How to choose a good taro [with video guide]

Sua alaisa – Samoa’s sweet, coconut cream rice soup

Alaisa fa’apopo – Samoan coconut rice

Lots of Asian countries do a coconut and rice dish, but they don’t do it like Samoans do. (As far as I know.)
Alaisa fa’apopo literally means rice that’s been coconut’ed, which of course means that we’ve done something very coconut-y to the rice.
(I’m cracking myself up right now).
It’s all true, though.
Why Samoan panipopo is food for the soul

=”1″ =”4.19.0″ custom_margin=”0px|0px|0px|0px|true|true” custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px|true|true” =”{}” ] So… I have no idea how panipopo – those decadent buns soaked in sweet, velvety coconut cream – became a Samoan thing. I know that bakeries in Samoa are amazing, and have been for ages. Even my grandparents talked about getting up before the sun, seleni (shilling) in hand, […]
Samoan Style Chicken Curry

Here’s a dish we most likely inherited from Asian settlers in the Pacific. Samoan curry is made with powdered Indian spices, but it isn’t as strong or as fragrant as traditional curries. Instead it is creamier, with spices balanced in a soul-food kinda way by the subtle sweetness of coconut cream. Yum. You can make […]
How to eat Palolo (when you live in New Zealand)

First, you have to get someone in Samoa to send it to you. Preferably frozen (because of how it’s seafood). My lovely aunt in Samoa surprised us this Christmas by sending her husband over with this for us:
Samoan Puligi (steamed pudding)

We have a funeral in the family this week. My mom’s beautiful Aunt lived a long, full life and was called a few days ago to rest in Paradise. Typical of many Samoan funerals, Auntie won’t be buried until early next week. In the meantime, the family is spending a lot of time together – […]