Week 25 - Australasian

Australasia was the focus of the Week 25 challenge, focusing on the area of Oceania comprised of Australia, New Zealand, and the neighboring islands of Melanesia (Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea). Since I've made Australian food for two other challenges before (here and here), I thought I would focus on an area I haven't really explored before and try making some Fijian dishes. After researching for a bit, two recipes stood out that I really wanted to try: lolo buns and ika vakalolo (coconut-style fish).

Lolo Buns (Steamed Coconut Buns)

Lolo means coconut milk, which you might have been able to figure out since it appears in the names of both things we made for the challenge. Lolo buns are basically coconut buns that can be either steamed or baked. Most of the recipes for baked lolo buns included an egg, so I gravitated toward a recipe I found on Nom List that was steamed and required zero eggs. We've never been to Fiji, so another reason I liked this recipe was because the author learned how to make them in a cooking class while in Savusavu, Fiji. They also mentioned that Fijians prefer the buns boiled/steamed compared to baked, and if that's true, then I saw no reason not to make them that way!

We started the lolo buns first since they were going to need to steam in the pot for half an hour, giving us time to work on the fish. The ingredients for the lolo buns were:

- 5 cups flour (plus extra for kneading, probably ended up being 6 cups) ($1.20)
- 5 tbsp brown sugar ($0.30)
- 2 tbsp yeast ($0.39)
- 2.5 cups warm water ($0)
- 5 tbsp butter, softened to room temperature ($0.45)
- 1/2 can full-fat coconut milk ($0.85)

The total cost for the lolo buns was approximately $3.19, and it made a lot of bread.


We tried to stick close to the recipe, but our time spent ended up being way more than the recipe. The steps for making the lolo buns were:

1. In a big bowl, mix 5 cups of flour with the brown sugar and yeast. Mix lightly.

2. Slowly pour up to 2.5 cups of warm water while mixing with a spoon. Mix well but don't overwork the dough. [I should have stopped pouring water before I did. My instincts told me to stop, but I think I had somewhere between 0.5-1 cup of water left, so I thought I needed to use more because that's what the recipe said. I should have listened to myself, because it was too wet.]

3. Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes, folding and pressing it together, sprinkling it with flour between steps. [It looked like pancake batter at this point and couldn't form any shape whatsoever, so we probably kneaded it more than we should have, and we used a lot more flour, probably another cup.]

4. Take 1 tbsp of softened butter and knead into the dough.

5. Grease a deep pot with about 3 tbsp of butter (or more if needed).


6. Rub butter on your hands, and then take chunks of dough, shaping them into circular buns and putting them in the pot. [Once we added all that extra flour, they sort of resembled buns until they went into the pan, and then they just all melted together.]

7. Pour coconut milk over the buns until almost completely covered. [The original recipe said 3 cups, but the buns were almost completely covered with half a can of coconut milk, which was a little confusing. But this time, I told myself to listen to myself and not pour in 3 cups. In our case, this step also included using a chopstick to try to make holes and divisions so the coconut milk could get inside and around the dough in as many places as possible.]


8. Cover pot with a lid and cook over low flame for 30 minutes.


This was our first time using yeast, and I knew the bread was going to end up rising, but I was surprised at how much it had ballooned to the top of the pot when I opened it after 30 minutes. Despite my best efforts to separate the dough into buns, it came out looking like a well-formed cake. While the shape may not have been what was intended, the bread/cake itself turned out pretty well. There was a light flavor of coconut (more would not be bad, but no idea how it would have turned out completely covered in coconut milk; maybe an experiment for another day), and it was just really soft, tasty bread. We all liked it, and I think it ended up being the majority of B's dinner as he kept asking for more (not surprising; the kid loves bread). I would definitely try making this again. Maybe when we get around to our Fiji exploration in AtWCC, or maybe earlier, because that could be years from now.


Ika Vakalolo (Coconut-Style Fish)

Part 2 of our Australasian dinner was ika vakalolo, or fish cooked in coconut milk. I found a bunch of different recipes for this online, all making the fish slightly differently. Some fried the fish first and then simmered it in coconut milk with some vegetables. Others cooked the vegetables in coconut milk first and then added the fish as one of the last steps. I liked the idea of pan-frying the fish a little bit, but I also wanted our vegetables to be softer and less crunchy, so I decided to adapt a recipe I found on Fiji Vacations from the Flavors of Fiji Cooking School to do just that.

The ingredients for the ika vakalolo were:

- 1 lb boneless skinless cod ($7.91)
- about 1 lb bok choy ($4.98)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.79)
- 1 small container of grape tomatoes ($2.69)
- 1-2  tbsp grapeseed oil ($0.20)
- 1 can full-fat coconut milk ($1.69)
- juice of 1 lime ($0.49)
- salt ($0.02)

The original recipe called for 12 stalks of Chinese cabbage, 1 onion, and 1 tomato, but I used a lot more vegetables since that's how we like to eat at home. I also swapped lime for lemon, since we had a bunch of limes left over from key lime pie, the internet said both limes and lemons are found on Fiji, and at least one recipe said you could use either. The last big change was to skip the chilies so B could eat it too. The total cost for the fish portion of the meal was $18.77, and we also split a microwaved rice packet, making the total for the entire meal, with the lolo buns, approximately $22.96. Not a cheap dinner, but we did have a pound of cod, plus bok choy is much more expensive outside of an Asian grocery store.


The steps for our adapted recipe were:

1. Prep - wash tomatoes and bok choy thoroughly. Chop bok choy, onion, and tomatoes. Check fish for bones.

2. Heat grapeseed oil over medium heat. Add onion and the chopped stems of the bok choy, and cook until starting to soften. Add bok choy greens, and after a few minutes, the tomatoes.

3. Push vegetables to the sides of the pan, and add the fish. Cook on each side for a couple of minutes until opaque/almost done.

4. Add coconut milk to mostly cover the fish and vegetables. Season with some salt. [One of the recipes I found also used fish sauce, sugar, and basil, which I seriously considered doing, but I just went for the simple version this time and did coconut milk and salt.]

5. Simmer for a few minutes while juicing a lime.

6. Add lime juice, stir, and remove from heat.


We really liked this dish too! Using just a simple coconut milk, lime juice, and salt broth really allowed the flavors of the fish and the vegetables to stand out, and it just felt so light and summery, perfect for the current weather. Although we made some rice to go with it, I didn't think it needed the rice at all. It worked fine as a stew, and we had the lolo buns to dip into it if we wanted to soak up some of the liquid. My main issue with this dish had to do with the pieces of fish we got, as they were different shapes, one a nice thin fillet and the other, a thick, steak-like piece, but that has nothing to do with the delicious recipe. Would definitely make this one again too, and maybe even try it with some of the extra seasonings. I consider this adventure to Fiji a success, and I'm so glad we did it!