Best RecipesKoko for the masses News Recipes

I experimented with another recipe today using Koko Samoa. I call these Koko Popo Brownies. The jury is still out on whether these are any good, but if I get the 'go ahead' from my tasters, the recipe will be posted up here.

Now, let's play a little "what if?". 
Imagine that one day in the future, you walk into your local supermarket to buy some cocoa because you've been dying for some Koko Popo Brownies. 


In the cocoa section, you see Hershey's Dark Cocoa Powder, Droste, Van Houten. On the shelf below that is Valrhona, Ghirardelli, and Scharffen Berger. You look further down, trying to find a name you can pronounce, and down there, right next to the Nestle and Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa Mix is - could it be? No way!...you rub your eyes in disbelief and look again. Sure enough, it's Koko Samoa! You grab a box and happily skip home to bake your brownies...

Do you think we'll ever see the day when we can buy koko samoa anywhere, everywhere?


Here are some ideas I came up with for making this possibility a reality:


Control the quality
Make sure the koko quality is high and consistent. I get so disappointed when I buy a lump of koko that is filled with burnt nibs.


Change the mould
Enough with the styrofoam cups already! While the cup-sized block of koko represents good value for money and is easy to produce, it's not a sophisticated enough mould for international marketing, unless the cup is dedicated packaging and is used as a marketing ploy (ie. 'For a hot cup of goodness, try Koko Samoa - cup included'). Also a lump of koko is not user-friendly. People these days want instant drinks, ones that are easy to prepare and require minimum effort.


Which leads me to my next suggestion: 


Offer single serve tablets
I felt a little stupid making a recipe for koko samoa (the drink) because it's not really something Samoan people measure. But the feedback has been that it's a useful recipe. People who didn't grow up drinking the stuff were unsure about the proportions of koko to water to sugar. So how about selling a bag filled with tablets of koko that are just enough for one cup. If you want to make three cups of koko, throw in three tablets. What could be simpler than that?


Add sugar
Instead of selling tablets of just koko, why not pound the sugar together with the koko. That way, there's no guesswork in how much sugar to add to your drink - one tablet takes care of everything except the milk, which is optional.


Add flavouring
How about having plain tablets and flavoured tablets? I've seen organic vanilla beans being grown in Samoa, as well as ginger, and chilli. These could be added to the tablets for an extra layer of flavour. The Mexicans do it with cinnamon and almonds, so why can't we? 


Offer two grades of koko
Why not have finely ground and coarse (eg. with pegu) koko. Not everyone is a fan of pegu (nibs), so a finer koko might appeal to those that want the taste of koko without the accompanying sediment. 


Give the tablets a unique shape
My final idea is to give the tablets of koko a catchy shape - How about little cacao pods? Or mini Samoan fale (houses)? Tiny coconuts?


What do you think? And do you have any ideas to add? Jot them below and maybe a Samoan koko producer will stumble across our ideas and do something to raise the culinary profile of this wonderfully unique ingredient.


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Best RecipesMangoes - Mago News Recipes

Did you know that potatoes and tomatoes are related? A farmer once told me that these two vegetables come from the same plant family and you can see this connection by the shape of their leaves. 


Guess which plants the mango is related to? Surprisingly, it's a cousin of the cashew and pistachio (which btw, are both seeds and not nuts, but that's a whole other blog post). 


Back to the mango...

Mango pudding

Mangoes grow right across the Pacific and Asia where they originated and it is one of those superfruits like blueberries and avocados. The ripe mango has lots of vitamin A (good for healthy eyes and your immune system) and the unripe fruit is high in vitamin C (helps your body absorb iron). Like the banana, mango has lots of potassium (for regulating your blood pressure) and if you eat just one mango, you've consumed about 12% of your daily fibre requirement. 

When buying your mangoes, give them a quick sniff. The more fragrant the fruit at the stem end, the tastier it is likely to be. Also give it the squeeze test, as you would with a peach or avocado. If the fruit 'gives' a little, then it's ready to be eaten. Remember that the redness of a mango is not an indication of ripeness. Use mangoes in fruit salads, drinks, poi, or baked desserts. Or simply eat them fresh. That's how most Samoans enjoy them.


For more info about mangoes, please visit the National Mango Board.


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Best RecipesPoi Mago - Mango pudding News Recipes

By panipopos

It always amazes me that the fruit that grows so abundantly in Samoa is sold in my supermarket for $5 a piece (That's 15 tala per mango for those of you in Samoa.) In the islands, these fruit are abundant, free to the earth, trees so heavily laden the fruit are dropping off the tree and rotting on the ground; and these jokers slap a sticker on them and charge me five bucks a mango. Shheeesh...


A medium mango should give you enough fruit for this recipe. 

Poi Mago 
(serves 2) 
1 cup mango flesh
juice and zest of 1 lime or 2 lautipolo/laumoli 
½ can (200ml) coconut milk 
½  teaspoon vanilla 
sugar to taste 
ice for serving

Blend everything until smooth. 
If you find the poi too thick, add ½ cup of cold water. 
Chill for at least 30 minutes. 


Serve well-chilled, or over ice. For a spicy kick, sprinkle a little black pepper over the top. Don't mess around with exotic flavour combinations (because you are not Jamie Oliver) and simply eat this as is. 


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Best RecipesA Gentle Reminder News Recipes

I post my recipes on the internet for all to use. But if you copy my text and/or pictures and repost them to your facebook page or blog, please have the courtesy to acknowledge SamoaFood.com as your source. It's only fair, don't you think?

Best RecipesChicken and Taro Leaves...I wish News Recipes

By panipopos


Finally gave in. 


I didn't want to make anything that required lautalo (taro leaves) because I can't get those where I live. And I wanted to be as true-blue-baby-I-love-you to Samoan food. When email requests came in for palusami, taro leaves baked with coconut milk, I faithfully replied "No can do. Cannot source genuine ingredients. Over and out." 


But there comes a time - a 'defining moment' in Oprah-ese - when you just have to face facts: sometimes you have to substitute. 


When koko samoa is unavailable, you use cocoa powder; when coconuts don't grow in your back yard, reach for a can; when you can't afford butter, mash an avocado; when you got no candy, chew on some sugar cane...I could go on.


So I've used spinach in place of lautalo. Actually, spinach is not a bad substitute for taro leaves. It's just not as good as the original. Once you've had the real deal, it gives you a food memory that is hard to overwrite.


The following recipe makes a quick, satisfying dinner and I haven't met a single person on earth who doesn't like it. 

(Serves 2-3)


1 pound (450 gr) chicken (dark meat)
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
1 medium onion
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 pound (450 gr) cooked drained spinach OR 
        1 pound (450 gr) of uncooked young taro leaves

If using spinach: Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put in a medium saucepan with the coconut milk. Chop the onion and add to the saucepan. Add salt and stir to mix. Bring to the boil then turn down, simmering until the chicken is cooked. Add the spinach and bring to the boil once more, then turn off the heat. 


If using taro leaves: Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Put in a medium saucepan with the coconut milk. Chop the onion and add to the saucepan. Add salt and taro leaves stir to mix. Bring to the boil then turn down, simmering gently until the chicken is cooked.


Serve hot with taro, green bananas, breadfruit or rice. 

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Best RecipesKeke Koko - Koko Cake News Recipes

By panipopos

You saw it here first! 

A Panipopos' Kitchen original.

Keke Koko.

(try saying it real fast, non-stop...sounds like a train)

Now I know there are going to be protests and complaints over this. In fact, when I first mentioned the idea to my sister O, who is in the food business, she said, "Why do you have to mess around with our traditional food?" and I said, "Well someone has to, or else Samoan food is never going to develop". 


And I truly believe this. 
Why not mix things up a bit and have some fun with Samoan ingredients. You never know. The results could turn out to be finger-licking, fork-licking, even PLATE-licking good. 

So, how did this recipe come about? Well, I've been thinking of ways that we can use Koko Samoa that don't involve drinking it. Because let's face it, the whole 'pegu between the teeth' thing isn't everyone's cup of tea. 


So what I came up with is a dense fudgy cake with the taste of chocolate, and the texture of nuts. That's right - chocolate plus nuts. Best thing is, there are no chocolate or nuts anywhere in the recipe! Simply koko.

I tested this on a friend that has extreme pegu aversion, and he gave it a thumbs up. So enjoy!


Keke Koko
makes an 8 inch (20cm) square cake

¾ cup grated Koko Samoa
½ cup boiling water
3 eggs
½ cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 sticks (225gr) butter, softened
2 cups flour
1½ cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt


In a large bowl, pour the boiling water over the koko and leave it to cool to room temperature.


Mix the eggs, water and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.


When the koko has cooled, add the butter to the large bowl and beat until well combined. 


Sift in the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat with a mixer on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened and then beat on medium for 1½ minutes. 


Finally add the egg mixture in two parts, beating well for ½ a minute after each addition. 


Pour into a lined cake pan and bake for 45-60 minutes at 350°F (180°C).

Try to let the cake cool (the aroma will make it difficult) and then cut into 8 or 12 pieces. 


Do NOT serve with a cup of freshly brewed koko Samoa. It's just too much, believe me. 


While you're munching on your koko cake, take a chance to check out Becki's efforts over at Cooking by Stove. Earlier this year she started cooking around the world, and you can see her take on American Samoan food here. She made our keke pua'a dough and paifala, and looked like she had a heck of a meal! Thanks Becki! 


And to those of you out there who make Panipopos' Kitchen recipes, feel free to share your cooking with our readers. Most people only visit my site just to look at the photos anyway. 


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Best RecipesPai video News Recipes

By panipopos





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