This week, I visited the cuisine of yet another island country: Samoa. However, this one was different from the last few as it’s in the Polynesia region rather than the Caribbean. The food from Samoa was a nice change after a few very similar weeks.
Samoa consists of two main islands, two smaller islands, and several even smaller islands, the latter of which are uninhabited. The islands are located in Polynesia, in the South Pacific Ocean.
Around 3,500 years ago, the islands were settled by the Lapita people, who developed the Samoan language and culture.
In 1899, the country became a German colony and was known as German Samoa. This lasted until 1914, when New Zealand occupied the colony at the beginning of World War I. New Zealand remained in control of the islands until 1962, when Samoa became independent.
What Do People Eat in Samoa?
Traditional Samoan food is based on ingredients found on the islands and nearby—the Samoans had strong seafaring skills so would have been able to visit other islands in the area. Taro was once so plentiful that it was the country’s largest export for a while, and it is still consumed today—both the root and the leaves.
Other crops grown in Samoa today include cocoa beans, coconut, and bananas. Tropical fruits are common since they grow well.
Seafood of all kinds is widely consumed and appears to be more popular than meat. However, pork, beef, and chicken all make appearances in regular Samoan dishes.
A lot of Chinese dishes have gained popularity, and soy sauce seems to be a popular seasoning. This may be because Chinese laborers were brought over during the German occupation, but I’m not certain.
What I Made
- Sapasui (Noodle Stir-Fry)
- Keke Pua’a (Pork Buns)
- Palosami (Leafy Greens Stuffed with Corned Beef and Coconut Milk)
Scroll down to read about other popular Samoan dishes I didn’t make!
Sapasui (Noodle Stir-Fry)
This Chinese-influenced dish is like the Samoan version of choy suey. However, the noodles used are mung bean vermicelli or glass noodles rather than egg noodles. This dish has many variations. It can be made with just about any kind of meat and may or may not contain vegetables. I went with a chicken and vegetable version.
First, I stir-fried thinly sliced chicken breast, then set it aside. I added onion to the pan, followed by carrot, bell pepper, garlic, and ginger. I added snow peas, followed by a sauce I made out of regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, chicken broth, and a little sugar. Once it was simmering, I added mung bean vermicelli. Once the noodles had nearly cooked through, I added the chicken back in. I kept stir-frying until the sauce had mostly either simmered away or been absorbed by the noodles, and then I added some sliced green onion.
These noodles were delicious and I would make this again! Though I do have to admit I prefer egg noodles.
I didn’t strictly follow a recipe for this, but I used one I found on TheCoconetTV on YouTube as a starting point.
Keke Pua’a (Pork Buns)
These pork buns, which can be either steamed or baked, are another clear sign of Chinese influence. To me, it seems the main difference is the flavoring in the filling. Chinese pork buns typically have a char siu pork filling, whereas these buns are flavored with teriyaki sauce.
I first had to marinate the meat. I cut pork shoulder into small pieces and marinated them in a mixture of garlic, ginger, onion, dark soy sauce, and homemade teriyaki sauce. I made the teriyaki sauce from equal amounts of regular soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, and sake.
I let the meat sit in the marinade overnight. Then I drained the pork (reserving the marinade), and pan-fried it. Once it had browned, I poured in the marinade and let the mixture simmer until the pork was tender.
For the dough, I began by combining water, sugar, and yeast. Once the yeast had bloomed, I added it to milk, butter, more sugar, salt, eggs, and flour. I kneaded the dough, then let it rise for about an hour.
Once the dough had doubled in size, I split it into 8 pieces (I halved the recipe). I formed each piece into a ball, then rolled each one into a circle. I added some filling and made an attempt at pleating the edges nicely. I put each bun on a square of parchment paper so they would not stick to the steamer later.
I let the buns rise, then steamed them for around 20 minutes.
These were super delicious! Definitely worth the time they took, plus they reheat well after freezing.
The filling recipe I used is from The Fiaai Family, though I omitted the turkey and just used more pork. Also, I’m quite sure the ‘1 whole clove’ of garlic here is meant to be ‘1 whole bulb’ and that the 8 ‘segments’ are ‘cloves’. For the dough, I used a recipe from Samoa Food (the link looks weird because I had to use the Wayback Machine; the original page is no longer available).
Palosami (Leafy Greens Stuffed with Corned Beef and Coconut Milk)
Palosami is a simple yet very popular dish consisting of taro leaves wrapped around a filling of corned beef and coconut cream or milk. It is usually served with rice.
Since taro leaves aren’t so easy for me to obtain, I used Swiss chard instead, which is what the recipe I used suggested.
I began by combining canned corned beef with onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Not too much salt though, since the corned beef was pretty salty!
Next, I prepared the Swiss chard by cutting out the steps. I lay two leaves on a piece of foil, then topped them with some of the corned beef filling and a few spoonfuls of coconut milk. The recipe called for coconut cream but I wanted to keep it a little healthier by using the milk instead.
I folded the leaves up to encase the filling, then wrapped each bundle in foil. I baked them in the oven for around half an hour, and then served them with rice.
I’d been a bit apprehensive about these, but I actually really enjoyed them. Somehow, the corned beef and coconut flavors worked pretty well together.
This recipe is from Dinner by Dennis.
Other Popular Samoan Dishes
- Panipopo – sweet buns with a coconut cream sauce. This is considered Samoa’s national dish, and I wanted to make it, but it’s just so hard to fit in sweet things!
- Koko alaisa – a chocolatey rice porridge, usually served for breakfast.
- Oka l’a – made by marinating fresh fish in lime juice and then combining it with vegetables and coconut milk to make a salad.
Final Thoughts
This was a great week! The pork buns were my favorite, but I really liked all the food from Samoa.
Next time, I will be cooking food from San Marino.