Palm Sugar

Just like maple syrup, the process of making palm sugar begins with harvesting the tree sap and then boiling it down until it reduces so that the sugars are concentrated into a thick syrup. From there it can be sold in that state, or dried into sugar cakes or crystals.

There are different varieties of palm sugar, each derived from the sap of different species of palm tree like the coconut palm, date palm, or others. These varieties have a range of flavors and appearances — some are darker, some paler, some with deeper, fuller flavors, some with lighter, more neutral taste. Palm sugar is sometimes used in savory dishes, but is obviously most common in desserts and sweets.

Alongside its versatility, palm sugar also has the added benefit of being unrefined. This means it retains many of the minerals and vitamins that are otherwise processed out of white and brown cane sugar. Uwajimaya carries palm sugar syrup and palm sugar cakes in our grocery department.