In searching for a recipe I found Palauans really like fried food and barbecue. This is going to be a heavy meal.
I settled on Taro Rosti, Taro being a type of root. I was off to Uwajiamya again to find this Taro, and while they do carry it, they had none when I was there. Instead I got some Baby Taro which I was told was "99% exactly the same as big Taro" by an employee working there (I think the same one who gave me directions to Viet Wah last time!) So I bought a couple pounds and hoped for the best.
Peeling them was way easier than I thought they would be, but what I didn't expect was how slimy the root was. You would get it on your hands and utensils and it was impossible to wash off. Slimy root Taro. I finished prepping the Taro mixture and left for my friend's place.
When I got there Jenny was working on what looked like a bloated cucumber. Quickly learned it was a green papaya. Surprised again when when she cut it open and it was full of these weird little seeds.
Everything got prepped, but we had some time before we wanted to eat so we set everything aside to play some games. After one or two rounds we returned to finish our meal.
Both Amber and I had to fry our mixtures, I pan fried and she deep fried (Palauans really like fried food!), and both Amber and I had no idea what we were doing. We did manage to make some semblance of the patties we were supposed to, though there was a portion of Amber's mixture that turned into a bit of a scramble, and mine were taking FOREVER!
Since I was basically holding up the meal, I decided to make "enough" instead of all the batter, and the last one I made I forewent the individual patties and made a pan sized pancake. Once one side of the "pancake" was cooked I picked up the pan, turned to my friends, and jokingly said, "Watch me toss it in the air to flip it!" While I expected disapproving looks from the owners of the establishment, instead I got a lot of exited looks and a bunch of, "Yeah!"s, and, "Do it!"s.
Well, okay then. Don't try this at home folks!
To my surprise and elation, about 90% of the rosti actually made it back into the pan! Dinner and a show! I wish we thought of taking an action photo. I did get a photo of the mess-but-not-as-bad-a-mess-as-I-expected.
Finally, dinner!
I say this every time, but I really mean it this time when I say that I was nervous about trying this food. The ingredients and the way they almost didn't quite make it into the form that they were supposed to be in, I was sure I did something wrong.
But I was wrong. It was delicious.
The Taro Rosti was surprisingly sweet. The soup, despite the excessive amount of ginger Jenny used, was delicious. And I even enjoyed some of the Ukoy with the shrimp and fish sauce in it! I hate seafood! All-in-all, another very successful meal. I feel even more accomplished because of the unusually low level of confidence I had during cooking.
Dessert was mango and dragon fruit. I never had dragon fruit before, and nothing about it was what I expected. The contrast between the outside of the fruit and the inside when Bryan cut it open was surprising. Typically fruit has some set pattern to the seeds, but this one looked like they had filled the fruit with white gel and black little seeds, and then shook it up and let it set.
The taste was also unusual. Not comparable to any other fruit, yet there was something familiar I could not put my finger on. And I loved the texture. Very kiwi-esque.
Here ends the Palau United Nations Dinner Party! Finally, I can start talking about our next dinner!!!
(Celebrated February 13th, 2016)
