Hey ya’ll, so I thought this would be a fun addition. I love finding new recipes and while I was writing Anonymous Bride, I wanted to include something Tahitian other than location. The obvious answer is of course FOOD!

Were enticed by the meal served to Jordan and Megan on the cruise? I was! I even made it! Now you can of course mix and match your own flavours to this recipe, but I followed it… for the most part!

Sweet Tahitian Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 Tablespoon minced fresh ginger

• 1/2 cup Kikkoman Less Sodium Soy Sauce

• one (20 oz.) can Dole Pineapple Chunks in Pineapple Juice

• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar

• 2 Tablespoons dried onion flakes

• 1/2 teaspoon Kikkoman Sriracha Sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch

• 1 Tablespoon water

• 1 3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts

• 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds (optional) (We omitted this ingredient)

• 2 Tablespoons sliced green onions (optional)

I also added a few extra veggies like sweet bell peppers. (My older kids devoured this meal!)

Instructions:

1 Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2 In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water. Stir until the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Set aside.

3 In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

4 Add the soy sauce, pineapple chunks with their juice, brown sugar, onion flakes, sriracha sauce and worcestershire sauce. Bring mixture to a boil Reduce heat to low and add the cornstarch and water mixture. Stir. Cook for 2 minutes until the sauce thickens.

5 Arrange the chicken breasts in a 7 x 11 baking dish. Pour the sauce over and place in a 350 degree oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

6 Serve over Minute Rice and garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.

Banana Po’e (This was delicious!)

INGREDIENTS:

* butter or coconut oil, for greasing pan

* about 7-8 ripe bananas, peeled and cut into chunks

* 1/2 cup brown sugar (could also use palm sugar), plus extra for sprinkling

* 1 cup cornstarch, sifted

* seeds scraped from 1 Tahitian vanilla bean

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 can full fat coconut milk, unshaken and refrigerated for 2-3 hours

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 and butter or grease a 2-quart baking dish

Place the banana in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. You should have four cups of banana puree. Pour into a large bowl and add the brown sugar, cornstarch, vanilla bean seeds, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Pour mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake until firm/set.

Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, or until thoroughly chilled. Cut into cubes and place in a bowl. Remove the top from the coconut milk. Spoon the cream, which should have risen to the top, over the cubes of banana po'e. Sprinkle with a little extra brown sugar and serve.

Firi Firi (The donut/twinkie things they had for dessert. Sooooooooo good. Like addictively so.)

Ingredients:

• 4/5 cups all purpose flour

• ½ cup sugar, plus more to coat

• 1 pinch salt

• 2.5 tsp dry yeast

• 1/3 cup water, lukewarm

• 6.75 oz. coconut milk

• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Instructions:

1 Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Add 1 tbsp of the sugar, mix well and leave the yeast aside to activate until frothy.

2 Put all the ingredients (including the frothy yeast) in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whisk well. You need to obtain a thick and smooth batter. (You can also do this by hand)

3 Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place to rise for 3 hours.

4 Put the batter into a piping bag and cut a 5 cm – 2 inch hole (or use a 5 cm – 2 inch round tip).

5 Heat the vegetable oil until it reaches 170°C – 340°F.

6 Pipe the batter into the hot oil cutting out pieces of approximately 13 cm – 5 inches in length.

7 Fry them on both sides until golden brown (they need to be more brown than golden!).

8 Put them on a plate covered with kitchen paper to drain the excess oil, then roll them in granulated sugar and serve!

Notes

Make sure the oil is at 170°C – 340°F. If the temperature is lower your Firi Firi will become soggy and if it is higher, they will burn and will not cook inside!

If you decide to try any of these recipes post pictures in my reader group KL’s Fighters and tell us how it all turned out!!