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Pom

Pom is a traditional Surinamese recipe for a classic dish of chicken and onion in a tomato base baked between two layers of grated taro and plantain flavoured with sour oranges. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Surinamese version of: Pom.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

100 minutes

Total Time:

120 minutes

Serves:

8

Rating:

Tags : Chicken RecipesBaking RecipesSuriname Recipes

This casserole, topped with root vegetables is commonly called the 'National Dish of Suriname'. Indeed, it is the probably the most popular meal in the country that is traditionally prepared on Sundays and for festive occasions such as birthdays and is typically served to accompany kip pastei.

Pom originates with the Jewish inhabitants of Suriname, arriving in 1660, who brought their traditional cuisine with them. Pom is one of the most famous Jewish foods in Suriname. Originally pom was made with potatoes and chicken. However, potatoes don’t grow in Suriname because of the tropical environment, so they use a root vegetable called pomtajer instead. Pomtayer is the monocotyledonous plant of the epecies Xanthosoma sagittifolium. Pomtayer is also known as tannia, new cocoyam, arrowleaf elephant's ear, American taro, yautía, malanga, and uncucha. Pomtayer/tannia s often confused with the related plant Colocasia esculenta (Taro), which looks very similar and is also used in a similar way. This is why I suggest taro/eddoes for this recipe as they are commercially more readily available.

Ingredients:

5 boneless and skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite sized pieces
1kg taro corms or eddoes, peeled and grated
3 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
2 sour oranges
1 celery stick, thinly sliced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 ripe plantain, peeled and grated
1 tbsp tomato purée
750ml chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
1 lime
2 tbsp butter

Method:

Juice one of the sour oranges and pour this into the bowl of chicken. Add ¾ teaspoon of nutmeg, black pepper, and salt to the chicken. Mix well to coat the meat then set aside for thirty minutes to allow the meat to marinate.

In a separate bowl, mix together the grated taro corms and plantain. Add the remaining nutmeg, sugar, and ½ teaspoon of salt.

Juice the second sour orange and the lime and add the juices to the bowl. Mix thoroughly then set aside.

Place a pan over medium heat. Once hot add the oil and use to fry the chicken until nicely browned all over.

Add the celery and onions and continue cooking for about 6 minutes more, until the onion is soft and translucent.

At this point stir in the tomato purée, frying for a couple of minutes then add the chicken stock.

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.

Transfer 5 tbsp of the stock to the taro/plantain mixture and stir well to combine.

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C then lightly grease a casserole dish then place half the taro and plantain mixture in the base. Press the mixture lightly with the back of a spoon.

Spread over the chicken mixture then spread the remaining taro and plantain mixture over the top.

Transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for 60 minutes. Remove the pom from the oven then brush the butter over the top. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then slice and serve.