It's Friday which means it's time for a Facsin update! Today's title Orahluh Fuhkyah Tapioca translates to How to Make Tapioca. Tapioca is one of the few traditional dishes I've learned to make so far and the first dish I learned to make. Tapioca is a very popular dish in Walung and there is almost always at least one variety at every big village event. There are different versions of tapioca and while it's very time consuming, it's relatively easy to make.
Once the tapioca is gathered, usually by my host dad or brothers, we have to remove the outer skin. To do this, we soak the tapioca in water, double purpose of cleaning the tapioca, then slice the both ends off the tapioca and then make a vertical cut. Once the cut is made, you peel off the outer layer of the tapioca. I usually use a spoon for this step because getting the skin under your nails really hurts and it doesn't always peel off easily. Once we've removed the skin from all the tapioca and washed them, it's time to grate. You don't want to grate the entire tapioca because center is quite hard.
Once the tapioca is grated, you have to remove the liquid from the tapioca. There are two ways to do this, depending on how much tapioca and how much time you have. For the first method, we fill up a pillowcase (only used to make tapioca) and hang it from one of the beams in kitchen with a pot placed below it. Between gravity and the weight of the tapioca, the liquid is squeezed out of the tapioca. The second method is more labor intensive but much quicker. Still using a pillowcase, we put about 5-6 cups of tapioca into the pillowcase and then manually squeeze the liquid out. After the liquid is separated, we add sugar and coconut milk to the tapioca and mix it by hand. We also add the 'starch' from the tapioca liquid, a semi-solid white substance that settles at the bottom of the pot. Once the tapioca mixture is sufficiently sweet, it's time to wrap it. How you wrap it depends on what type of tapioca you make.
The first type of tapioca I learned to make in Walung, my second or third weekend, is tapioca usr (tapioca banana) and is a highly traditional dish. This dish is made by slow cooking in the traditional fireplace and is wrapped in banana leaves. To make tapioca usr, you place a small amount of tapioca in the middle of the banana leaf, then two pieces of banana (cut vertically) and then cover the banana with more tapioca. Then, you fold the leaf, sides in first, then bottom up and top down. Once all the tapioca usr is wrapped, the bundles are placed on super hot rocks in the traditional fireplace and covered with larger leaves and are left to cook for a few hours. As it's a traditional dish, only women are allowed to make tapioca usr, though the men can help placing them on and removing them from the fire.
Normal tapioca is slightly easier to make and doesn't take as long to cook. Once the tapioca has been mixed, food coloring is added and then the tapioca is wrapped in tin foil. Each foil wrapped tapioca is only about 6-7 inches long. This version of tapioca is placed in a large pot and steamed over the fire.
As I said before, tapioca is simple to make but time consuming between grating the tapioca, grating and making the coconut milk and the mixing and wrapping the tapioca. I've since learned to make a few other traditional dishes, including sihkyahki, my favorite Kosraean food. I'll post another Facsin update about how to make sihkyahki later this month. I also plan on sharing a Kosraean language post to share some basic vocabulary and explain the different vowels and consonants.
If you have any questions about Kosraean culture or traditions, even ones I haven't posted about yet, please let me know!
Once the tapioca is gathered, usually by my host dad or brothers, we have to remove the outer skin. To do this, we soak the tapioca in water, double purpose of cleaning the tapioca, then slice the both ends off the tapioca and then make a vertical cut. Once the cut is made, you peel off the outer layer of the tapioca. I usually use a spoon for this step because getting the skin under your nails really hurts and it doesn't always peel off easily. Once we've removed the skin from all the tapioca and washed them, it's time to grate. You don't want to grate the entire tapioca because center is quite hard.
Once the tapioca is grated, you have to remove the liquid from the tapioca. There are two ways to do this, depending on how much tapioca and how much time you have. For the first method, we fill up a pillowcase (only used to make tapioca) and hang it from one of the beams in kitchen with a pot placed below it. Between gravity and the weight of the tapioca, the liquid is squeezed out of the tapioca. The second method is more labor intensive but much quicker. Still using a pillowcase, we put about 5-6 cups of tapioca into the pillowcase and then manually squeeze the liquid out. After the liquid is separated, we add sugar and coconut milk to the tapioca and mix it by hand. We also add the 'starch' from the tapioca liquid, a semi-solid white substance that settles at the bottom of the pot. Once the tapioca mixture is sufficiently sweet, it's time to wrap it. How you wrap it depends on what type of tapioca you make.
The first type of tapioca I learned to make in Walung, my second or third weekend, is tapioca usr (tapioca banana) and is a highly traditional dish. This dish is made by slow cooking in the traditional fireplace and is wrapped in banana leaves. To make tapioca usr, you place a small amount of tapioca in the middle of the banana leaf, then two pieces of banana (cut vertically) and then cover the banana with more tapioca. Then, you fold the leaf, sides in first, then bottom up and top down. Once all the tapioca usr is wrapped, the bundles are placed on super hot rocks in the traditional fireplace and covered with larger leaves and are left to cook for a few hours. As it's a traditional dish, only women are allowed to make tapioca usr, though the men can help placing them on and removing them from the fire.
Normal tapioca is slightly easier to make and doesn't take as long to cook. Once the tapioca has been mixed, food coloring is added and then the tapioca is wrapped in tin foil. Each foil wrapped tapioca is only about 6-7 inches long. This version of tapioca is placed in a large pot and steamed over the fire.
As I said before, tapioca is simple to make but time consuming between grating the tapioca, grating and making the coconut milk and the mixing and wrapping the tapioca. I've since learned to make a few other traditional dishes, including sihkyahki, my favorite Kosraean food. I'll post another Facsin update about how to make sihkyahki later this month. I also plan on sharing a Kosraean language post to share some basic vocabulary and explain the different vowels and consonants.
If you have any questions about Kosraean culture or traditions, even ones I haven't posted about yet, please let me know!
WHat kinds of activities do the kids do for fun? do they play soccer? (dumb question? I dunno). I noticed the ping-pong set-up. Is that popular? What crafts do they do in Kosrae? Your crafty aunt, SS
ReplyDeleteI'm actually planning on writing about what the kids do for fun today :) In terms of crafts, it's mostly traditional basket weaving. Any time we have to take a large amount of breadfruit or coconuts anywhere, my host mom will weave traditional baskets. I haven't learned yet, but it's on my list. Crafts aren't huge in Kosrae but there's also wood carving and a few other traditional crafts.
DeleteIs the food coloring traditional?
ReplyDeleteOld dyes/powders? Or newer twist?
What is sikhyahki? Google directs to Japanese sukiyaki...
The food coloring is a newer twist I believe. We use modern food coloring and I never thought to ask if it was traditional, so it might be, but I think it's a modern addition.
DeleteSihkyahki came from Japan actually. It's a dish made with sauteed, grated, unripe papaya and any meat you want, fish, chicken, turkey tail, or pork. It's almost like kielbasa or sauerkraut in a way. It's my favorite traditional food and I'm going to try and make it for you guys when I come home.