Paua fritters, taro chips, and soft tofu dill cream sauce

Hello everybody, I’m so excited to introduce you to these 3 easy recipes that I learned from Mere Marshall in Rotorua, New Zealand!

It was great to visit her because I had been looking forward to meeting her. If you want to know why I think she’s such an inspiring person, please check out her fan page on my website. She invited all her family members and friends over for a big party on the day we filmed. We had a great time!

Abalone is known as paua to the Maoris. Paua, which is found off the coasts of New Zealand, is dark green and looks a lot different from the abalone that we see outside of New Zealand. But it tasted exactly like the abalone we all know. The inside of a paua shell looks like colorful jewels. I had paua fritters twice in New Zealand during my visit to Jamie Frater’s house in Wellington and Mere’s house in Rotorua.

There are 3 recipes in this video: traditional New Zealand paua fritters, taro chips, and a recipe Mere created: a dipping sauce made with Korean soondubu (soft tofu) and dill leaves. Making a dipping sauce with soondubu was a brilliant idea! How come I didn’t think about this! The dipping sauce is so creamy and flavorful, but not greasy at all because it’s made with soft tofu! It’s also totally vegetarian. I’m sure you will be impressed by the soft creamy sauce, just as I was.

Mere says:

“Paua fritters are a real kiwi dish often had on a Friday with fish and chips. My recipe is an old standard with taro instead of potatoes. They are delicious as chips and my own tofu and dill cream to go well with it. This is a nod to my enjoyment of herbs and tofu or dubu. Added to this dish, the cream is like satin and flavoursome without being too rich. Vegans can enjoy it too.”

The cameraman for this video was Kristian Robin Lomath, a very talented artist and a friend of Mere’s. Thanks for being the cameraman, Kristian!

Paua fritters

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

• 2 cups minced paua (abalone)
• 1 sliced bread, processed into crumbs
• 2 tbs flour
• ¼ ts baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 ts kosher salt, and ground black pepper to taste
• 1 ts of thyme leaves
• ¼ cup chopped shallots
• 1½ tbs milk
• Olive oil for frying

Directions

1. Put all the ingredients except for the vegetable oil into a large bowl. Combine well.
2. Heat up a fry pan and add olive oil.
3. When the oil is hot, place 2-3 tbs amounts of the paua mixture in the pan. Press down a little, keeping them in a round shape. Cook for about 5 minutes per side at medium heat.
4. Place cooked paua fritters on absorbant paper and keep warm while finishing the remaining fritters.

Taro chips

Ingredients (2-4 servings)

• 1 cup’s worth of taro, peeled, washed, pat dried, and sliced thinly

Directions

1. Shallow fry the slices in vegetable oil until they are lightly browned and crisp.
2. Place on a paper towel to drain.
3. Serve with pauafritters and tofu and dill cream.

Tofu and dill cream sauce

This is a very creamy yet light sauce/cream that is nice with both paua and taro chips.

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

• 1 package of soft tofu (a little more than 1 cup)
• 1 tbs chopped dill leaves
• 1 clove of garlic
• juice of ½ lemon
• ½ ts white pepper
• 1ts kosher salt
• 1 tbs olive oil

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor. Process until the dill is well combined with tofu.