There is something of a Chinese influence in modern Samoan cuisine that came about when immigrants from China came to the island to work. There's stir fry (falai) and chow mein and chop suey (sopisui).
My personal favorite of all of the sino-samoan foods is keke pua'a. If you're a dim sum fan and you know what bao is, then you have a pretty good idea of what to expect from keke pua'a. It's doughy pastry filled with pork. At least they used to be pork-filled. Nowadays most keke pua'a are filled with mamoe, or lamb, which wouldn't be so bad except that most of the lamb in Samoa is 90% fatty "flaps". Absolutely disgusting.
There is one place that I know of, Nettie's Market, where you can buy traditional keke pua'a made from pork. They are delicious and they cost 1 tala. What a deal.
I would like to get the keke pua'a recipe,(doughy, pastry with pork in the middle) please..
I wish I could give you one, but I don't have the recipe. However, it's easy to find a recipe for Chinese dim sum Bao or pork buns. Since they are really one and the same, with perphaps a slight difference in the pork preparation, the bao recipe should suffice:
Char Siu Bao - Chinese Steamed Pork Buns
Yields 24 steamed pork buns.
INGREDIENTS:
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 scallion, chopped fine
* 1 clove garlic, chopped fine
* 1/2 pound barbecued pork cut into small cubes
* 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water or chicken stock
PREPARATION:
Follow Basic Bun recipe through step 3 (preparing the dough and letting it rest).
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in wok. Stir fry scallion and garlic 30 seconds.
Add pork. Stir fry 1 minute. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar.
Pour in dissolved cornstarch. Stir fry quickly until pork is glazed. Remove to bowl and allow to cool.
On a floured board, knead dough 1 minute and roll into one long, sausage-like roll 2 inches in diameter.
Slice the roll crosswise into 1 inch pieces.
Flatten each piece with the palm of your hand and roll with rolling pin into 3 inch rounds.
Place 2 tablespoons of filling in center of each round.
Gather dough up around the filling by pleating along the edges.
Bring the pleats up and twist securely and firmly.
Place each bun on 2 inch square of aluminum foil on steamer tray. Cover with a towel. Let rise 1 hour, until dough springs back when touched with finger. Remove towel.
Steam over briskly boiling water 10 minutes.
May be prepared in advance. May be frozen. Thaw out in plastic bag and resteam 10 minutes.
(*Note: This recipe is reprinted from "Madame Wong's Long-Life Chinese Cookbook").
By the way, looking at picture brings back such good memories of my time in Samoa. It was taken out in front of Nettie's right on the sea wall. That basalt like dark gray rock of the sea wall is very distinctive.