Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia · Volume 05, The Highlands, the Sepik and the Reef
Coconut kumu
The coast
Illustration
- Time
- 15 minutes
- Researched
- 1 source cited
As tradition built it
Serves 4 as a side. About 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 400 g aibika or other kumu greens, torn (callaloo or Swiss chard are the closest widely available UK substitutes, see Sourcing in Britain)
- 300 ml coconut cream
- 1 small onion, finely sliced
- to taste salt
Method
- Soften the onion gently in a little of the coconut cream over low heat, about 5 minutes.
- Add the remaining coconut cream and bring to a bare simmer, never a boil.
- Add the greens and cook, stirring, until just wilted and the cream has thickened slightly around them, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Season with salt and serve as a side to fish or pork.
What a modern chef changes
The greens' texture protected the way any properly cooked vegetable's should be
Rung 4
Method
- Blanch the greens separately for under a minute and shock in iced water, as in the kaukau na kumu elevation above, then fold them into the already-finished coconut sauce off the heat, rather than cooking them inside the simmering cream from raw, which prevents the slightly slick, overcooked texture a mucilaginous green like aibika or callaloo can take on with prolonged heat.
- Finish the sauce with a spoon of the pressed coconut cream from the fish dish above, uncooked, stirred through at the very end, for a fresher, less flattened coconut flavour than a cream that has been simmering the whole time.