Saturday, July 6, 2013

Tonga: Day 3 - Malo e lelei!

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

We took a stroll to the Utukalongalu Market to restock our fruits and vegetables

It looks like a shady area, but it is actually quite the opposite. Everyone is very friendly here.

Browsing through the various produce for sale, we came across the legendary Kava root. We found it already ground up into a powder for us and the lady vaguely explained ho to make it.
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Kava is an alcohol substitute that is supposed to have a relaxing mild narcotic effect when made into a drink and consumed.

That evening, using the vague instructions we got from the lady at the market, we tried making it. 

We first put the kava into a strong napkin,

then rolled it up tight,

then soaked it in water,

and tried twisting/pressing the kava juice out.

The napkin was too weak and fell apart, so we transferred the kava to a piece of an old t-shirt (clean) that we cut off.

The shirt held together when twisting much better.

But the Kava still didn't really turn out. It was far too weak and just tasted like water.

So then we googled how to do it and took the first method we found online, which involved mixing it in a big pot, like hot chocolate,

and then straining it through an old t-shirt into a glass (why always an old t-shirt?)

This was a bit better, but still a fail in our opinion. We finally tried boiling it with some coconut milk (as we read the active substances in Kava are not readily water soluble and require some sort of fat - ie. coconut milk).

This turned out much better and we ended up with a hot, bitter beverage as thick as gravy. It was incredibly disgusting. It was so bitter it would make you gag at every sip. The only effect we felt from it was that it made your mouth and throat numb like a throat lozenge. I had three cups and called it quits because I couldn't choke down any more.

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