Ingredients
The pot
- 300 gshort grain rice
- or any white rice
- 2 litreswater
- 80 gkoko Samoa
- grated or chopped
- or 60 g cocoa mass
- a pinch of salt
To sweeten
- 200 gsugar
- or to taste
Sometimes added
- a strip of orange peel
- 200 mlcoconut cream
- a little vanilla
To serve
- hot in bowls or mugs
- at breakfast
- after church on Sunday
Directions
- Grate them on a coarse grater. They do not break by hand at all. Use less cocoa powder as it is stronger by weight. Rinse the rice well in cold water. Put the water in a large heavy pot. Add the grated cocoa to the water. Bring the pot up to a full boil.
- Use a pot larger than you think you need. Never leave it unattended on the heat. Whisk it as it comes to the boil. It will never fully emulsify at all. Oil floats on the surface and that is correct. Add the rinsed rice to the pot. Add a good pinch of salt to the pot.
- Stir it through the cocoa water. Let it simmer gently for thirty minutes. Stir it regularly as it cooks down. Stir right into the corners each time. Judging the rice takes a taste.
- Add all of the sugar to the pot. Stir it until it dissolves completely. Taste it and adjust the sweetness. This needs a great deal of sugar.
- Add a strip of orange peel to the pot. Let it simmer for the last ten minutes. Stir coconut cream in at the very end. Do not let it boil hard afterwards.
- Add hot water if it has thickened too far. Rice keeps absorbing liquid off the heat. Leave it looser than you want it. Serving it is always done piping hot.
- Ladle it out into bowls or mugs. Stir it well before every serving. Stir it well before each pour. Or drunk from a mug if made thin.
Technique
- Koko Samoa is not cocoa powder: the beans are fermented, dried, roasted and ground whole, then rolled into balls, with nothing removed and nothing added. It keeps all its cocoa butter, which is what makes the drink rich and floats as visible oil on the surface, and that oil slick is characteristic and expected.
- It is one hundred percent cacao and genuinely bitter, tasting nothing like drinking chocolate, so it needs a great deal of sugar; under-sweetened it is harsh, and it should still taste faintly bitter behind the sugar.
- Rice keeps absorbing liquid off the heat, so what looks right hot will be stiff when cold; leave it looser than you want it, and stir well before every serving since the rice sinks and the oil floats.
Substitutions
- Unsweetened cocoa mass at one hundred percent is the closest substitute.
- Cocoa powder works but is far less rich and stronger by weight, so use less.
Variations
- A strip of orange peel simmered in is a very common Samoan addition.
- Coconut cream stirred in at the end gives a richer paler result.
- It is made thick and eaten with a spoon, or thin and drunk from a mug.
History
Combines Samoan cocoa with imported rice, a colonial-era pairing now eaten for breakfast and after church across the islands.
Frequently asked questions
What is Koko Alaisa?
Koko Alaisa is a breakfast from Samoa: rice simmered with local cocoa and sugar until dark, sweet and slightly bitter. Combines Samoan cocoa with imported rice, a colonial-era pairing now eaten for breakfast and after church across the islands.
How long does Koko Alaisa take to make?
Koko Alaisa takes 10 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Koko Alaisa?
Yes, within limits. Unsweetened cocoa mass at one hundred percent is the closest substitute. Cocoa powder works but is far less rich and stronger by weight, so use less.
What is the most important thing to get right in Koko Alaisa?
Grate them on a coarse grater. They do not break by hand at all. Use less cocoa powder as it is stronger by weight. Rinse the rice well in cold water. Put the water in a large heavy pot. Add the grated cocoa to the water. Bring the pot up to a full boil.
