How palm sugar is made!

In my previous article about national tree of Cambodia #Palm tree, it explained about why palm tree is essential. Besides many benefits, it can also produced tons of brown sugar every year. Now, it is the season of palm sugar!

Just this weekend when visiting my family, I stopped at few houses that are producing palm sugar. It is one of the great experience seeing them making it.

The lady who produces palm sugar

How to make the palm sugar?

Pam sugar, also called brown sugar is a result from refining palm juice into sugar. Palm sugar is very essential in Cambodia cuisine thousand years ago. They are widely used not only in dessert or sweet, but in soup, marinating meat/fish - in short in every meal. Putting palm sugar is just tasty as soup powder. When I cook, I only put salt and palm sugar.

• Palm sugar is made from palm juice. Some people would eat breakfast by only put rice into palm juice and eat like that! 
• Good palm juice is collected only 4 months each year - in dry season between December - April when there are no rain at all. When it rains, the palm would not produce palm juice. One tree can produce about 20liters of palm juice/day.
• Palm juice then will be pour into the big port and put over the fire (strong fire) and the person would sit and watch it until it becomes very thick.
• It has to be refined as soon as possible after collecting palm juices from the trees or the palm juice will turn sour - a sour palm juice [palm wine] that taste just like wine - cannot produce sugar from it anymore! Palm wine was introduced here on Connect by @Austinelewex  just recently.
• Final product of palm sugar is 2-3$/kilo. In the market, it costs between 5-8$/kilogram
• Brown sugar is a powder sugar, another process from the refining. 

Watching how the palm sugar is made here

• Since it is become commercialized, then there are some factories that proceed it. Watch here how it is produced for commercialized. 
• Here is the traditional way of making it. Here to make it a small piece.
• My video about palm sugar making.

• The process

  Palm sugar is widely used in the cuisine in Cambodia, in food. Now, it is also being used in the caf'e which produced a great aroma coffee.

  • Palm sugar is used as seasoning in meal
  • It is used to make a sweet taste in dessert/sweet
  • It can be eaten raw with yam or potato
  • It can be used as the main ingredients in the coffee, in state of white sugar - taste better!

  The products

  Using brown sugar or palm sugar in the dessert or sweet provide great taste and aromaDry seoson - after harvesting rice is the best season to collect palm juice