going coconuts? In search of Kulolo
Ahh--what a wonderful outing Wes and I had yesterday, to celebrate his birthday. We had dinner at the Crab Pot. But, before that, we went to Uwajimaya and found some taro and grated coconut. Fresh taro, frozen grated coconut. Fine with me, I thought I'd had to pay an arm and a leg for coconuts and then try to grate them. We picked up our favorite Chinese greens--gai lan. They go along with all the "choy" stuff--bok choi, kai choy, ung choy. We had taken the foot ferry across the water and I had the back pack. We arrived at the Crab Pot with our groceries in the back pack! 5 pounds of taro, a bag of poi, the greens and the grated coconut.
So, today I'm searching my old files in my cluttered mess of a mind to try and remember how to make kulolo. Convenient for me is the lolo uwila (computer) and the Star Bulletin/Advertiser stories of how they made kulolo in Kalapana. I also found several recipes and selected one that is as close to the original that I can remember. It seems fairly easy once you have the ingredients and the taro is grated.
I must have sent my little food processor down the road, and had to grate taro by hand. My grater has big kine pukas (holes) and I'm hoping that is good enough for what I'm trying to do. If it needs to be grated finer, I will have to do this all over again sometime soon.
The goofy thing is, the recipe is not calling for grated coconut. It's the coconut milk. I don't have access to Mendoncas, but used some canned stuff and stubbornly added some grated coconut in with the taro. A taro root of 2 and a quarter pounds will yield enough grated stuff for 2 recipes. Oh, about recipes, I love it when they say 1 large taro and 3 coconuts--I really need measurements!!! The older Hawaiians gathered honey from the beehives. Well, I just got some in a jar.
Do I have a steamer to set on the gas stove for 4 hours? Ah-uh-ah-mmm--Not really. I decided to transfer the mixture from the breadpan to a ceramic dish and placed it in the crock pot. It will probably take longer, but good things are worth the wait. I will let you know the results. I'm keeping the other taro to experiment further in case this one is all wrong. What I really think is all wrong is the recipe that tells you to use a bag of poi, vanilla, coconut milk and brown sugar and butter!! I want the true texture that I remember, not the instant Jell-o pudding version. Well, right now the whole house smells like taro! I will let you know how it turns out.
So, today I'm searching my old files in my cluttered mess of a mind to try and remember how to make kulolo. Convenient for me is the lolo uwila (computer) and the Star Bulletin/Advertiser stories of how they made kulolo in Kalapana. I also found several recipes and selected one that is as close to the original that I can remember. It seems fairly easy once you have the ingredients and the taro is grated.
I must have sent my little food processor down the road, and had to grate taro by hand. My grater has big kine pukas (holes) and I'm hoping that is good enough for what I'm trying to do. If it needs to be grated finer, I will have to do this all over again sometime soon.
The goofy thing is, the recipe is not calling for grated coconut. It's the coconut milk. I don't have access to Mendoncas, but used some canned stuff and stubbornly added some grated coconut in with the taro. A taro root of 2 and a quarter pounds will yield enough grated stuff for 2 recipes. Oh, about recipes, I love it when they say 1 large taro and 3 coconuts--I really need measurements!!! The older Hawaiians gathered honey from the beehives. Well, I just got some in a jar.
Do I have a steamer to set on the gas stove for 4 hours? Ah-uh-ah-mmm--Not really. I decided to transfer the mixture from the breadpan to a ceramic dish and placed it in the crock pot. It will probably take longer, but good things are worth the wait. I will let you know the results. I'm keeping the other taro to experiment further in case this one is all wrong. What I really think is all wrong is the recipe that tells you to use a bag of poi, vanilla, coconut milk and brown sugar and butter!! I want the true texture that I remember, not the instant Jell-o pudding version. Well, right now the whole house smells like taro! I will let you know how it turns out.
posted by leona at 5:18 PM
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