Skip to main content

Improv Cooking Challenge: Suafa’i


Welcome to the April version of Improv Cooking Challenge. This group is now headed up by Nichole of Cookaholic Wife.

The idea behind Improv Cooking Challenge: we are assigned two ingredients and are challenged to create a recipe with those two things. 

This month's items: bananas and coconut. It just so happens that I made a dessert from Tuvalu for our Cooking Around the World Adventure that included those two ingredients!

And I recently learned more than I probably needed to know about bananas when I read Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World by Dan Koeppel. You can read my thoughts and see another banana recipe in this post.

While this dessert is not a particularly photogenic one, it was delicious and everyone asked for seconds! I'll call that a success.

Suafa’i

Ingredients serves 6
  • 6 medium ripe to overripe bananas
  • 5 C water
  • 1½ C coconut milk
  • 1 C milk
  • ½ C large tapioca pearls
  • ¼ C organic granulated sugar

Procedure
Peel the bananas and place in a large pot. Pour in 4 C water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Mash the bananas with a wooden spoon.

Add in 1 C water, coconut milk, and milk. Stir in the tapioca pearls, stirring while you add so that they do not clump together.

Bring liquid to a simmer and cook over low to medium heat until the tapioca is cooked, approximately 30 minutes for the large pearls. Stir often so they don't clump together and get stuck on the bottom. The pearls are done when they turn translucent.

Stir in the sugar and remove from the heat. Let stand for 30 minutes before serving. To serve, ladle into individual serving bowls.

Comments

  1. Interesting. Is it like a pudding or more soupy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The first day it was more soupy because we ate it warm. As it cooled, it thickened. So, leftovers were more pudding-like. It was really tasty.

      Delete
  2. I have never successfully used tapioca. :( I wonder if I could use berries instead of bananas when I try this recipe... (mmmmmmm -- or maybe ripe pears?)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir