my travel tales

Passport & Plate - Ho'oponopono

United States Outlying Islands | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 4 photos

Ingredients
Ho'oponopono
(serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
ca 3cm ginger, chopped
1-2 green chillies, finely sliced
0.5g saffron
6-8 whole black pepper corns

600g chicken thigh fillets

8-10 ladies' fingers (okras), cut in two
1 red bell pepper, diced
Half pineapple, cut in wedges

ca 0.5dl water
1 can coconut milk, 400g or thick milk extract from 1 coconut

Garnish:
Fresh basil – about a handful, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, diced

Olive oil for frying
Salt to taste

 

How to prepare this recipe
1. Fry the onion, garlic, ginger and chillies in oil, in a pot, till they turn golden brown.
2. Add the chicken, pepper and saffron and continue frying for about 5 min.
3. Add the water, put on the lid to the pot, lower the heat and let it simmer for about 15 min.
4. Add salt.
5. Add the coconut milk and stir well, making sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Increase the heat.
6. When it starts to cook, put in the ladies' fingers, bell peppers and about 1/3 of the pineapple wedges.
7. Let it cook for around 20 min, stirring often.
8. Once the chicken is cooked, add the tomatoes. Cover the pot and remove it from the stove.
9. Add the remaining pineapple and the basil just before serving.
10. Goes well with rice.

 

The story behind this recipe
In 2002, I spent 3 months on Hawaii with my husband and daughter, who was 11 years old then.

Hawaii is every bit the paradise you have been made to believe it is. We were mesmerized. The island was so amazingly powerful that the minute we landed, we felt at home - like we have walked those streets before and been there for months.

But there was one sad fact about Hawaii – a large number of obese people, mainly the native Hawaiians. 'How is that even possible?' I thought. A paradise island in the Pacific ocean and the image of the hula girl sure ran contrary to what I was seeing.

I found out unfortunately, the natives were amongst one of the least privileged on Hawaii. It was not uncommon to find families of 20 living in small quarters. What they ate was what they could afford – spam was the main source of protein!

In general, they ate very badly.

After about a month there and having attended the lu‘au, tasted poi, bought fresh ahi off fishermen, learned how to prepare lomi lomi, traveled the island in search of the best rotisserie chicken and buying fresh vegetables and fruits from different farmers' markets, I felt I had tasted the flavors of this beautiful island. In the midst of all this, a strong urge to create a dish arose within me.

That's how Ho'oponopono was born. Ho?oponopono [ho-o-pono-pono] is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness, to set things right. The noun pono is defined, among other things, as goodness, well-being and beneficial.

Although it took almost no time to create the dish (I have an uncanny skill of being able to feel the taste of food in my mouth and create what I feel and 'see'), it took a while to come up with the name though.