Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia · Volume 13, One Reef, Two Flags
Eke
The Cook Islands
Illustration
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Researched
- 17 sources cited
Octopus finely chopped, boiled 15 to 20 minutes with onion and drained, then returned to the pot with coconut cream, about 2 cups for one octopus, 2 to 3 grated cloves of garlic, salt and turmeric, and simmered until the sauce thickens. Served with rice, taro or breadfruit. From thecoconet.tv, credited to the cooks Kura Happ and Tekura and Ngatipa Ruaporo.
As tradition built it
The octopus boils 15 to 20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 octopus, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 480 ml coconut cream
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, grated
- to taste turmeric
- to taste salt
To serve
- to serve rice
Method
- Boil the chopped octopus in water 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add the onion.
- Strain the octopus and put it back in the pot.
- Turn the heat on again and add the coconut cream.
- Add the garlic, turmeric and salt.
- Serve with rice.
Notes
Credited to named Cook Islands cooks Kura Happ and Tekura & Ngatipa Ruaporo.
What a modern chef changes
The octopus's own texture chemistry treated properly, since the traditional method's biggest risk is toughness, not flavour.
No single named rung, a straightforward technique correction.
Method
- Sous vide the octopus low and slow until genuinely tender before it ever meets the coconut sauce, since a simmered-through octopus and a properly tenderised one are very different textures, and the traditional 15 to 20 minute boil is working against, not with, the muscle's own chemistry.
- Reduce the coconut cream and spices to a proper sauce separately, spice-grinding the turmeric and curry spice fresh rather than from a pre-mixed jar, then toss the finished tender octopus through it briefly at the end rather than simmering it in from the start.
- Serve the taro or breadfruit accompaniment roasted on the Big Green Egg rather than boiled, for the same smoky counterpoint recommended for ika mata above.