Sugar Palm: The Jelly Seeds Behind Palm Sugar

Sugar Palm (Palmyra) — ตาล (tan) — Borassus flabellifer.

Sugar palm gives us jelly-soft fruit and the sap boiled down into palm sugar. The edible part is the fruit and sap. In diabetic rats, palmyra-palm sprout extract was tested against blood-glucose markers. Khanom Tan is a sweet steamed cake made from ripe sugar palm fruit and coconut milk, traditionally served warm topped with shredded salted coconut. Kaeng Khua Hua Tan is a rich curry with thinly sliced young sugar palm simmered in spiced coconut milk, classically paired with steamed jasmine rice. The jelly-like fruit seeds are eaten fresh, and the sap is boiled into palm sugar or fermented into drinks. The everyday product — palm sugar or toddy — is about 70 to 80% sugar. It's a very slow-growing, long-lived landscape palm.

Khanom Tan — ขนมตาล (kha-nom-tan)
Kaeng Khua Hua Tan — แกงคั่วหัวตาล (gaeng-khua-hua-tan)

Research context

Palmyra-palm sprout extract lowered blood glucose in diabetic rats — Biomed Biotechnol Res J, 2023 (animal study)

Sources

Source: Peter S et al. (2023). Antidiabetic effect of Borassus flabellifer extracts in STZ-diabetic rats. Biomed Biotechnol Res J 7(1):72-78. DOI:10.4103/bbrj.bbrj_4_23

Narration transcript

Opening

Those slippery, translucent jelly cubes in Thai desserts are the young seeds of the sugar palm, and its sap is boiled down into dark palm sugar. Sugar palm — ตาล, dtan. You eat the jelly-soft seeds fresh, and the sap becomes the sugar stirred into the pot.

Khanom Tan (Steamed Toddy Palm Cake) (ขนมตาล)

This sweet steamed cake, khanom tan is made from ripe sugar palm fruit and coconut milk, traditionally served warm and topped with shredded salted coconut.

Kaeng Khua Hua Tan (Toddy Palm Curry) (แกงคั่วหัวตาล)

This rich curry, kaeng khua hua tan features thinly sliced young sugar palm simmered in spiced coconut milk, classically paired with steamed jasmine rice.

Closing

The everyday product, palm sugar or toddy, is still about 70 to 80 percent sugar, so enjoy it for the flavor and use it sparingly. The palm itself grows slowly and can live for decades. Follow Longevity Biome, and LIKE this video for regular updates.

Related playlists