TAHITIAN RECIPES

Tuna Ceviche Borabora Style

Tuna Marinade:
2 cups coconut Milk - fresh
1/2 bunch cilantro - minced
6 scallions - minced
1-cup pomello or grapefruit juice
4 tuna steaks - fresh

Instructions:
Mix ingredients together in a bowl or casserole dish and let the mixture stand over night or a minimum of one hour. Reserve some of the marinade liquid to use as an extra sauce for finished dish.

Papaya Salsa:
1 papaya - finely diced
1/2 bunch cilantro - minced
3 scallions - "green onions" minced

Instructions:
Mix all ingredients together and let them stand over night. This will allow the juices to blend and give you that really great island flavor

Salad:
1 bunch fresh watercress - washed
1 pomello or grapefruit - sliced into filets
2 tbls. Vegetable Oil

Assembling the finished dish:
Start with a good size scoop of your fresh papaya salsa in the center of your plate. Top it with your fresh watercress, sliced grapefruit and a few drizzles of vegetable oil.
Remove tuna steaks from marinade and slice then according to taste. If you like big thick pieces of tune, go for it....for a sashimi style consistence, slice tune thinly. To finish it off, drizzle a little bit of the marinade over the top. Eat with a fork, or as Chuck and Jason did....with your hand! Enjoy.

Banana Pie

Ingredients:
2 2/3 lbs. Ripe bananas
½ Vanilla bean
6 cups Water
¾ cup Manioc starch
1 cup Coconut milk
2/3 cup Sugar

Instructions:
Peel the bananas and place them in a large saucepan with the water and vanilla. Bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. Drain the fruit, and once it has cooled, puree in a food processor. Add the starch and mix thoroughly so that the texture of the fruit compote is smooth and creamy. Fill a buttered dish with the banana compote. It should not be more than 1 ½ inches thick. Place the dish in a medium-hot oven and bake for 30 minutes. When the compote is ready, remove it from the oven and, using two knives, cut it into small pieces. Garnish with the sugar and coconut milk. Serve hot.

Ingredients:
8-10 oz Calamari steak
Large egg
½ cup Flour
2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
1 cup Breadcrumbs
¼ cup Capers (finely diced)
2 Tbsp. Butter
1 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 oz. White wine
Salt & Pepper
Lime or lemon

Instructions:
Mix 1 Tbsp. of cornstarch with 1 cup of flour, add salt and pepper and put aside. Scramble 1 large egg and put aside. Set 1 cup of golden brown bread crumbs on a plate and put aside. One by one dip the Calamari first in flour, then into the egg, and then into the bread crumbs. Fry with butter and olive oil till golden brown. Caper Sauce Preparation:  In a 6 inch skillet melt 2 Tbsp. butter then add 1 tsp. of finely chopped capers, raise heat when adding ½ oz. of white wine with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Then pour on top of calamari steak.
Serves 4.

Dream Sauce

Ingredients:
1 clove of Ginger (peeled and finely cut)
1/2 clove of Garlic (finely cut)
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp. Oil
Chinese onion (finely chopped)

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients together in small bowl and serve over absolutely anything.  Best over fish!

Bananas Flambé

Ingredients:
2 full size Bananas
1 spoon full of Sugar for each banana
1 shot of Rum

Instructions:
Slice open one side of your banana, exposing the inside without removing the banana from the peel.  Place one heaping spoon full of sugar along the inside length of each banana.  Place in the oven at 350 degrees until bananas start to turn a golden brown.  Remove from oven and pour rum over all bananas and set a flame.  Serve hot and flaming.

Raw Tuna Salad

Coconut Shrimp with Vanilla Sauce

Garnish:
2 pieces Spring Onion
1 piece Banana Leaf
Cilantro (for garnish)

Instructions:
Peel and clean the shrimp, but keep the tail on. Heat the olive oil on high heat in a frying pan or in a wok. Saute the shrimp and season with salt and pepper. Saute them for about 1 minute and remove from the pan. Remove the rest of the oil and add the rum. Reduce the rum until almost nothing is left. Add the cream and the coconut milk. Remove the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the sauce. Reduce the mixture until 50% of the sauce is left. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Add the shrimp and let simmer for one minute. For the rice, saute the onions in olive oil in a medium pan until transparent. Add the rice. Add 11/2 cup water, season with salt. Cover the pan and let the rice cook until there is no water left in the pan. Add the bell pepper and cilantro before serving. Serve the shrimp together with the rice on a banana leaf. Garnish with spring onions and cilantro.

Papaya Soup

Ingredients:
2 Papayas* (approximately 3 pounds)
1 large Onion
2 Tbsp. chopped Ginger
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 ozs. Butter
2 ozs. Olive Oil
4 Mint Leaves
8 Cups Water

Instructions:
Peel the papayas and take out the seeds. Cut the papayas into big cubes. Chop the onion and the ginger. Put the butter, olive oil, and chooped onion in a pan and cook over medium heat until the onion becomes translucent. Add the chopped ginger and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the papaya cubes, mint, salt, pepper, and water and cook over high heat until the mixture boils. Cover the soup and continue boiling for 20 minutes. When it is cooked, stir the soup and break up any large pieces.

Serve hot, warm, or iced. (But the chef personally recommends you serve it iced in the summer time.)

* You can substitute melon for papaya.

Papaya Chicken

Ingredients:
8 Chicken Breasts
1 Papaya
1 3/4 cups Coconut Milk
1 Onion
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 ozs. Olive Oil

Instructions:
Peel the papaya and remove the seeds. Cut the papaya into thin slices. Chop the onion. Cut the chicken breasts into 3/4" cubes. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and cook over high heat until the chicken cubes are almost cooked. Add the chopped onion and cook until the onion becomes translucent. After 5 minutes add the papaya slices and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove mixture from heat and add the coconut milk.

Serves 4

Tatin Papaya Tart

Necessary tools:
4 individual tart pans

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. Caramel Sauce
2 Papayas
4 disks of puff pastry

Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Peel the papaya and remove the seeds. Cut the papaya in slices as large as the height of the tart pan. Pour 1 Tablespoon of caramel in each tart pan then arrange the papaya slices in the pan and cover with a disk of puff pastry. Bake for 15 minutes.

Papaya Ratatouille

Ingredients:
2 Papayas (not too ripe)
3 Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Thyme Leaves
Hot Pepper (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
1 Onion
1 Bay Leaf
2 ozs. Olive Oil

Instructions:
Peel the papayas and remove the seeds. Cut the papayas into thin slices. Cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Chop the garlic and the onion. In a frying pan heat the olive oil then add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion becomes translucent. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper, and papayas. Cover the pan. Cook over low flame for 15 mintues. Check if all the ingredients are cooked, making sure the papayas are soft. Remove from heat and serve.