It’s been a pretty quiet week in the Buddha kitchen. With the Solomon Islands providing little inspiration and therefore a short menu, I found myself reverting to scrambled eggs for dinner more than once this week. At least it’s not ice cream, but it does leave much to be desired as far as creativity. I will say that I book ended the week by making the Chili Taiyo for dinner again tonight, and it was just as tasty as the first time, so success, that. Will this cassava pudding be as successful? Let’s see.
What is cassava pudding?
Cassava pudding is a traditional dish that again utilizes ingredients local to the Solomon Island: cassava, sweet potato and coconut milk. I saw various recipes using the cassava plant back in Africa, but never ventured to try it then since there were so many other alternative dishes. Not the case here.
The difference between cassava pudding and what we here in the U.S. normally think of as pudding is in the consistency. Rather than blobby, it’s more jiggly- almost like Jello, but denser. Also, it’s not particularly sweet. It’s not savory either.
Frankly, I’m confused by it.
To be honest, the result was interesting and actually surprisingly tasty given that the recipe I found has three, rather unremarkable ingredients. There were other recipes out there (I think more Caribbean in origin) that had all kinds of sugar and more traditional baking ingredients in them, but I went the simplest, courtesy of the Global Table Adventure.
Cassava pudding is typically baked in a motu, or an outdoor oven,over hot rocks, for almost four hours. Now, I’m all about authenticity but 1) I do not have a motu, nor the resources to adequately create one in my 1 ½ bedroom apartment with no backyard 2) I have better things to do with my time than sit in my apartment and stare at my oven for 4 hours. Therefore, rather than bake the pudding I decided to steam it in my slow cooker. It seemed to work since my finished product came out looking like all the others I found out there. And that’s a good enough bar for me.
What ingredients do I need to make cassava pudding?
Not many!
- sweet potato
- cassava
- coconut milk
That’s it!
Tips and Tricks
- I bought the cassava already grated at the Asian supermarket. I did still need to drain it, but it did save me a lot of time and elbow grease.
- I used frozen banana leaves. Again, thank you Asian supermarket. If you can’t find banana leaves, aluminum foil should work just fine.
- I could not find a white sweet potato, so I used a regular one. Again, I did not grate it by hand, but rather used my food processor to first grate it, then chop it to create a mixture similar in texture and size to the grated cassava.
Cassava Pudding
Equipment
- banana leaves
- steamer
Ingredients
- 1 pound grated cassava
- ½ pound grated sweet potato
- 10 ounces light coconut milk
Instructions
- Drain the grated cassava in a sieve over a bowl lined with a cheesecloth and lit sit about 30 minutes to allow all the liquid to drain. At the bottom of the bowl you'll find some thick white starch. Add it back to the cassava as it will help thicken the pudding.
- Add the potato to the cassava, and add the coconut milk slowly until the mixture reaches the consistency of mashed potatoes. Don't add too much.
- Line a baking sheet or steamer basket with banana leaves and fill will the mixture. Fold the leaves over and press down, making a nice package.
- Steam for 4 hours or back at 350F for 3 1/2 hours. Let cool completely before slicing.
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