Kiribati Buatoro

                                                                               Receta en Español

Buatoro is a typical dessert from Kiribati, it can also be a side dish or a starter.

The way of cooking this dish is the typical way in Oceania.
You will need banana, taro or breadfruit tree leaves, to wrap this dessert in it.

Banana leaves are the easiest to find in Sapin, in case you don't find them you can use aluminium foil asuming in this case that you will lose the original taste that this kind of leaves provide.

In kiribati Kamaimai is used to sweeten this dish, kamaimai is palm sap cooked until it becomes sweet, there is a similar product in Canary Islands called palm honey wich you can use as a substitute.

Ingredients:

•   930 grams of taro.
•   1 banana leaf.
•   300 grams of brown sugar or palm honey.
•   300 ml aprox of coconut milk.

Method:

1-   Peel and cut taro into pieces, pour a little quantity of water in a pan and cook during 40 minutes. Until taro gets a Little soft.

After cooking the taro, put it in a bowl.

2-   Add sugar to the bowl , mix well wih a mixer.

3-   Add coconut milk litle by little, add just the quantity you need to make the mix soft and to give some coconut taste to the dessert.

4-   To clean the banana leaf ,put it under the tap and after that place it in a pan full of water at low heat. Deep the leaf on both sides, very carefully given it breaks easily.

5-   Place the banana leaf on an oven proof plate, pour over it the mix made in step 3.

6-   wrap the mix into the banana leaf as if it was a parcel, use a string to fix it.

7-   Preheat oven at 180 º Celsius, then cook buatoro for 50 or 60 minutes. 

My comments to the recipe

Taro has a special taste, mixed with coconut and sugar makes a marvellous taste that takes you direct to an Oceanic island.
Besides taro is a healthy food that helps lowing your cholesterol levels.

Where to buy the ingredients

Banana leafs can be found frozen in some stores in Madrid, it is common to find them in asiatic stores. I bought them at 'Super Ventas' , José María Fernández Lanseros 1 ,metro El Carmen .
Taro can be found at fruit stores with latin products.

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Kiribati