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Digital Ghost
Sep 27th, 2008, 02:29 PM
I'm currently in Hawaii for a while.

My friend recently purchased some poi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_(food (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poi_(food))

It looks like wall paper paste and doesnt really taste of much - sort of like flour? :hmm:

Does anyone have any ideas on how to make something out of it that might be edible?

:undecided:

harpy
Sep 27th, 2008, 05:49 PM
Must be nice to be in Hawaii! Have you been to see the volcano(es)?

I've had taro, but not in the form of poi. There seem to be a few recipes on the web that suggest it can be used in a similar way to mashed potato e.g. http://www.poico.com/artman/publish/article_32.php (obviously you could substitute vegan margarine for the butter). Maybe you could make veggie shepherd's pie (assuming you can get lentils :D )

Digital Ghost
Sep 28th, 2008, 08:29 AM
Hawaii is quite nice - feels sort of like a mix of Asia and America. :bigsmile:
I think the best volcanoes are on the big island - each island sort of seems to offer something different.
They dont really understand veganism much around here though.

I have had taro in sweet bread before but sadly I'm no longer in contact with the person that made it. I have also seen taro ice cream for sale in Asia but it has never been vegan.

We bought some coconut milk, agave syrup and spices today.
It worked quite well as mash but we used a lot of Indian spices to basically cover the flavour. :devil: It looked really odd and still had a wall paper texture but seemed to get thicker once cooked.

We also tried making a sort of dessert thing by mixing in the coconut milk plus agarve syrup and then freezing it - which turned out ok I guess.
As you said it is similar to a potato - I think tommorow I'm going to try and make some potato bread with poi instead of potato. :faint_smilie:

It's odd - the people around here must love it as it seems to be sold only in huge packs. It says on the pack that you can either eat it as it is or mix it with water and then serve - obviously we tried that and :hmm::eek::undecided:.

flying plum
Sep 28th, 2008, 09:46 AM
i'm intrigued. maybe some of these might work?

http://www.poico.com/artman/publish/Poi_Recipes_27/index.php

Digital Ghost
Sep 28th, 2008, 10:26 AM
I think that when I work it out a bit more it should be good as a vegan ingredient replacer?........possibly?

I can see how it would work as a good binding agent in the way eggs would in a cake.

It says 'poi can easily be incorporated into your favorite recipes, replacing such ingredients like sour cream or yogurt.'
as well as....
'Poi was used as a thickener as a substitute for potatoes and other root vegetables in savory dishes and even as a stand-in for eggs and cream in puddings and other sweet preparations.'

flying plum
Sep 28th, 2008, 08:34 PM
cool :) there seem to be some cake-type recipes on there...could have a try. i also saw a picture ont aht site...it does look EXACTLY like wall paper paste...and not wholy appetising...

amanda

Mahk
Sep 29th, 2008, 02:57 AM
Nowadays, a "poi dog" (http://dogbreedinfo.com/hawaiianpoidog.htm) in Hawaii means any average mutt (mix breed) but a century or two ago it was a specific breed that was raised both for companionship, as a protector for children (who slept with them), and a food source. What makes this now extinct breed most interesting is [I]it was vegan! They only ate poi and some fruit. Arguably this wasn't healthy for them in the long run but they were typically killed for food prior to old age.

Digital Ghost
Sep 29th, 2008, 09:49 AM
Today I made poi cake.:D

I was going to use a recipe for potato bread but I couldn't find yeast. Maybe they have a different name for it here? Everyone I asked seemed puzzled? :umm_ani:

Anyhow I decided to use cherry's recipe for banana cake because I have made it lots of times before (with bananas) and it always works really well imho.

http://www.parsleysoup.co.uk/getrecipe.php?section=cakes&recipe=banana_cake (http://www.parsleysoup.co.uk/getrecipe.php?section=cakes&recipe=banana_cake)

It says to use 3 ripe bananas - so I used 8 ounces of poi because it seemed roughly the same and I like the number 8.
It worked quite well actually, very moist and tasted good - but it did have a sort of oddish colour.


Mahk - that's really interesting although after reading the article it didn't seem to do much good for the dogs.
Hmm......I guess that means basically I just made cake with dog food. :amazed_ani:

harpy
Sep 29th, 2008, 04:18 PM
That sounds v creative. Can you taste the poi in the cake? (I can't really remember if the taro had a distinctive flavour.)

A cake made with vegan dogfood would probably be OK...

Digital Ghost
Sep 29th, 2008, 08:15 PM
I think you can taste the poi a bit - but really it is the texture that you can feel.

To me it has a sort of a rooty flavour?
The texture seems to make the cake smoother and a bit more jelly like imho.

I know that in Asia people often use the words for yam/ube and taro interchangeably but I think they are very different in flavour. I also feel that ube in the Philippines is different in flavour to yam in Malaysia and Singapore.

harpy
Sep 29th, 2008, 09:29 PM
Maybe a bit like carrot cake? Though actually I can't usually taste the carrots in that...

Digital Ghost
Sep 29th, 2008, 11:04 PM
I think that's a good way of describing it :thumbsup:

Although the poi is more like finely ground carrots in texture - definitely has a carrot like chewy feel to it.
I'm not sure you can really taste the poi - when I tried it on its own it didnt really taste of anything. That's why I find it odd that so many people eat it plain - it tastes of nothing?

I tried mixing some with tahini today and it worked very well as a chickpea alternative - a sort of poi humus.