milk extracted from it, forms a regular part of the diets of many people in the tropics and subtropics. Coconuts are distinct from other fruits because their endosperm contains a large quantity of an almost clear liquid, called "coconut water" or "coconut juice". Mature, ripe coconuts can be used as edible seeds, or processed for oil and plant milk from the flesh, charcoal from the hard shell, and coir from the fibrous husk. Dried coconut flesh is called copra, and the oil and milk derived from it are commonly used in cooking – frying in particular – as well as in soaps and cosmetics. Sweet coconut sap can be made into drinks or fermented into palm wine or coconut vinegar. The hard shells, fibrous husks and long pinnate leaves can be used as material to make a variety of products for furnishing and decoration.

Avocado (avoka), bananas (siane), breadfruit (mei), coconut (niu), guava (kuava), lemons, limes, mandarins (moli vai keli), mango, oranges (moli peli), papaya (lesi), passion (passion), passionfruit (vaine), pineapples, plantains (hopa, pata), soursop (Indian apple, 'apele 'initia), watermelon

Taro and onions in coconut cream

Purple in color

Hibiscus tiliaceus, commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New Zealand. It has been debated whether this species is native or introduced to Hawaii. Common names include sea hibiscus, beach hibiscus, coastal hibiscus, coastal (or coast) cottonwood, green cottonwood, native hibiscus, native rosella, cottonwood hibiscus, kurrajong, sea rosemallow and dhigga (Maldivian).

Hardtack is a type of dense cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages, land migrations, and military campaigns. Along with salt pork and corned beef, hardtack was a standard ration for many militaries and navies from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. The name is derived from "tack", the British sailor slang for food. The earliest use of the term recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1830. It is known by other names including brewis (possibly a cognate with "brose"), cabin bread, pilot bread, sea biscuit, soda crackers, sea bread (as rations for sailors), ship's biscuit, and pejoratively as dog biscuits, molar breakers, sheet iron, tooth dullers, Panzerplatten ("armor plates"; Germany) and worm castles. Australian and New Zealand military personnel knew them with some sarcasm as ANZAC wafers (not to be confused with Anzac biscuit).

Ramen noodles, noodle soup

Round deep-fried pancakes or fritters

Rice is a cereal grain and in its domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa —or, much less commonly, Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Asian rice was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 years ago; African rice was domesticated in Africa about 3,000 years ago. Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2021, 787 million tons were produced, placing it fourth after sugarcane, maize, and wheat. Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally. China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice. A substantial amount of the rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage. Rice yields can be reduced by pests including insects, rodents, and birds, as well as by weeds, and by diseases such as rice blast. Traditional rice polycultures such as rice-duck farming, and modern integrated pest management seek to control damage from pests in a sustainable way. Many varieties of rice have been bred to improve crop quality and productivity. Biotechnology has created Green Revolution rice able to produce high yields when supplied with nitrogen fertiliser and managed intensively. Other products are rice able to express human proteins for medicinal use; flood-tolerant or deepwater rice; and drought-tolerant and salt-tolerant varieties. Rice is used as a model organism in biology.

Edible seaweed, or sea vegetables, are seaweeds that can be eaten and used for culinary purposes. They typically contain high amounts of fiber. They may belong to one of several groups of multicellular algae: the red algae, green algae, and brown algae. Seaweeds are also harvested or cultivated for the extraction of polysaccharides such as alginate, agar and carrageenan, gelatinous substances collectively known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids. Hydrocolloids have attained commercial significance, especially in food production as food additives. The food industry exploits the gelling, water-retention, emulsifying and other physical properties of these hydrocolloids. Most edible seaweeds are marine algae whereas most freshwater algae are toxic. Some marine algae contain acids that irritate the digestion canal, while others can have a laxative and electrolyte-balancing effect. Most marine macroalgae are nontoxic in normal quantities, but members of the genus Lyngbya are potentially lethal. Typically, poisoning is caused by eating fish which have fed on Lyngbya or on other fish which have done so; this is called ciguatera poisoning. Handling Lyngbya majuscula can also cause seaweed dermatitis. Some species of Desmarestia are highly acidic, with vacuoles of sulfuric acid that can cause severe gastrointestinal disorders. Seaweeds are used extensively as food in coastal cuisines around the world, particularly in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Edible seaweeds are especially prominent in the cuisines of China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and Hawaii. Seaweeds are also traditionally consumed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, as well as in the islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. The Māori people of New Zealand traditionally used a few species of red and green seaweed, Several species are also eaten by Indigenous Australians.

Inocarpus fagifer, commonly known as the Tahitian chestnut or Polynesian chestnut, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family, Fabaceae. The tree has a wide range in the tropics of the south-west Pacific and south-east Asian regions, and a history of traditional use by the peoples of Polynesia and Melanesia. It is the only edible and culturally important member of the genus Inocarpus. There is great diversity in the size, form, shape and colour of the Tahitian chestnut, and of its leaves, flowers and fruit. Because of its long history of cultivation and its tendency to become naturalised where introduced, it is likely that, over its wide range, the species contains several originally farmer-selected cultivars that have not been recognised or described.

Coconut dumplings, coconut bread

Cabbage (kapisi), carrots, cassava (manioke), corn (koane), hibiscus (la'i pele), onions, pumpkins, spinach (pele), sweet potatoes (kumara and purple varieties), taro greens (lu), taro roots, tomatoes, yam (ufi)