Ingredients
The sap
- 4 litresfresh coconut sap
- jekaro, collected the same day
- or 4 litres fresh palm sap
Equipment
- a wide heavy pan
- a fine sieve or cloth
- clean jars with lids
Poured over
- boiled breadfruit
- pandanus
- taro or arrowroot
- coconut flesh
- pancakes and bread
Directions
- Boil it the same day it is collected. Or keep it cold until you can. Pour the fresh sap through a fine sieve.
- Line it with cloth for a cleaner result. Pour the strained sap into a wide pan.
- Use the widest pan that you have. A narrow deep pan takes twice as long. Bring it all up to a steady boil. Skim it off with a large spoon.
- Keep skimming through the first half hour. Reducing it takes several hours. Let it boil steadily and uncovered. Give it two or three full hours.
- Stir it regularly once it thickens. Judging when it is done is the whole skill. Drop a little onto a cold plate. It should thicken but still be pourable.
- Keep children well away from the pan. Let it cool for about ten minutes. Pour it into clean dry glass jars.
- Seal them once it is fully cool. Concentrated syrup keeps for months. Pour it over pandanus or taro. It keeps six months sealed and cool.
Technique
- Jekaro is sap tapped from the coconut flowering stalk, not the water inside the nut, and it begins fermenting into an alcoholic toddy within hours, so it must be boiled the same day it is collected or the sugar is already gone and the syrup will be thin and sour.
- Tapping means climbing the palm twice a day, and falls from coconut palms cause serious injuries; the atlas records the practice rather than teaching it.
- Four litres of sap reduce to about half a litre of syrup over two or three hours, and the concentration is what preserves it, so an under-reduced syrup ferments instead of keeping.
Substitutions
- Any fresh palm sap can be reduced the same way.
- Bought coconut syrup is sold across the Pacific and needs no boiling.
Variations
- Fresh jekaro is drunk sweet, and left to ferment it becomes an alcoholic toddy.
- The syrup is poured over breadfruit, pandanus, taro and coconut alike.
- It is stirred into drinks as a sweetener as well.
History
Boiling jekaro sap concentrates it into a keeping syrup, historically an important source of sugar and minerals on the atolls.
Frequently asked questions
What is Jekmai?
Jekmai is a sauce & condiment from Marshall Islands: coconut sap boiled into amber syrup for drizzling and sweetening. Boiling jekaro sap concentrates it into a keeping syrup, historically an important source of sugar and minerals on the atolls.
How long does Jekmai take to make?
Jekmai takes 20 minutes of preparation and 3 hours of cooking. The recipe makes about 500 ml syrup. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Jekmai?
Yes, within limits. Any fresh palm sap can be reduced the same way. Bought coconut syrup is sold across the Pacific and needs no boiling.
What is the most important thing to get right in Jekmai?
Stir it regularly once it thickens. Judging when it is done is the whole skill. Drop a little onto a cold plate. It should thicken but still be pourable.
