Tuesday 4 June 2013

Palau

It took us awhile to figure out how we knew this country....if you're a Survivor fan like we are (seriously, we have no satellite or cable at home, but still have managed to never miss a season, let alone an episode).
It also took awhile to find native food to this small island country in the South Pacific.  Many influences from Japan and India in their cuisine, but to find anything traditional.....
Through another women's blog, who is on a similar tour as us (ghttp://globaltableadventure.com/) and a WAY better blogger than I,  I got the idea to try grilling mussels. As you know, theses tasty morsels are a favourite to 3 of the 4 of us, but never had I heard of cooking them this way.
So delish. I even concocted my own BBQ sauce. After cleaning and prepping your mussels, put them on the grill, and baste with a bit of BBQ sauce when they open.

My Maple-Mango BBQ Sauce!
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 chopped mango
1 small can tomato paste
4 tbsp chili powder
1/2 cup favorite tomato sauce
salt & pepper to taste
Combine all in a small saucepan, and simmer for at least 45 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool.


For our main dish, we went with fish, I picked up some Tilapia from the grocery store, decent mild fish, inexpensive but ALOT of wee bones. In my searching for recipe ideas, I came across a website of a fishing charter company in Palau, who also cooks, and posted this recipe for fish. We made a potato rosti to go with it.
For the fish you need

  • aprox 4 lbs of scaled, gutted fish
  • 3 garlic cloves sliced
  • sliced gingerroot (about the same amount as the garlic)
  • lime leaves, sliced thinly
  • 3 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • banana leaf (Considering how the last time we used banana leaves(New Guinea) for cooking, we used foil this time)
Score the fish, insert pieces of garlic, ginger and lime leaf in each score, and inside the fish
Combine sesame oil and soy sauce and drizzle over fish. Wrap and grill for about 15 minutes.