Koko Alaisa - a dessert from Samoa

 Koko Alaisa is a highly appreciated dessert in Samoa; it is a rice pudding made with coconut milk and 100% pure cocoa.

Ingredients (for 2 people):

- 1 cup of rice.

- 2 cups of cold water.

- 3 tablespoon of 100% pure cocoa powder.

- 125 g of sugar.

- 1 can coconut milk.

- Bread slices.

- Butter.

Method:

1- Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Put the rice with the water over medium heat, cover with a lid, and cook for 10 minutes.

2- Mix the cocoa with a little water and stir well until you get a smooth liquid.

3- Once the 10 minutes have passed, add the cocoa to the rice, mix well, and cook for 5 more minutes over low heat.

4- Add the sugar and coconut milk, mix well and cook for 5 more minutes over low heat.

5- In Samoa, it is common to eat this dessert with a slice of bread and butter. It is delicious and easy to make!

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Samoa

Sapasui from Samoa

  Sapasui is a typical dish in Samoa, the dish is a witness of the history of the country.

Sapasui was introduced by Chinese workers who arrived from the southern provinces of China to work in the 19th-century German Samoa. The Chinese were prohibited from mixing with the island's inhabitants, but despite this, marriages with Samoans emerged, and little by little, this Chinese-origin dish became part of Samoan culture.

It is an economical and very simple dish, a way to use leftovers. It is made with very thin transparent noodles called glass noodles or cellophane noodles.

These noodles are mixed with meat, which can be beef, pork, or chicken, along with vegetables, mainly cabbage and carrots.

Ingredients:

- 500 grams of meat.

- 1 package of glass, vermicelli or cellophane noodles.

- 1 onion.

- 3 tablespoons of soy sauce.

- 3 carrots.

- 1/2 cabbage.

- 2 garlic cloves.

- Pepper.

Method:

1- Cut the carrots into slices and the garlic and onion into julienne strips.

2- Remove the central part of the cabbage and cut the rest into stripes.

3- Sautée the onion and garlic.

4- Add the carrot and continue cooking until the carrot is soft.

5- Add the cabbage and cook for some minutes.

6- Add the meat cut into littles pieces and cook until the meat is done. Add pepper but do not add salt, the soy will give the salty taste later.

7- Put some water to a boil , add the soy sauce. Once the water reaches the boiling point add the noodles and cook for 10 minutes.

8- Add the noodles to the casserole with the cabbage and meat, you can also add some of the broth.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Samoa

Rosemary Lamb from New Zealand

Lamb is very common in New Zealand, They are not original from the country but they adapted to the environment very well and today they outnumber three times the humans.

Rosemary lamb is the most common way to cook the lamb at New Zealand , eaten for special occassions even Christmas or New Year's Day

Ingredients:

- 1 leg of lamb.
- 6 garlic cloves.
- 3 potatoes.
- 1 sweet potatoes.
- 2 lemons.
- dried figs.
- Chives.
- little onions.
- One piece of pumpkin .
- 100 grams of mushrooms.
- Radish.
- 1 tablespoon rosemary.
- 1 tablespoon parseley.
- Salt.
- Pepper.

Method:

1- Peel and cut all the vegetables in little pieces (Potatoes, sweet potaoes, pumpkin, mushroom, radish).

2- Peel the lamb leaving a little layer of fat.

3- Pour some oil in a oven proof dish, put all the vegetables inside.

4- Add the little onions, dried figs and chives.

5- Put the lamb leg on top of all the vegetables , cut garlic cloves in half ,make some cuts along the leg's lamb and place the garlic cloves into each cut.

6- Make the sauce with 2 lemons' juice, a tablespoon rosemary, a tablespoon pearsley, salt and pepper. Mix well and pour over the lamb.

7- Preheat the oven to 200ºC, cook at the same temperature for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

To see if the lamb is well cooked poke the meat with a knife.

Let cool for 10 minutes and serve accompanied by meant, currant jam or rosehip.

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

New Zealand

Starogrojski Paprenjok - biscuits from Croatia

 These biscuits are typical from Croatia, specifically from the island of Hvar ,their origin is in the city of Stari Grad. In the past they were also widely consumed throughout the Dalmatian coast.

They are eaten at all family parties and are highly appreciated for being very durable. In fact in the past, it was a gift that the guests used to give to the bride and groom on their wedding day, the bride and groom had to keep them and consume them when they had their first child.

The sailors' wives and mothers used to make these cookies for sailors to take with them on long voyages, they knew that they were going to have a good sweet for the whole trip.

They are made with sweet wine, honey and a set of spices called 'prapen' with nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

Ingredients:

For the dough

- 500 grams flour.

- 250 grams honey.

- 62 ml olive oil.

- 75 ml sweet wine.

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

- 1 teaspoon baking soda.

- 1 teaspoon nutmeg.

- 1 teaspoon cloves.

- 0,5 grams saffron strands.

For the decoration

- 250 grams cast sugar.

- 1 lemon juice.

- 1 egg white.

Method:

1- Put the wine in a saucepan together with the cloves , turn on the fire until it boils.

2- Turn off the heat and add the saffron threads, let the wine get cool.

3- In a bowl, mix the honey with nutmeg, cinnamon and baking soda.

4- When the wine is cold, strain it and add it to the honey bowl, mix everything well.

5- Add the flour and oil, mix and knead until everything is well integrated, make a ball with the dough and cover it with cling film.

Let it rest for 5 or 6 hours.

6- Take portions of the dough and with the help of a rolling pin flatten the dough on a flat surface.

Use cookie molds to cut the dough, also use some stamps to make some drawing on the surface of the cookie.

7- Line a tray with baking paper and place the cookies on it, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes, and then bake at the same temperature for 20 minutes, heat up and down.

8- You can decorate the cookies on the same or another day, the advantage is that these cookies can last for many months, so you won't lose them.

To decorate the cookies we are going to prepare the icing.

Put an egg white in a bowl and beat until it is white and you can make peaks with it and the peaks do not fall off.

Add the icing sugar little by little while stirring.

9- Add lemon juice and continue stirring.

10- Once the mixture is added, cover it with cling film, you can keep it in the fridge until you decide to decorate the cookies.

Croatian women traditionally use a pin to decorate, they dip it in the icing and then make some drawings on the biscuits.

You already have some cookies that you can use at Christmas even if you make them in summer!

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Croatia

Drap:
De Nightstallion, Elephantus, Neoneo13, Denelson83, Rainman, R-41, Minestrone, Lupo, Zscout370,MaGa (based on Decision of the Parliament) - http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?sec=4317, Dominio público, Enlace