Ingredients
Harvest and cure
- 3 kgfresh pepper spikes (Piper nigrum), picked when one or two berries on each spike have turned red-orange
- 4 litreswater, at a rolling boil, for blanching
- Woven mats or drying racks, and full sun
- Airtight jars, for storing
A Pohnpeian table use: pepper and lime salt
- 2 tbspPohnpei black peppercorns, cracked coarsely in a mortar
- 2 tbspcoarse sea salt
- Finely grated zest of 2 limes
- 1 tspsugar (optional)
Directions
- Pick the spikes at the right moment.
- Strip the berries from the spikes by hand, or leave them on the stem for a day so the fruit loosens, then sort out any leaves, stalks and shrivelled corns. Blanch the berries in rapidly boiling water for 1 minute, until the green darkens noticeably.
- Drain and spread the berries one or two deep on clean mats in full sun. Dry for 3 to 5 days, raking them every couple of hours and bringing them in each evening before the dew, until the corns are shrunken, wrinkled, hard, and rattle on the mat.
- Serve as a dip for hot baked breadfruit, taro and yam, or as a rub for vegetables and anything else that goes on the coals.
Technique
- Pohnpei pepper is grown under the shade of the island’s forest trees on volcanic soil, without chemical inputs on most smallholdings, and is prized for an aroma that is more citrus and floral than the flat pungency of bulk commodity pepper. Commercial planting on the island dates from the mid twentieth century.
- Black, white, green and red pepper are all the same berry treated differently. Black is blanched and sun-dried whole; white is the ripe red berry soaked in water for a week or more until the pulp rots off, leaving the pale seed; green is preserved before drying.
- Grind pepper at the moment you need it. The piperine that makes it hot is stable, but the volatile terpenes that make Pohnpei pepper worth buying are gone within days of grinding.
- Dry it properly or not at all. Under-dried corns go mouldy in the jar, and mouldy pepper is not salvageable.
Substitutions
- No sun: a dehydrator at 55°C (130°F) for 12–18 hours, or the lowest oven with the door propped, will dry blanched berries, though the flavour is slightly baked.
- No fresh spikes: buy whole Pohnpei black peppercorns and make the lime salt; the point of the pepper is the whole corn, not the processing.
- Sarawak or Kampot pepper are the nearest widely available equivalents, both similarly aromatic.
Variations
- Pohnpei white pepper, made by retting the ripe red berries, is milder and more earthy.
- A simple dipping sauce of cracked pepper, lime juice and salt is used across Micronesia for anything cooked over embers.
- Some growers smoke a small amount over coconut husk, a modern speciality rather than a traditional one.
History
Pepper vines were introduced during the German administration before 1914 and revived as a smallholder export crop grown beneath breadfruit trees.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pohnpei Pepper?
Pohnpei Pepper is a sauce & condiment from Micronesia: aromatic black peppercorns grown under forest shade, mild and citrus-scented. Pepper vines were introduced during the German administration before 1914 and revived as a smallholder export crop grown beneath breadfruit trees.
How long does Pohnpei Pepper take to make?
Pohnpei Pepper takes 1 hr picking and sorting of preparation and 5 min blanching, 3–5 days sun-drying of cooking. The recipe makes about 1 kg of dried black pepper from 3 kg of fresh spikes. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Pohnpei Pepper?
Yes, within limits. No sun: a dehydrator at 55°C (130°F) for 12–18 hours, or the lowest oven with the door propped, will dry blanched berries, though the flavour is slightly baked. No fresh spikes: buy whole Pohnpei black peppercorns and make the lime salt; the point of the pepper is the whole corn, not the processing. Sarawak or Kampot pepper are the nearest widely available equivalents, both similarly aromatic.
