Village Tour our of Kokopo

We have visited a village called Menebonbon outside of Kokopo.

The village is 45 minuets away from kokopo on the hill side towards the tip of Gazelle Peninsula and have living with substitant agriculture with Copra/Cacao as cash crop.

When we visited, villagers were busy cutting the Copra (dried Coconut). The cut Copra is dried in an oven in the village and later sold to the Copra factory in town before being exported to overseas.

After the "factory inspection", we have moved to a nearby house. The ladies were already preparing the today's lunch called "Aigir."

Aigir is traditional dish in Rabaul area and it is similar to the "Mumu" in a way that they use heated stone for steaming the food, but it is unique in its own way and ingredients.

The biggest difference from Highlands "Mumu" is Aigir use full of Coconut Milk.

Heated stones are placed on top of the Banana leaves and coconut milk is boiling up.

Then you add Taro, Chicken, Aibika, etc... and cover it up with the Banana leaves.

After 30 minutes or so, delicious Aigir is done !!

Sweet taste of Coconut milk is absorbed in all the ingredients and all I could say was "Oh, its beautiful !"

The village is situated on the hill looking down Warangoi Bay (on the other side on Tokua Airport) and blessed with nature. When I carefully look around, I could see Avocado, Paw paw, Cacao, Star Fruit, Coconut... everything was there.

Village visit experience is something you should not miss in Papua New Guinea,　and I can say that Menebonbon is one of the "secret treasures" of Rabaul/Kokopo.

Home-grown Aibika for Dinner

Yesterday, we have harvested the Aibika leaves from our home garden.

Some of you have never heard "Aibika". It is a green leafy vegetable common in South Pacific countries. It goes very well with chicken & other meat and a "Must" ingredients for coastal people of Papua New Guinea.
I did not know that Aibika flower looks like Hibiscus, because nobody awaits here until the plant is flowering - harvest and eat before the flower blossoms.

We cooked the Aibika with pumpkin & chicken for a Dinner.

If you are next time in Papua New Guinea, don't forget to eat Aibika.

Very Important Item in House

Coastal and Island village people of Papua New Guinea can live without Electricity, Gas, and Water Supply, but may not live without this.....

It is Coconut Scraper, the small chair-type equipment with sharp blade on one side to scrape the inner skin of Coconut. Scraped Coconut will be squeezed and made into Coconut Milk, used for different cooking. Today we visited one Motuan Village outside of Port Moresby and saw how Saksak (Sago) dish was made. The scraped Coconut was mixed with Sago powder, Banana and made into pudding-like cake.

We ate lots, lots of Saksak and left the village.....

Life would be much more difficult if they don't have Coconut Scraper....

Back to PNG

After a long long trip to Singapore & Europe, we are finally back in Papua New Guinea yesterday.

As soon as I arrive in "Developed countries", I always look for McDonald for junk food, Music shop for latest CD or DVD, and stand for hours in bookshop for books which I have missed for sometime. As for food, Italian, German, French, Chinese, Steak, Sushi-bar etc...everything that I can eat.

But after sometimes, I realize that I miss something .... Papua New Guinea food, Papua New Guinea music, Great nature & Friendly smile from heart, which I can hardly find anywhere in the world. So guess what we ate last night ? Taro, Kaukau (sweet potato), Aibika with Coconut milk and Cooked Banana with SP Beer- Papua New Guinea Food Party !!

Beer of the Pacific - SP

One may wonder if he or she can drink a good Beer while in Papua New Guinea.

The answer is Yes.

Although people have likes and dislikes, 3 x local brewed Beers - SP Lager, SP Export Lager and Niugini Ice Beer are the ultimate thirst quenchers, all great tasting beers to be enjoyed by anyone and anytime.

Especially they goes down well the throat after a long day of walking, diving, surfing,birdwatching, etc.. under the hot sun, humid & dust of PNG.

They have won several international recognitions: in latest world awards, SP Export Lager has won a Gold Medal in 2006 MONDE SELECTION http://www.sp.com.pg/export_lager.html

So don't worry and get on the plane - you will meet your first SP Beers in Air Niugini plane and enjoy them while in Papua New Guinea !

Local Diet Yum-Yum !!

Local food is one of the enjoyment of the trip, yet it is very difficult to find local food in Papua New Guinea.
Most of the Hotels are serving only Western cousin, and there is no restaurant offering local food. - simply because people can cook local food in their home and nobody wants to eat outside !
This does not mean PNG has no local food.

There are different ways of cooking and different ingredients.
In Highlands, people use heated-stone to cook the food in an earth oven (in the ground), commonly known as Mumu.
The main protein can be Pork or Chicken, and cooked with Banana, Sweet Potato, Taro, Corn etc...
In Coastal area, some use Clay Pot to cook the Fish and vegetables. It is common to use Coconut Milk to give sweet taste in Coastal & Island area.

What is common in all the local dish is that there is no artificial ingredients, all chemical-free fresh food grown in the rich soil of PNG. Being a tourist, only way to eat those Yummy local food is to join the village tour, but make sure to ask if they offer local food.