Fijian rourou balls or (wacipoki) are little parcels of paradise. creamy, rich with a chilli kick.
Although Fiji has a vast reserve of top quality fish, today they also purchase cans of fish like tuna for storage and to easily prepare food without the need of heading out to fish.
In the village, this dish is only prepared when women have time or during any gathering.
This is best made with canned fish. Cans preserve the meat well and provide a useful backup when a day of fishing does not go too well or when the weather is rough. Rourou peti typifies the Fijian food, uses Fiji’s favourite ingredients and makes this dish a winner.
At the Suva market, Ana Louwalu sells wacipoki at $2 a plate.
There’s no subtitute to dalo leaves. You need to choose leaves that are young and around 15-20cm in diameter if possible, which will allow them to be filled with a sufficient amount of filling to make a good meal.
Ingredients:
10 dalo leaves
1 large white onion
2 coconuts creamed or 400ml canned coconut milk, plus 100ml water
50 grams dessicated coconut
2 cans tuna
1 tblsp salt
Steps
Place your leaves on a table and put a tablespoon sized dollop of the mixture in the middle of the leaves. Fold over each of the three points of the leaves inwards, ensuring they overlap and produce a parcel.
When you have made these put them immediately into a large saucepan with the folded sides down, to ensure the parcels do not open when they are being cooked. Continue making these and adding them to the pan until you either run out of leaves or mixture.
Cook very slowly for around 15 minutes or until the liquid has evapourated.
