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| Polynesian-Inspired Shepherd's Pie |
There is a little something a bit exhilarating when I take my first bite of food in a new place. Another country, another city, another village, even. I have the tiniest leap of heart, a hop of trepidation a few seconds before the forkful reaches my mouth; anticipating the burst of flavor, wondering about how different it may taste with the gamut of regional and/or cultural variations.
I marvel in exploring new lands, bite by bite.
I don't get to travel too often, but when I do get the chance to pack my bags, I try to scarf down enjoy as many regional delicacies as possible. If street food is the norm, then street food it is! You'd be surprised how delicious a bundle of banana leaves-wrapped grilled rice cakes are, eaten on a hushed corner of humming backstreets. Chewing under the shadow of a tamarind tree, watching the buzz of human activity: motorcycles with a whole family of 5 piled up on the backseat, travelling vendors with bicycle trailers, dirt streets huffing up in puffs of loose copper earth. You get immersed in all of it, and it's messy and chaotic, but also calming because it is so surreal.
The other days of the year, I spend a great deal of time allocated to my hobbies reading on faraway places and new locations to discover. I travel by proxy through photographs, novels and, when I have time, culinary experiments which fusion newly learnt cultural trends with those that I am already familiar with. Today, I want to glimpse into traditional Polynesian cuisine (globalization is likely to have changed a couple of eating habits).
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| Polynesian-Inspired Shepherd's Pie: With a peek-a-boo jicama chunk! |
Polynesia is an eastern subregion of the Pacific Ocean, consisting of over 1,000 scattered volcanic islands, low-lying coral atolls and archipelagos. It includes the Hawaiian Islands, Samoa, New Zealand, as well as the nearly submerged continental fragment of Zealandia (or Tasmantis). Though the islands are quite sprayed across the water, the inhabitants share a common and distinctively Polynesian culture, which evolved more than 3,000 years ago. It is speculated that Polynesia was first populated when a people known as the Lapita journeyed from New Guinea, and landed in Tonga and Samoa. The Lapita people were skilled seafarers, originally from Taiwan and other regions of East Asia, and that mastery of ocean environment was effectively transferred to Polynesian culture. As a result, the daily life of a Polynesian took on a uniquely oceanic world view. The sea provided most of the protein in the traditional Polynesian diet. Tropical crops such as taro, banana, cassava, breadfruit, coconut and sweet potatoes often completed the meals. On festive occasions, pigs and fowl would be consumed as well.
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| Polynesian-Inspired Shepherd's Pie: Blueprint |
I tried to incorporate as many culinary elements from Polynesian culture as possible in this twist on Shepherd's pie. The meat layer is made from Kalua Pork, a dish characteristic of Hawaii's luau feasts. The vegetables' layer has been substituted with cubed jicama and corn, two vegetables which are not native to Polynesia (they come from Central America), but that are now present in the Polynesian diet. Finally, the mashed potatoes layer come from purple sweet potatoes, a tuber that have already been known and used in the islands for years ahead of us. They also usually eat it mashed: a dish called poi 'uala. Poi is typically a Hawaiian pasty, purple starch staple made from taro root. At times, sweet potatoes are used, but taro was traditionally favored as taro poi could remain edible for a week or more, while sweet potato poi could only be preserved a couple of days.
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| Jicama: Crunchy and super refreshing! |
The Kalua Pork was the most agreeable surprise of this culinary trial. Kālua is a traditional Hawaiian method of cooking and literally means "to cook in an underground oven". Customarily, a fire is built in a deep dirt pit called imu. Rocks are then dropped in the pit to retain the flames' heat and, once they are burning hot, the hole is lined with banana leaves. The meat to be cooked is salted, wrapped in more banana leaves, covered with wet burlap and left to cook in the pit for several hours.
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| Banana leaves bundle of Kalua pork |
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| Kalua Pulled Pork, Slow-Cooked in the Oven for 8H |
Well, the skunks in my yard don't dig holes big enough for a cooking pit yet, so I resigned myself to my trusty little oven. If you're one of the lucky fellas with a slow-cooker, give it a peck and put it to use. I used liquid smoke to replicate the fire pit's aroma, and this small flavoring addition makes a huge difference. I was hesitating in purchasing a bottle just for this recipe, but it was worth it. Slow-cooking renders the pork so fork-tender, it's amazing. As for the banana leaves, they leave a very subtle, but distinctively herbaceous and mildly sweet scent that I personally adore, but I understand that some people might find it too unusual.
The Kalua pulled pork remains moist even once shredded, and I could easily picture it scrumptiously sandwiched between two burger buns just as it is... but the addition of the Mango BBQ Sauce really gives it an additional oomph.
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| Kalua Pulled Pork, Jicama, Corn... All ready to be topped off with some purple! |
Polynesian-Inspired Shepherd's Pie
Kalua Pork adapted from Pineapple & Coconut & Sam Choy
Ingredients:
Mashed Coconutty Purple Sweet Potatoes (See my recipe posted here)
Use the whole quantity of the recipe
Kalua Pork:
2 lbs pork shoulder or pork butt
1 1/2 teaspoon Hickory liquid smoke, divided
1 teaspoon sea salt
3-4 banana leaves
Twine or kitchen string
Vegetables' layer:
2 cups jicama, chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen
200 ml Mango BBQ Sauce (See my recipe posted here)
Preparation:
Kalua Pork:
1. Preheat oven to 225F (Omit this step if you're using a slow-cooker).
2. Wash and pat dry the banana leaves. Cut off the fibrous string of each leaf and set them aside.
3. Pierce your pork shoulder all over with a small knife, then rub with sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke.
4. On your work surface, place 2 banana leaves superposed like a cross. Place the pork on top, in the center. Fold up the top leaf over the pork and enclose as well as you can. Continue wrapping the pork using the bottom leaf. Use twine as you go to secure the wrapping. Fold gently as the banana leaves can easily split in the middle. Repeat procedure with the remaining banana leaves until the pork is completely enclosed. Tie the completed parcel with twine.
5. Then, wrap the banana leaves package in foil.
6. In a baking pan large enough to contain your parcel of pork, pour 2 cups of water. Lay down the wrapped pork in the center of the pan.
7. Slow-cook your pork in the oven until very tender, about 8 to 9 hours. If you're using a slow-cooker, set it to the highest setting. The cooking time will be the same.
8. Unwrap pork and set aside until it is cool enough to manipulate (don't wait until it is completely cold - it will be easier to shred if it is still lukewarm). Using a fork, shred pork and place in a large bowl. Add the reserved 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke and hand-mix well. Taste to adjust seasoning if needed.
9. Add the mango BBQ sauce and stir to blend. Cover and set aside until needed.
Layering:
10. Preheat oven to 400F.
11. In an ovenproof baking dish, spread the Kalua pulled pork mixture so that it covers the whole bottom.
12. Next, add the cubed jicama and the corn kernels, and distribute them as evenly as possible.
13. Top with the mashed coconutty purple sweet potatoes, starting with the edges to create a seal and prevent mixture from bubbling up (unlikely to happen unless you want to use more sauce). Sprinkle with paprika and shredded coconut if using.
14. Broil for 15-20 minutes until top of mashed potatoes crisp up a bit.
15. Serve!
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