Coconut poi pudding!!! Trust me, yes poi the comfort food.

Most of my non-Hawaiian friends think this is a very bad idea to ruin a good dessert by pairing poi with any thing while my Hawaiian ohana and friends like the idea.

I don't know what it is, I like poi from the very first time I tried it. I remembered tasting poi at my roommate Cori's grandma's house. I didn't think it was bad at all. It is a bit bland, but it goes well with saltiness of many of the Hawaiian dishes. To me, it's just another form of starch, like rice or potatoes. Plus I like taro, so why not poi too.

Poi was not readily available on the mainland, especially in the Frozen Tundra. With some convincing and much support from the Hawaiian community here, United Noodles now carries frozen poi. In order to make sure they continue to offer the products, I would put in my part and have a bag in my freezer all the time. I am giving Mr Wonderful some proper Islander introduction. I serve him poi with Kalua pork or Laulau. He would never complaint and ate it anyway. He said it was a bit tasteless, but he didn't mind the texture and thought it mixed well with the meat!

As I told you a few weeks ago, my sister had her annual party and I made Kalua pork. I also fixed up some poi to go with it. We didn't have that many Islanders at the party, we had some poi leftover. I took it home with me. I found the container in my freezer last night and I was in the mood for some dessert. Why not Poi Pudding. I know poi does not have a lot of flavor, I used Indonesia palm sugar (gula jawa) instead of regular brown sugar. It has a darker molasse-like flavor. It goes very well with coconut milk. It is commonly used to make syrup many of the dessert in Singapore.

Now, trust me this is good, kind of a cross between rice pudding and custard. This is very comforting on a chilly fall night. I saved some and Mr Wonderful is going to have another adverture dessert this week!

Coconut Poi pudding with palm sugar
1 cup frozen poi, defrosted.
1 cup coconut milk
1/4-1/3 cup granulated palm sugar (gula jawa)
Directions
Reserve 4 tbsp of coconut milk on the side
In a small sauce pan heat 1 cup of cold poi over low heat. Keep breaking up the chucks till the poi return to its paste like texture
Slowly add remaining coconut milk.
Stir continuously till the mixture become a custard-like
Add sugar, stir to dessolve. Add more sugar to taste.
To serve, spoon 1/2 cup of the pudding into a small bowl
Drizzle with 1 tbsp of coconut milk over the pudding, sprinkle with a dash of palm sugar
Serve warm
Serve 4

Enjoy!
Aloha