Niue meets Philippines
Pearl and Tess
This is an ode to all taro lovers.
I have invited my friend, Pearl from the Hot House Project, to lunch. She brought some taro produce she imports from her native Niue. I agreed to make her our own Beef Sinigang, which commonly used taro in there. The recipe calls for fresh taro and she has brought them steamed already saving me time to cook it. When you cook taro so long, it becomes mushy and makes the broth cloudy. Well, this time it is still crisp, but not raw.
This sinigang is a soup base and can use other protein like prawns, pork, or fish. Since we are a pretend cooking show 😂, we used a sinigang mix in tamarind. A magic powder invented by Mamasita. Well, to be true to form, we can leave to boil some tamarind pieces to make the base. Check out the recipe for beef sinigang below.
Beef Sinigang Recipe
You will need:
1 kg of beek asado ribs
1 large red onion, chopped in cubes
2 medium taro, cubed
8 pieces snake beans, cut in 2 inch-length
2 large tomatoes, cubed
1 bunch kangkong leaves, cut in half
1 pack Mamasita Sinigang Mix in Tamarind Base
Season with fish sauce and pepper, optional
Steps:
+ Put beef and onion in 8 cups of water, or full enough to cover the beef. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.
+ Add taro and tomatoes, and simmer for additional 40 minutes.
+ Add snake beans, together with the sinigang mix. Cook for 5 minutes.
+ Add the kangkong, simmer for a minute or 2. Season with pepper and fish sauce. Then serve hot.
Taro (or ‘gabi’ in Filipino) is likened to potato and used in savoury dishes. In Niue, this is a staple in their meals, like rice is to Asians. They have a simple taro dish, favoured by their elders. They steam taro cubes, and add coconut cream on top, then garnished with spinach.
I let Pearl try some Taro Milk Tea from a bubble tea shop nearby. At least, she now knows where else taro can be used. I saw a Japanese chiffon cake flavored in taro too. Filipinos use taro in a hot dessert called ‘Ginataang Bilo Bilo’. That I don’t know how to make - yet.
❤❤❤
I have enjoyed this little reunion. Let’s do this again, shall we?
Tess xx
