Samoan dishes the ‘cream’ of the crop
Typically served with taro chips, oka will mentally transport you to a palmfringed tropical beach, writes Lorna Thornber.
Iprobably ate my body weight in coconut cream on a recent trip to Samoa. It was in just about every dish, from oka (a ceviche-style raw fish dish) to sweet treats such as koko alaisa (an Island rice pudding) and panikeke (pancakes).
I ordered oka so many times my travel buddies began to tease me about it, announcing what I would order before I could. Light yet satiatingly rich, it is a perfect dish for a sweaty summer’s day.
Eating it now (it is easy to make your own version) mentally transports me to one of the ultra-chilled Pacific isle’s palm-fringed sandy beaches. Here are five coconut cream-filled dishes every visitor to Samoa – or to a Samoan cafe or restaurant – should try.
OKA
Like most local dishes, the Taumeasina Island Resort version I tried on my first night in Samoa was generously proportioned with big chunks of lemon juicemarinated tuna in a sea of rich coconut cream. Smaller chunks of cucumber and tomato, spring onions and thick slabs of coconut creamsoaked taro turned it into a balanced meal. Nourish Cafe in Apia, which emphasises local, organic ingredients, also did an excellent version, and Amoa Resort on the island of Suvai’i presented its fresh catch in three ways: Samoan, Hawaiian and Japanesestyle. The coconut cream-heavy Samoan version was by far my favourite (and the most filling).
PALUSAMI
This green dream of a dish is cooked on an umu (above-ground earthen oven similar to a Mā ori hā ngı¯).
At Apia’s Samoa Cultural Village, we were led to a smoking umu, where a lavalava-clad man was preparing the palusami by filling balls of baby taro leaves with onion-spiked coconut cream. Half an hour later we were handed lunch boxes containing the palusami and smoky breadfruit, green bananas and taro to mop it up with. It was so good that, despite knowing we had lunch afterwards, I did an Oliver Twist and asked for more.
KOKO ALAISA
Reminiscent of rice pudding, koko alaisa is a thick, body- and soul-warming concoction of rice, local cacao and coconut cream, sometimes with added orange or lemon zest. It is a bear hug in a bowl.
PANIKEKE
A cross between a pancake and a doughnut, these fried, sugar-sweetened balls are at their best when mashed banana is added to the batter. They are sometimes made with cow’s milk, but are even better with coconut cream.
SUA FA’I
If you like banana bread, you are going to love this thick, creamy, banana-flavoured sago pudding. Eaten for breakfast or dessert, it is made with mashed bananas, tapioca pearls and that all-important coconut cream. Like all these dishes, it is best served with fresh coconut juice. Ideally, drink it from a real coconut so you can scoop out the creamy meat afterwards to eat it as is or turn it into homemade coconut cream.
The writer travelled to Samoa courtesy of Samoa Tourism Authority.