Cassava wraps with belly pork and mango and tamarind relish

Tam West

This recipe from inspired by a recent trip to Vanuatu. Read all about it here. The wraps are good warm or cold and come from Votausi MacKenzie-Reur, the founder of Lapita products. The pork and the mango relish are my idea. Cassava is also called manioc or tapioca, so this may help you find it in the store.

Wraps

1 ¾ cups	Milk
2 cups	Tapioca flour (Main)
3	Eggs, beaten
1 pinch	Salt
1 pottle	Coconut oil, for frying

Pork and relish

1 stalk	Lemongrass, a large one, squashed
4	Garlic cloves, squashed
3 cm	Ginger, sliced
3	Star anise pods
800 g	Pork belly, skin scored almost down to the flesh in parallel lines (Main)
1 Tbsp	Vegetable oil
1 large	Mango, peeled, flesh sliced off the stone and diced 1 cm
2 Tbsp	Tamarind paste, (I use the Pantai Norasingh brand)
3 Tbsp	Palm sugar, grated
½	Red chillies, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp	Lemon juice
2 Tbsp	Coriander, thily sliced
1	Baby cos lettuce, leaves of

Directions

1. Put all the ingredients, except the coconut oil, into a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.
2. Heat a heavy medium-sized frying pan over moderate heat. Wipe the surface of the pan lightly with coconut oil on a paper towel.
3. Working in batches, pour ¼ cupfuls of batter into the pan, quickly spreading the batter with the ladle before it cooks. Cook until the bottom browns and bubbles appear on the uncooked surface. Turn over and cook until the underside is brown and just starting to puff up. Cover the wraps with a clean cloth while finishing the rest.

For the pork and relish

1. Heat the oven to 180C.
2. Put the lemongrass, garlic, ginger and star anise into a roasting dish.
3. Place the pork in the bottom of a clean sink, skin side up. Boil a full electric kettle and pour the boiling water over the pork skin. This will make it shrink and make crisp crackling. Remove from the sink and dry well.
4. Place the pork on top of the lemongrass mix in the roasting dish, skin side up. Drizzle oil over the skin and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven for 1 ½ hours or until tender and crisp on top. I usually just turn the grill on for the last 5 or 10 minutes to make sure the crackling is bubbly and crunchy, but be careful as it will burn easily. Remove from the oven, cool and slice thinly. Reserve.
5. Meanwhile put the mango, tamarind, palm sugar, chilli, lemon juice and coriander into a bowl and mix well. Taste and season with salt. Reserve.
6. Serve each wrap filled with a few slices of pork, some lettuce and some mango relish.

See more of Ray's Vanuatu-inspired recipes

• Watermelon and orange iced tea
• Rice rolls