Suafa’i – Banana soup

By panipopos

This Samoan dish wouldn’t win any beauty contests. In fact, as a child, I used to think that suafa’i looked like brain matter, but that didn’t stop me from going back for seconds and thirds.

Suafa’I is a dessert/breakfast soup which can be eaten hot or cold. Versions of this soup can be found across Southeast Asia, but as far as I know, Samoans are they only ones to boil the heck out of the ripened bananas.

Use bananas that are past their prime and too mushy to eat, preferably covered in black spots, because these are sweeter and softer than perfectly ripe ones.

Tapioca pearls come in different sizes. Use the smaller ones because they cook faster. You can also use sago if tapioca is unavailable.

Suafa’i (serves 6)
8 medium overripe bananas
4 cups (1 litre) water
½ cup (100g) small tapioca pearls
1 cup (240ml) coconut milk
¼ - ½ cup (50-100g) sugar (optional)

Peel the bananas and place in a medium saucepan. You can roughly chop the bananas if you like, but it isn’t necessary as the boiling will soften them to the right consistency.

Add the water and then bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 20 minutes.

Break the bananas up with a wooden spoon, fork or masher.

Sprinkle the tapioca into the saucepan while stirring. Don’t add the tapioca all at once or it might clump, and keep stirring to separate the pearls and to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan.

Add the coconut milk and then simmer over low/medium heat until the tapioca is cooked, about 15 minutes. Stir frequently. You’ll know the pearls are done when they turn translucent (no frogspawn/white eyeballs looking at you). 

Finally, taste the suafa’i. Sometimes your bananas will be sweet enough that you don’t need to add any sugar. If you like a little more sweetness, then add sugar to taste. 

Remove from the heat, leave for about 30 minutes to cool and then serve in a bowl or cup. You can also cool suafa’i completely, and refrigerate it. Once cooled, serve it as a snack or dessert.
 

* When the tapioca is mostly done, you can turn off the heat and the tapioca will cook through with the residual heat.
* Don’t leave the tapioca to simmer unchecked or the suafa’i might burn onto the bottom of your saucepan. 

http://www.samoafood.com