I am very excited about today’s recipe. During our recent holiday in French Polynesia (Tahiti), we ate some amazing food and we literally fell in love with these doughnut-like sweets. We first bought them at the Papeete Markets and we had no idea that they would become our staple for breakfast during the following 2 weeks! We were delighted to see them at the Hiltons in Moorea and then again in Bora Bora! Even though they are made with coconut milk, they don’t taste of coconut. They just have a slight coconut aroma. They also have a firmer consistency than what you would expect and I loved them both plain or with the amazing local jams made with tropical fruits (like pineapple and passion fruit!). They made the perfect breakfast! As soon as I got back home, I looked for the recipe. I found so many different ones… I got confused! In the end, I made up my own and the result was amazing. They looked and tasted just like the ones we used to eat in French Polynesia. So… I leave you to today’s recipe: Firi Firi au lait de coco!
Firi Firi
How to make Firi Firi: Tahitian doughnuts made with coconut milk.
Ingredients
- 350 gms – 0.75 lb. – 2 4/5 cups all purpose flour
- 100 gms – ½ cup sugar plus more to coat
- 1 pinch salt
- 7 gms – 2.5 tsp dry yeast
- 80 ml – 1/3 cup water lukewarn
- 200 ml – 6.75 oz. coconut milk
- Vegetable oil for deep frying I use sunflower oil
Instructions
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Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Add 1 tbsp of the sugar, mix well and leave the yeast aside to activate until frothy.
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Put all the ingredients (including the frothy yeast) in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk well. You need to obtain a thick and smooth batter. (You can also do this by hand)
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Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place to rise for 3 hours.
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Heat the vegetable oil until it reaches 170°C – 340°F.
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Pipe the batter into the hot oil cutting out pieces of approximately 13 cm – 5 inches in length.
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Fry them on both sides until golden brown (they need to be more brown than golden!).
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Put them on a plate covered with kitchen paper to drain the excess oil, then roll them in granulated sugar and serve!
Recipe Notes
Make sure the oil is at 170°C – 340°F. If the temperature is lower your Firi Firi will become soggy and if it is higher, they will burn and will not cook inside!
These look DELICIOUS! They remind me of a donut sold in Korean bakeries without the coconut milk. Yum!
Looks beautiful Manu! Its not hard to imagine why these would have been popular for brekkie!
Ooh! I love any kind of doughnut, and these look delish!! Having the coconut milk in them makes me think I’d like to make these with coconut inside them, or even rolled in coconut flakes (I know that’s not authentic, but YUM!!) Can you tell I LOVE coconut? 😉
Yes my father in-law was born in tahiti.he made these all time.now he is in heaven.now my American Tahitian wife makes them now.mmmm
they sound yummy!
im doing a project on these firi firi treats tasted delicious but what holiday was it please reply asap
by holiday I think she meant vacation. Sorry if this was not the response you were looking for though
Can you cook these in a fryer or do they need to be fried in a pan?
Hi Alisa. The batter is quite soft, so I think it’s easier to fry these in a pan. 🙂