Sapasui | Chop suey | Recipe
This dish doesn’t have a ton to do with the chop suey that was popular in America long ago, which itself has only tenuous links to China. It’s less veggies, and adds noodles — which, curiously, are cut into small pieces. It’s also very punchy, with an entire cup of soy sauce and a tablespoon of ginger to a half-pound each of noodles and chicken. It’s quite a contrast to the subtler flavors of traditional Polynesian dishes we’ve had.
Oka i’a | Coconut ceviche | Recipe
This is a lot less acidic than South American ceviches, for two reasons: the citrus juice is drained after hanging out with the fish for just a short time, and coconut milk constitutes most of the liquid. I prefer the tangier version, but the advantage to this method is that the fish is less cooked so closer to raw. If you like the idea of slightly sour sashimi in coconut milk with some crunchy veggies, this is the dish for you.
Palusami | Coconut milk and taro leaf parcels | Recipe
A common dish in Polynesia, in fact we made it for the Fiji meal. For that one, we included corned beef; this time we made it a bit simpler, with just onions and lemons for flavor. Even without the beef, it’s plenty rich, between how creamy the baked coconut milk becomes, as well as the musky aroma from the taro leaves.
Pani popo | Coconut-glazed sweet rolls | Recipe
If you thought Hawaiian rolls weren’t sweet enough, well, try this. It’s a similar sweet dough, but bathed in a very sweet coconut milk glaze. In fact, you glaze it twice, both before and after baking. Yum.
Vaifala | Pineapple-coconut drink | Recipe
Coconut and pineapple, blended with a bit of vanilla extract. Yummy, refreshing, quintessentially tropical.
Keke fa’i | Banana cake | Recipe
Like banana bread, but more cakelike. Quite yummy, though oddly, this dessert wasn’t the sweetest thing on the menu — the rolls took the cake, so to speak.