Khmer ethnic people in An Giang province’s Tinh Bien district are veryproud of their sweet speciality, Thot not sugar, which is made from thesap of palmyra palms.
This kind of palm sugar isdistinguished by its dark yellow colour, sweat taste and specialflavour, which is quite different from other sorts of sugar.
In Tinh Bien district, almost all houses owned by the Khmer people are surrounded by palmyra palms, sometimes fields full.
Thotnot trees have the appearance of both coconut palms and sugar datepalms. Every year, the trees produce fruit from October to the followingApril, according to the lunar calendar.
Thotnot sugar has become popular for its sweet smell. It can be used forpreparing sweetened porridge or other similar dishes.
According to a research by Indian scientists, palmyra palm sugar canbe used for preventing diabetes because of its light sweet taste. It isalso good for preventing strokes and heart problems, especially forchildren and women.
Thot not sugar is produced by tapping the sapfrom the inflorescence of a palmyra palm. It takes a palmyra palm 15years to flower and produce enough sap for cooking sugar.
Inorder to collect the sap, workers must climb to the top of the palmtree, cut its flowers and then catch the liquid oozing from the cuts.Once the sap is collected, it must be cooked within 12 hours. Otherwiseit can become sour.
In April every year, in all corners of the area inhabited by the Khmer people, sugar workshops operate.
Palm sap is poured into a pan and is cooked until it becomes condensed and fragrant.
Atfirst, the cooking stage is thought to be simple, but it is not so. Ifthe cook is not careful, the batch of sugar will be burned. Therefore,it is necessary for the cook to watch the fire and stir constantly formany hours to get a delicious batch of sugar.
Neang Quach, aproducer of Thot not sugar in Nhon Hung Commune, Tinh Bien district saidfor each batch of sugar, she pours around 30 litres of sap and then shewill add some more when it evaporates.
According to her, about 90 litres of sap can produce around 16 kilos ofsugar. When the sap is condensed, she will take the pan out and stirfirmly. Moreover, it is necessary to control the fire carefully.
Whenthe cooking stage is finished, palm sugar is poured into small roundmoulds and then packed in plastic bags. There is also a traditional wayof packaging where the sugar is covered by dry palm leaves.
Today, Thot not sugar is distributed in many localities in the country and also exported to Japan.
Apalm tree can only give about 20 kilos of sugar each crop. In order tocook a batch of sugar, it is necessary to extract from so many trees.During the peak season, even at night, many people still work hard toget the last drops of the sap from the trees.
An Giangprovince now accommodates 30,000 palmyra palms that can produce morethan 6,000 tonnes of sugar a year. This is the main income source of theKhmer people.-VNA
This kind of palm sugar isdistinguished by its dark yellow colour, sweat taste and specialflavour, which is quite different from other sorts of sugar.
In Tinh Bien district, almost all houses owned by the Khmer people are surrounded by palmyra palms, sometimes fields full.
Thotnot trees have the appearance of both coconut palms and sugar datepalms. Every year, the trees produce fruit from October to the followingApril, according to the lunar calendar.
Thotnot sugar has become popular for its sweet smell. It can be used forpreparing sweetened porridge or other similar dishes.
According to a research by Indian scientists, palmyra palm sugar canbe used for preventing diabetes because of its light sweet taste. It isalso good for preventing strokes and heart problems, especially forchildren and women.
Thot not sugar is produced by tapping the sapfrom the inflorescence of a palmyra palm. It takes a palmyra palm 15years to flower and produce enough sap for cooking sugar.
Inorder to collect the sap, workers must climb to the top of the palmtree, cut its flowers and then catch the liquid oozing from the cuts.Once the sap is collected, it must be cooked within 12 hours. Otherwiseit can become sour.
In April every year, in all corners of the area inhabited by the Khmer people, sugar workshops operate.
Palm sap is poured into a pan and is cooked until it becomes condensed and fragrant.
Atfirst, the cooking stage is thought to be simple, but it is not so. Ifthe cook is not careful, the batch of sugar will be burned. Therefore,it is necessary for the cook to watch the fire and stir constantly formany hours to get a delicious batch of sugar.
Neang Quach, aproducer of Thot not sugar in Nhon Hung Commune, Tinh Bien district saidfor each batch of sugar, she pours around 30 litres of sap and then shewill add some more when it evaporates.
According to her, about 90 litres of sap can produce around 16 kilos ofsugar. When the sap is condensed, she will take the pan out and stirfirmly. Moreover, it is necessary to control the fire carefully.
Whenthe cooking stage is finished, palm sugar is poured into small roundmoulds and then packed in plastic bags. There is also a traditional wayof packaging where the sugar is covered by dry palm leaves.
Today, Thot not sugar is distributed in many localities in the country and also exported to Japan.
Apalm tree can only give about 20 kilos of sugar each crop. In order tocook a batch of sugar, it is necessary to extract from so many trees.During the peak season, even at night, many people still work hard toget the last drops of the sap from the trees.
An Giangprovince now accommodates 30,000 palmyra palms that can produce morethan 6,000 tonnes of sugar a year. This is the main income source of theKhmer people.-VNA
