Pandanus paste is a dried fruit preserve made from the fruit of

Pandanus tectorius ''Pandanus tectorius'' is a species of ''Pandanus'' (screwpine) that is native to Malesia, Papuasia, eastern Australia, and the Pacific Islands. It grows in the coastal lowlands typically near the edge of the ocean. Common names in English inclu ...

, most commonly found in the low-lying atoll islands of

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of approximately 2,000 small islands in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: Maritime Southeast Asia to the west, Poly ...

. In the harsh climate of the atoll islands, Pandanus fruit serve as an important staple food and numerous methods were created to preserve them. The preserved paste was known as ''edongo'' in

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

, ''jããnkun'' or ''mokwan'' in the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands, is an island country west of the International Date Line and north of the equator in the Micronesia region of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The territory consists of 29 c ...

, ''sehnikun in kipar'' in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

and ''te tuae'' in

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

Preparation

Ripe Pandanus fruits are harvested and cooked for a long period of time in an

earth oven An earth oven, ground oven or cooking pit is one of the simplest and most ancient cooking structures. The earliest known earth oven was discovered in Central Europe and dated to 29,000 BC. At its most basic, an earth oven is a pit in the ground ...

. The cooked fruit is then crushed and scraped to extract the pulp and thinly layered on leaves to dry out in the sun for several days, turning over occasionally to ensure an even drying process. Once dried, the paste is cut, rolled and tightly wrapped in pandanus leaves, which are then tied. The paste has a flavour resembling dried

dates Date or dates may refer to: * Date, the fruit of the date palm (''Phoenix dactylifera'') * Jujube, also known as red date or Chinese date, the fruit of ''Ziziphus jujuba'' Social activity *Dating, a form of courtship involving social activit ...

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of tree or shrub in the flowering plant family Moraceae, native to the Mediterranean region, together with western and southern Asia. It has been cultivated since ancient times and i ...

s and is often mixed with coconut cream to create various foodstuffs. Dried Pandanus paste is rich in

Vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is an essential nutrient. The term "vitamin A" encompasses a group of chemically related organic compounds that includes retinol, retinyl esters, and several provitamin (precursor) carotenoids, most not ...

, containing more beta-carotene than raw or cooked Pandanus fruits. Pandanus paste can further be dried out in an earth oven and pounded to create a flour, which is mixed with water to create a drink. The flour is known as ''ekareba'' in Nauru and ''te kabubu'' in Kiribati.

References

Micronesian cuisine Gilbertese cuisine Nauruan cuisine Marshallese cuisine {{cuisine-stub