HAVE you wondered how kora is made? It’s a Fiji delicacy that’s been past down the generations and is divine with seafood. Some people refer to it as marinated coconut, but preparation is much longer than usual marinating — more treated with seawater to get its unique taste.
It’s not until you try it that one would realise how this paste can come in handy with nama (sea grapes).
This week, market vendor, Tupou Talaca, explains how kora is prepared and sold at Suva Muncipal Market.
Kora is always sold with nama at $2 a plate.
According to Ms Talaca, villagers along the coastal areas are more specialised in this.
You first squeeze the coconut milk from the freshly grated coconut, separate the milk and the grated coconut, pack them in sacks and dip it into the sea for two weeks or more.
She said, for outer islands where the sea is more fresher, kora can be soaked for only one week before it is ready for consumption.
Surprisingly, you can keep kora for as long as one year in the fridge.
At the market, Ms Talaca sells kora, nama (sea grapes), cooked vudi, cassava and dalo and cawaki.
She said the paste was increasingly popular for sea food lovers. You can add this paste on tuna, soup, food cooked in coconut milk, nama, kokoda, and kaikoso. In a day, she can sell two 10kg bags of nama and four to five bags on Saturdays.
Her products are sent from Rakiraki in the bus and she waits for it at the Suva bus stand. This includes nama and kora.
“Coming to the market everyday is not an easy task for me, considering my age, but when I see my families, I know I have to provide for them and that’s where hard work and commitment comes in,” Ms Talaca explained.
The 65-year-old mother has been selling at the market for more than 25 years.
