palau dish – Islander Outlook

A native starch dish that we grew up eating from my home island of Palau. It’s like mashed potato, instead of butter we use coconut oil in the process. Belsiich is pounded taro with coconut oil or substitute with cooking oil. Making belsiich is harvesting fresh taro from the taro patch and preparing them as fresh the day you cook them. From my experience I’ve tried making them from cooked taro a day before and the taste was not as appealing as the fresh cooked taro.

Harvest taro from taro patch /or buy at the market and cook the day you’re preparing it. Traditionally natives preferred firm taro or as we call them sodech are the best used. Due to having better texture after being pounded.
Cook a batch of taro for about an 1 hour plus, poke through to check that they are fully cooked. After cooking, cut them to 1/2 inches for easier to pound thoroughly. FYI: Uncooked taro will leave a bitter and itching mouth.

**Mommy dearest, giving me the tutorial. Grateful she spent some time with me to give me first hand instructions.**

Grease a plastic bag before placing sliced taro inside. This prevents taro from sticking onto the bag and moistens the taro from getting dry. Also, it preserves the storage life of the taro. You can freeze for later consumption. Don’t use too much oil just enough to cover the sides of the bag. We don’t want a mushy taro.
Now the pounding time. Back on the island the tools used are ngot (carved wooden base) and ai (carved stone tool). Being far from Palau my go to tools are the cutting board and a mallet. Pound the taro in the bag until it breaks down. With one hand pounding and the other shaping it to form an oblong or pod shape. See attached sample picture.

Take out from the plastic bag, wrap each in a plastic wrapper, or corn husk. In Palau we use mengchongch (betel-nut tree husk). Tie a string around to hold together if you’re using the husks.
Then steam for 10 minutes, use any steaming pot you have available. Start timing the steam process when water starts boiling. Steaming gives better end quality.
Take out from the steaming pot and let sit until cooled off.

Plate it and drizzle some coconut oil or cooking oil on top of the Kukau Blesiich – taro dish. The taro sticks together fluffy, moist, and melts in your mouth goodness. Enjoy!

**Best paired with fish. Image is yellow-tail tuna fish soup beldakl.**

Elbis el Diokang (Tapioca Dish) with Coconut Milk

SHALL WE!_{^{This calls for Tapioca peeled and cooked the day of making. For anyone curious, Tapioca is a root starch not sure if it’s a vegetable comparable to potatoes. I’ve looked it up and there’s no definite classification in the food groups. If someone knows please share. The best Tapioca are young pickings, great quality after cooking. In Palauan we call them Chedelumel. It is moist and soft when cooked. The more matured Tapioca will have a harder and dryer outer results when you cook it. The roots have hardened the same as regular mature vegetables. As we call them Ksekikl.}}

Boil 6 pieces of Tapioca that are about 3 – 6 inches long. For me the cooking process is about the equivalent to cooking potatoes. Using a big pot, I normally place a metal steamer basket in the bottom of the pot, stack the raw Tapioca in the pot evenly halfway or 3/4, and then fill it with water up till touching the top of the stacked Tapioca. Put it on the stove on medium heat for 30 – 45 minutes. Until fully cooked and tender with a fork through it.

After the Tapiocas are fully cooked, let it cool before we start the grinding. First grease the grinder with vegetable oil. Dip the cooked Tapioca in water one at a time before they go into the grinder. This will keep the Tapioca moist, fluffy and stick together. Lay them gently in strands lined up on a plate. Later they will be cut to about an inch, enough to be bite size. It’s okay to have them short, if they separate/ break just fill it back into the grinder and they will stick together better. After the grinding, cut them out to about an inch a piece, then plate them circular or however design is your preference to display your Elbis el Diokang.

Preparing the coconut milk sauce to drizzle/ dress over the grinded Tapioca. In substitute of fresh grated and squeezed coconut milk back in Palau I use the store bought canned coconut milk. For the size of our Tapioca recipe, like me you want to drizzle it, dip it and smother it like gravy sauce! Use 2 cans of 12 / 13.5 oz coconut milk (Depending on brands they have a variety sizes of can). On a small sauce pan at medium heat, bring to a simmer, add 2 tablespoons of sugar (taste for your sweet tooth liking), and add a teaspoon of tapioca starch or cornstarch (optional for gravy look and thickness). Whisk until thick, take it off the stove, then drizzle on your plated grind Tapioca. Now Enjoy your Elbis el Diokang.

Tag: palau dish

Belsiich el Kukau (Taro Dish)

Elbis el Diokang (Tapioca Dish)