Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia · Volume 13, One Reef, Two Flags
Fafa / Poulet fafa
Tahiti
An illustration of the dish, not a photograph of it cooked.
- Time
- 1 hour
- Researched
- 17 sources cited
- Reviewed
- Not yet reviewed from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Not yet cooked and reported
A representative recipe: 600g fafa (50 to 60 leaves), 6 large chicken thighs, 35cl grated coconut, 4 onions, 3 limes, 2 garlic cloves, 1 stock cube, 10g cornstarch, curry, fresh ginger, salt and pepper. Because taro leaves contain oxalic acid, they must first be boiled 10 to 15 minutes in salted, lime-acidulated water; the chicken is then browned, aromatics added, stock and coconut milk added, and the prepared leaves and stems simmered in with the chicken for 40 minutes on low heat. Spinach is the standard substitute outside French Polynesia. [750g.com; Wikipédia, Fafa (recette)]
As tradition built it
Serves 4 to 6. About 1 hour.
Ingredients
- 600g fafa (taro leaves), about 50 to 60 leaves
- 6 large chicken thighs
- 35cl grated coconut / coconut milk
- 4 onions, sliced
- 3 limes, juiced
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 stock cube, made up to stock
- 10g cornstarch
- to taste curry powder
- to taste fresh ginger
- to taste salt and pepper
Method
- Boil the taro leaves 10 to 15 minutes in salted water acidulated with lime juice, to neutralise the oxalic acid. Drain.
- Brown 6 chicken thighs. Add 4 sliced onions, 2 grated garlic cloves, fresh ginger and curry powder, and cook until soft.
- Add a stock cube's worth of stock and 35cl coconut milk, and the juice of 3 limes.
- Add the prepared taro leaves and stems, and simmer with the chicken 40 minutes on low heat until both are tender.
- Thicken lightly with 10g cornstarch if the sauce needs it, then season with salt and pepper.
Notes
Spinach is the standard substitute outside French Polynesia.
What a modern chef changes
The chicken and the leaf cooked separately to their own correct doneness, then married, rather than both simmered together for 40 minutes regardless of what each actually needs.
Rung 5
Method
- Sous vide the chicken thighs separately at a controlled temperature so the meat is properly tender rather than merely cooked through by the time the leaves are ready, then finish them hard in a pan or on the Egg for colour before combining.
- Blanch the taro leaves in the acidulated water exactly as the tradition specifies, non-negotiable for safety, then purée a portion of them in a high-power blender to fold back through the sauce for body, keeping the rest whole for texture.
- Finish the sauce with a fresh grate of ginger and a spoonful of raw coconut cream off the heat, rather than cooking all of it in from the start, for a brighter, less flattened final flavour.