Tag: sweet potato

🇰🇮 Kiribati | Sweet potato and coconut soup

Recipe: Kiribati Pumpkin Coconut Soup

Have you heard of the Republic of Kiribati? Do you know how to pronounce Kiribati? Had I not met a really interesting couple a number of years back who had spent some time living in there, I wouldn’t have known that this country existed. One of them was teaching at the local university and they told stories about Kiribati culture and sadly how our refusal to deal with climate change will ultimately lead to Kiribati being reclaimed by the oceans as they rise.

On that positive note, it’s pronounce ki-ree-bas, and it’s an island nation comprised of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, with a population of roughly 120,000 people. It only has 818 square kms landmass making it the 24th smallest country in the world, but is spread across 3.5 million square kms of ocean which straddle the equator.

Finding a vegan recipe for Kiribati was a bit of a struggle. It doesn’t have much arable land so there isn’t a lot of local agriculture, and given its proximity to the ocean, seafood makes up a lot of the diet. However, sweet potatoes and pumpkins are known to grow on some of the northern islands and a pumpkin or sweet potato and coconut soup is one of their traditional dishes.

I will admit I wasn’t that excited about this recipe. I make soup all the time, and I make pumpkin or sweet potato soup regularly enough that I didn’t expect this to really stand out. However this recipe used a lot more coconut milk than I normally would, and a lot, lot more ginger. It was visually beautiful pastel tangerine, and the flavour was creamy with a bit of a kick – and tasted even better the following day. The recipe was straight forward, which goes to show you don’t always need complicated for delicious. I’ll definitely make this again!

Sweet Potato Red Curry and Falling Behind

Soundtrack: Startup Season One (yes, I’m very late to this)

I don’t want to read your ramblings, I just want the recipe: Sweet Potato and Cauliflower Curry

Star Rating: Four Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This recipe is from two weeks ago and I am a bit behind on this project, so I’ll keep this short. This meal is good and I recommend that you make it if you want something healthy and quick. Red curry is delicious, and this one is meatless but still filling and the sweet potato takes the carb role without needing to overfill yourself with rice.

My biggest takeaway from this recipe was using roasted cauliflower and broccoli in place of rice. I would have normally just cooked the cauliflower in the curry, which can make the sauce a little watery and the cauliflower mushy. By roasting and pouring the curry on top it allowed the cruciferous vegetables to maintain their texture and act as a great carrier for the sauce.

Some notes on how I amended the recipe:

  1. I added a lot of other vegetables to the recipe (shocker) such as peas, spinach, and mushrooms.
  2. I waited to add the coconut milk right at the end once the sweet potato was cooked through. Coconut milk splits when it boils, so this kept the curry creamy.
  3. I omitted the sugar. It just wasn’t necessary.
  4. I didn’t add the curry powder to the cauliflower before roasting – if not done well, it can taste a bit too burnt and earthy, and my curry powder is dubious quality at best.

When I make this again – and I will make it again – I’ll add more chili and a bit more salt. Besides that, it’s a filling, warming, healthy, and fast. If you like vegetable curry, make it. Bonus points as it freezes well.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgxOROGBmuj/?taken-by=flooziemagoo