Coreefa Flower Iti Ngau ([It]-[E] [GAO])

Tamati laid out five palm leaves, one for each member of her family. The children had done well today. The surface of the kōhua was a bouquet of pinks, purples, and yellows. The Coreefa flowers soaked in rosewater, Tamati's specialty, for no less than an hour. As they finished, each flower had plumped up to double its weight, and the juicy petals encouraged Tamati to work swiftly. Their soft glow made her proud-- these were high quality flowers.
Using her clawed fingers, Tamati gingerly plucked each flower out of the water and arranged them on top of mouse-sized cakes of rice. They had enough for more than fifty pieces of iti ngau, it was to be a feast!

Drasiken Favorites

In the arcane jungles of Iuan, all matter of plants and animals exist with ambient magical charge. Magic permeates almost everything in Iuan, including the food chain. The Drasiken, draconic humanoids who inherited their ancestor's magical manipulative properties over their Dragonborn cousin's inherited martial and breath abilities. 
Drasiken culture is heavily structured around the acquisition of magical power and ability. One way, a favorite way, that the Drasiken have demonstrated this ideal is through the delicacy of iti ngau. 
Iti ngau literally translates to "small bites" in Drasikese. Iti ngau is always composed of a shaped cake of spongey Waina Rice and topped with a special ingredient. Iti ngau can be prepared with various foods, like fruits, insects, and fish. However the preferred method of preparation is with Coreefa flowers.
Coreefa flowers are exclusively native to southeastern Iuan. The best way to describe the appearance of a Coreefa flower would be like that of a water lily combined with a hens and chicks succulent. The petals of a Coreefa flower are rigid, and the entire plant (like many in Iuan) subtly glows under moonlight. 
The flower is abundant in the southeastern region and Drasiken can usually be found foraging for them at all times of the year. 
Coreefa must be soaked in lukewater water to quell the tough rigidity of the flower and to extract its more complex flavors. Humans who have tried a Coreefa flower have described the taste as being similar to a starfruit mixed with a kiwi and the texture as being "extremely juicy."
Various Drasiken families have their own unique ways of flavoring and enchancing the dish. It's said that each family has their own recipe. 
The benefit of eating Coreefa flower is the transfer of the flowers latent mana into the body of the consumer. For a Drasiken, eating a Coreefa flower has the same stimulating effect that coffee has for other people in the world. This stimulating effect has the additional benefit of strengthening Drasiken magic and allowing them greater control over their spells.
Drasiken mages in apprenticeship may consume hundreds of Coreefa iti ngau during their training. Some Drasiken even have small restaurants entirely dedicated to either the flavor of their iti ngau or the magical boosting effects of their Coreefa flowers. 
The dish is dangerous for non-spellcasters to consume as the food quite literally "poisons" the consumer with magic. If someone is incompatible with magic, this can have an extremely painful affect.
Coreefa flowers are also mildly addictive-- again like coffee-- and consuming a great number, as in hundreds, of the flower has the short-term consequence of exciting hallucinations and visions in the consumer and the long-term effect of dyeing the consumers insides and teeth various florescent shades and hues. To Drasiken, this is welcome and even enjoyed.

Components and tools

Coreefa Iti Ngau can be prepared following these steps. It is a very simple dish.

1. Start by bringing a kohua to a rolling boil. Then, add in the waina rice, reduce heat, and simmer for one hour.
2. Bring another kohue to a lukewater temperature and fill it with your preferred soaking liquid. Common liquids are water, milk, animal fat, fish oil, or cocoa syrup.
3. When the rice is done, create mouse-sized paddies on a palm leaf bed. Optionally, you may choose to wrap your rice in tooma leaves, kombu, or animal skin.
4. Gently arrange and top the rice with Coreefa flowers. If soaked correctly the flowers should sit with a mild spring. If the flowers droop, the water was too hot. If the flowers cut your mouth, you did not soak them long enough.  

Participants

Drasiken are hugely protective of every aspect of Iuan, including iti ngau. It is a very rare occurance indeed for the Drasiken to share their food with an outsider. Only a handful have. Genecans are, unsurprisingly, banned from eating the food.

Observance

The Fifth Moon of the Drasiken New Year is a night where Coreefa iti ngau is distributed in large public festivals. This moon is meant to symbolize the start of the wet season and is a night of increased magical potency around Iuan.

Drasiken Family "Secret" Ingredients:

• "Add a generous pinch of freshly boiled sea salt to the rice!" - Huna Kotota family
• "Pluck the petals off the flowers first, then lay them out horizontally!" - Whakapoto family
• "Soak the flowers in rosewater! Extra floral flavor!" - Puawai family
• "Allow the petals to chill in an ice box overnight, then serve the dish cold." - Makariri family
• "SOAK THE PETALS IN GENECAN BLOOD!" - Kaha family
• "Wrap morsels of paiselbren in the petals for some meat." - Kaikiko family
• "Cast thaumaturgy on the flowers while they soak, it brings out the magic properties!" - Makutu family
• "Dragon up and eat 'em raw." - Paitini family
• "Everyone's unique way is delicious! Try them all!" - Kaitito Ariki, Champion of Drasiken