Without benefit of a tested and proven recipe, I first started by making sugar syrup, with as little water as possible. The sugar always dissolved very slowly and, when I failed to control the fire, began caramelizing and turning brown, even before I had added the grated macapuno meat. And to evaporate most of the water I used in making the syrup, as well as the moisture contained in the coconut meat, the mixture had to be cooked for a long time with continuous stirring. However patiently I stirred the preserve, its color usually became smoky brown before it was dry enough to be rolled.

Then one day, I asked a young lady selling the macapuno nuts in nepa-q-mart how one should cook macapuno preserves so that they will not be soggy. She modestly replied that she herself does not know how to cook but that her mother simply (1) mixed equal volumes of grated macapuno meat and refined sugar; (2) allowed the mixture to stand for about 30 minutes; and (3) cooked the mixture over low fire with slow continuous stirring until the preserve became relatively dry.

I tried the process she described, using only half volume sugar and ended up with a clean sparklingly white translucent preserve which I rolled into balls and dusted with confectioner sugar. The balls from six macapuno nuts did not last one day.

I recommend that the amount of sugar be reduced to half the volume of macapuno meat so that the preserve will not be very sweet, thus allowing you to katakam-takam-ly enjoy the macapuno flavor. A word of caution though… finish the preserve in a day or two or store them in the freezer. Reducing the sugar will make the preserve prone to fermentation.

In addition to the macapuno balls I make, another favorite gift I like to give to friends is the bottled balled macapuno preserve which is produced in a Laguna town and which is available in a house in Pasay City.

Ching