TONGA: THE FOOD

It’s a three-day weekend this weekend for Memorial Day! But it’s not quite the same this year. In Indiana, the Indy 500 was supposed to be today, but it’s been a quiet May here with its postponement. (They’ve moved it to August, and I think it’ll run with no crowds). We also finally moved the rest of our stuff from the other house to our current ones, only to find that our barbecue grills have been thrown out. So, no barbecue for us this weekend. My husband was at one store the other day where he saw some cheap ones, but they were sold out by the time he went back. So, mer ner.

I'm excited to experiment around with different toppings and dips.

But we always have Tongan food today! The bread for today is called Keke ‘Isite. I combined my yeast with a cup of warm water and 1 tsp of sugar in a large bowl and mixed it until the yeast dissolved in the water. Then I left it on the counter for about 10 minutes until it was frothy. In the same bowl, I added in another cup of warm water, ⅔ c of sugar, and 4 c of all-purpose flour. It should be the consistency of a thick batter, but you may need to add a little water or flour to get it to the right consistency (I added about a ¼ cup). Using my hands, I mixed it until it started to come from the side of the bowl. Covering it, I let it rise for about an hour or so. It doubled in size, so I used my hands to knock it down a bit, and let it rest for another 20-30 minutes. It was soooooo sticky, I had to use quite a bit of flour to keep it from sticking. After this time, I heated my oil in a heavy skillet (make sure you have enough oil to fill at least 2-3” deep). You can test the oil by putting a tiny piece of dough in it--it should float to the top within seconds, but if it browns within 30 seconds, then the fire’s too hot. The recipe says these need to brown slower, around 2 minutes on each side. Using my hand, I scooped out a handful of the batter and formed a ball about the size of a golfball and put it in the oil, flipping it after a couple minutes to brown each side. First of all, my heat was too hot at first, and my first batch was burnt. And it took WAY less than that time, even when I turned the heat way down. When they were done, I took them out and let them drain. You can serve these a number of ways. I dusted some with powdered sugar and dipped some in honey. The kids just ate them plain. I think these were a hit -- even the burnt ones, oddly enough.

This was really good. I almost liked it better than the corned beef version. But it would be better if I ate them side by side.

For my main dish, I decided to make a variation of a dish that is popular in Tonga as well as other nearby Pacific countries. So, I decided to make Lu Moa. This dish is usually made with corned beef, but I’m making it with chicken this time. And in lieu of taro leaves, I’m using collard greens, which I thought would go well with chicken anyway, and much easier to find during a pandemic. First, I washed the greens and cut out the stems. Then I lined a baking dish with foil and placed the collard greens on top of that. I spread my chicken on top of the greens (I cheated a little and used a bag of cooked diced chicken). Then I spread my sliced onion and chopped tomato on top of the chicken, and poured a half can of coconut milk on top of all of it. Now it comes time to assemble it. Because my casserole dish was larger, I added more leaves on top of it and then another piece of foil over the top to tightly cover everything. I put this in an oven I set at 375ºF for about an hour. This was really good, and I think everyone enjoyed it. We love collard greens, and the chicken was very tender. All of flavors really blended together. It was simple enough to make, and I think it lends itself to creating variations (I think this would be good with some oyster mushrooms or even lemon and capers).

You can never go wrong with sweet potatoes.

To go with this, I made Sweet Potatoes in Coconut Milk. This easy dish called for sweet potatoes (again, I cheated and used canned sweet potatoes that I already had), some coconut milk, and a bit of sugar. All of the ingredients are essentially combined in a saucepan and brought to a boil. Then I lowered my heat and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. I cut back on the sugar, but I feel like I probably should’ve either let it simmer longer or added a bit more sugar in it. The sauce was a little runny. But it still tasted good.

OK, I'm just gonna say it. It needs some coconut rum.

And it’s been a while since I’ve made a drink, but I also made ‘Otai, or a Tongan watermelon drink. Perfect timing for summer! I cut up some watermelon and mashed it so that it was mostly liquid with some chunks. Then I added to this a cup of crushed pineapple, a can of coconut milk, a cup of coconut water, and the lime juice of half a lime. Some people add in a little simple syrup, but I thought it was sweet enough as it was. When it was all mixed together (which should be a bit thick), I let it chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. This tasted really good, but I regret not actually making this in the blender. I think it would’ve had a better texture. But it was good regardless, quite refreshing.

Overall, this was a good meal. Loved all of it!

If there was one ingredient that dominated this meal (three-quarters of my meal used it), it would be coconut milk. But what do you expect from an island nation that is covered with coconut trees? Despite having the word “nut” in its name, coconuts aren’t nuts. Rather, it’s a subcategory of fruits called drupes. It’s related to other fruits like peaches, apricots, avocados, olives, mangoes, walnuts, cherries, and generally other types of fruits with pits. People who live in tropical islands like Tonga tend to use most of the coconut to make a number of items: grated coconut, coconut milk, coconut water, coconut oil, coir (coconut fiber), and charcoal. It’s no wonder it’s used in everything and such an important part of their culture. It can do everything.

Up next: Trinidad and Tobago