Mokwan

Ingredients

Fruit

• 6ripe pandanus fruit heads, Pandanus tectorius

Equipment

• a large pot
• a wooden mortar or a heavy board
• a coarse sieve or a cloth
• mats or trays for drying

Nothing is added

• no sugar, no salt, no water beyond cooking

To store

• dried banana or pandanus leaves, for wrapping

Directions

1. Pull the individual keys off the central core. Discard the woody central core. Trim the hard fibrous tip off each key. The soft coloured base is where the pulp is.
2. Put the trimmed keys in a large pot. Add enough water to cover them. Bring it to the boil and cook them for about an hour. Drain them and let them cool enough to handle. Work from the base towards the tip.
3. Pound them enough to release the pulp but not to shred the fibre. Discard the fibre, which is inedible. Put the strained pulp in a wide heavy pan.
4. Cook it over a low heat, stirring constantly. This takes an hour or more depending on quantity.
5. Take handfuls of the thickened paste. Press them into flat cakes about a centimetre thick. Press them firmly so no air is trapped inside. Drying them is what makes them keep.
6. Lay the cakes on clean mats or trays in full sun. Turn them once a day so both sides dry evenly. Bring them in overnight so dew does not soften them.
7. Cover them with netting if insects are a problem. Dry them for three to five days in strong sun. Wrap each cake in dried leaves or in paper. Keep them somewhere dry and airy rather than sealed. They keep for months when properly dried.

Technique

• The fibre is inedible; the whole method is about separating pulp from it.
• Cook the pulp until it pulls away from the pan, since undercooked paste moulds.
• Press out all air pockets, as they are where mould begins.

Substitutions

• There is no real substitute, since it depends on the specific fruit.
• An oven on its lowest setting in place of sun drying.

Variations

• Made with coconut cream worked into the paste.
• Softened in water and eaten as a fresh paste.
• Made into smaller cakes for easier carrying.

History

Pandanus pulp is cooked and dried into keeping cakes, a voyaging provision on an archipelago spread across huge distances of ocean.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mokwan?

Mokwan is a snack from Marshall Islands: pandanus pulp cooked and dried into a sweet preserved paste. Pandanus pulp is cooked and dried into keeping cakes, a voyaging provision on an archipelago spread across huge distances of ocean.

How long does Mokwan take to make?

Mokwan takes 1 hour of preparation and 2 hours, plus several days drying of cooking. The recipe makes about 15 cakes. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Mokwan?

Yes, within limits. There is no real substitute, since it depends on the specific fruit. An oven on its lowest setting in place of sun drying.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mokwan?

Cover them with netting if insects are a problem. Dry them for three to five days in strong sun. Wrap each cake in dried leaves or in paper. Keep them somewhere dry and airy rather than sealed. They keep for months when properly dried.