Welkam to the first Solomon Island Recipe of the Week of 2011! This week: Kasume Curry. Now, some of you will be scratching your head wondering a) what is kasume and b) FERN???? WTF?
That’s right, gentle readers, it’s time to explore the more…creative veggies in the Solomon Islands. I made some soup last night with kasume in it and the best way to describe it is sort of like bitter bok choy or maybe silver beet. So perhaps you can use those to replace ferns as the main ingredient. Or baby spinach.
However, I think that most ferns are probably okay to munch on, provided you use only the shoots or tops of the fern (the most tender bits). However, just check first to make sure they aren’t poisonous…I really wouldn’t want to be responsible for any deaths or cases of diarrhea due to my recipes (I’ve had enough of that already…hey, there IS a reason I had to leave New Zealand…)
Okay folk, here is the recipe:
Kasume Curry:
· 1 parcel fern (Kasume)
· 5 ripe tomatoes
· 10 short (Deborah, whatever that means) beans
· 5 capsicums aka green peppers
· 2 hot chili peppers (or to taste..I know some of you kiwis have gentle pallets while some of my other friends in the states have burnt off their taste buds ages ago…up to you!)
· 2 onions or shallots
· 1 dried coconut or 1 can of coconut milk. (I’m getting a coconut scraper soon, so I’ll be making my own. Can’t wait!)
Directions:
- Break up the top of fern and put inside a basin. (Yes, you can eat the top of ferns, if they are tender enough. I know this sounds slightly mad…but give it a go; I’m pretty sure that ferns aren’t dangerous.)
- Cut tomatoes, beans, capsicum, hot chilli and onions into pieces.
- Pour coconut cream into pot/add five teaspoons of salt to taste
- Put pot on the fire (or on the element, depending on your access to fires) to boil. Add ferns.
- Cook for 15 minutes or whatever.
- Remove from fire (or said element) and eat...(maybe put a candle or lamp on the table to make it more romantic...hey, its fern curry, obviously its a bit of a special event...)
Writer: Ms. Jocelyn Toligesu, Kwage Villiage, North Malaita, Solomon Islands. (Please note that anything in parenthesis is from the editor and therefore meant to be taken less seriously.)
