Pa’i’ai and Po’i (Pressure Cooker/Blender/Food Processor)

Pa’i’ai is undiluted poi. This recipe was used for royalty (ali’i), elders, and babies. 

Prep Time: 30 min  

Cooking Time: 60 min

Ingredients:

• Taro Root (cut to 2”-3”cubes)
• 1” of water (in pressure cooker)

Pa’i’ai 

1. Handle taro with kitchen towel or gloves. Try to avoid direct skin contact until cooked. (Raw taro, without skin, has calcium oxide which causes intense itchy/irritable skin response until thoroughly cooked.) Rinse and pat dry with a kitchen towel. 
2. Scrub/scrape the outside of the taro, much like a potato, until only the white root is exposed. 
3. Cut in 2”-3” cubes.
4. Place taro in a pressure cooker with 1” of water.
5. Set pressure cooker timer for 60 minutes, then press the default cook button. 
6. While the taro is still moist from steaming or boiling, fill the bowl/food processor to ⅓ capacity.
7. The goal is to gradually break down a solid into a fine paste matter, while concurrently stretching the paste matter to yield glucose or sweetness from the taro. More stretching = more sweetness!
8. Begin at a low setting for 2-3 minutes, to chop up the taro. Then gradually increase the speed until the solid taro chunks mash into a fine paste, free of large chunks.   
9. Continue to mash the fine paste to taste. 

Poi

1. Merely add water to dilute, and continue to blend/mash water until it is absorbed. The paste will become more pliable to the texture of syrup.