Demok recipe

Palau national soup of young taro leaves blanched then melted into coconut milk with land crab, thickened only by the starch the leaves release.

1 hour and 5 minuteseasy7 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g taro leaves
• 500 ml coconut milk
• 2 land crab
• 1 onion
• 20 g fresh ginger
• 1 green chili
• 1 tsp salt

How to make Demok

1. Sort 500 g of young taro leaves and strip out the tough stems and thick central ribs.
2. Blanch the leaves 5 minutes in boiling water and throw that water away. This removes the crystals that sting the throat, so never skip it.
3. Steam 2 land crabs for 10 minutes, then pick out about 250 g of meat.
4. Sweat 1 chopped onion, 20 g of grated ginger and 1 green chili in a pan with a splash of the coconut milk.
5. Add the blanched leaves and 500 ml of coconut milk and simmer gently for 25 to 30 minutes, never at a hard boil, until the leaves collapse.
6. Stir in the crab meat and 1 tsp of salt and cook 5 more minutes. The coconut milk thickens on its own from the starch in the leaves.
7. Serve hot with boiled taro, cassava or rice. If you cannot find fresh taro leaves the dish does not exist without them, so look in an Asian or Caribbean grocer rather than swapping in spinach.

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