Fekei is a traditional Rotuman recipe for a classic baked taro and tapioca starch cake mixed with sweetened coconut cream into a porridge. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Rotuman version of: Fekei.
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Ingredients:
1 large taro corm
500g tapioca starch
500ml water
4x 400ml tins of coconut cream
500g raw cane sugar (or jaggery)
Margarine (for greasing)
Method:
Preheat your oven to 220C (200C fan). Grease two rectangular loaf tins with margarine then set aside.
Peel the taro then slice in half and grate the corm with a cheese grater.
Combine the tapioca starch with 250ml of water in a bowl, mixing thoroughly to combine. Add the remainder of the water into the bowl and mix until the water been fully absorbed by the starch.
Add the grated taro to the moistened the tapioca starch mixture and, using your hand, mix well until you attain a dough-like consistency.
Add 200g of raw cane sugar to the dough and mix well to combine. The mixing process can take up to 20 minutes. If you have a sweet tooth, add more sugar to taste.
Using a large spoon, fill each loaf pan evenly with the fekei dough.
Cut rectangular pieces of foil up to cover the top of each loaf pan. Paste one side of the foil with margarine and place the foil over the pans, margarine side down. Secure the foil around the rims of the pans.
Transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for 135 minutes.
When the fekei is thoroughly baked, you should be able to smoothly and easily it pop out of the loaf tin.
Open up four coconut cream cans from the bottom, discard the excess water and pour the cream into a large, deep mixing bowl or stock pot.
Add both baked fekei into the stock pot and use a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients, mashing up the baked fekei with the coconut cream.
Add 200g of raw cane sugar to the baked fekei mixture and continue to mix well.
