🇰🇮 I-Kiribati Cuisine

Te Karewe

Fresh Coconut Toddy

Prep Time 12 hours
Servings 4
Difficulty Hard

Sweet, unfermented sap freshly collected from coconut flower spathes. A nutritious morning drink rich in vitamins and natural sugars.

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. 1 Before dawn, the toddy cutter climbs the coconut palm using a rope loop technique passed down through generations.
  2. 2 The tip of the coconut flower spathe is shaved with a thin sharp blade to open fresh sap channels.
  3. 3 A clean coconut shell container is secured beneath the cut spathe to catch the dripping sap.
  4. 4 The sap drips slowly throughout the morning, collecting about 250ml from a single spathe over several hours.
  5. 5 Collect the shell by mid-morning before the tropical heat causes fermentation to begin.
  6. 6 Drink immediately while fresh and sweet, or store in a cool place and consume within a few hours.

Did You Know?

Fresh toddy contains more vitamin C than orange juice and was historically the primary source of this vitamin for atoll dwellers who had limited access to fruit.