Papua New Guinea Food Guide

Saksak (Sago)

Sago palm starch is a staple carbohydrate, usually cooked into porridge or dumplings. It's a filling base for a meal and a regular fixture in the local diet.

Kumu (Greens)

Kumu covers a range of leafy greens, from fern tips to wild spinach, cooked down into dishes for their vitamins and minerals.

This is sago pearls cooked in coconut milk with sugar, sometimes with pandan leaf or vanilla. As they cook the pearls turn translucent and gelatinous, and the pudding is served warm or chilled, often topped with fresh mango, banana or coconut shavings. It's a coastal dessert, made where both sago palms and coconuts grow, and it works much like tapioca pudding with sago standing in for tapioca. A few plain ingredients turn PNG's everyday staples into something sweet.

PNG mangoes are remarkably sweet and fragrant, especially the ones from the coastal lowlands. The season runs from November to February, with the first real abundance arriving in November. People eat them fresh as an everyday dessert, slice them at meals, or blend them into smoothies. Bogia mangoes from Madang Province have a name for sweetness and almost no fiber. Mango trees stand in village gardens, and roadside markets pile up with fruit once the season starts. They're simple and refreshing, and a few varieties keep green skin even when ripe, which catches out visitors expecting orange or red.

These pancakes mix grated fresh coconut with flour (or sago flour for a gluten-free version), eggs, sugar and coconut milk, then fry in coconut oil until golden with crisp edges. Some people call them coconut fritters. You'll see them at markets and street stalls, and hotels serve them for breakfast or dessert. The coconut flavor runs all the way through, sweet and rich, and coastal cooks use the fresh coconut they have on hand. It's a newer dish, marrying PNG's coconut tradition to the Western pancake. Eat them warm, maybe with a drizzle of honey or a side of tropical fruit.

Cassava cake is dense and moist, made from grated cassava (manioc or yuca) with coconut milk, sugar, eggs, and sometimes condensed milk or vanilla. The cassava gives it a starchy base while the coconut milk adds richness, and it bakes until a golden top forms. The texture lands between flan and cake, custardy and a little chewy. You'll find it in Port Moresby bakeries and at village celebrations. Cassava itself is grown widely as a drought-resistant staple, and the sweet version turns a plain root vegetable into dessert. Made without wheat flour, it's gluten-free.

Sweet potato, sliced or in chunks, cooked down in sugar syrup with coconut milk and cinnamon, sometimes ginger. The kaukau caramelizes and turns tender and sweet, eaten as a dessert or a snack. It takes PNG's everyday staple and makes a treat of it. Highland communities usually eat kaukau savory, but coastal and urban cooks sweeten it, and market vendors sell the candied version. Fresh kaukau comes from the spring sweet potato harvest, and the simple preparation lets the natural sweetness of the orange-fleshed varieties come through.

Ripe papaya, sliced and finished with a squeeze of lime. It's about as simple as dessert gets, just tropical fruit at its best. Pawpaw grows easily all over PNG, with backyard trees fruiting year-round in both red-fleshed and yellow-fleshed kinds. The lime sharpens the papaya's sweetness, and some people add salt and chili for a savory edge. Papaya carries papain, an enzyme that helps digestion, so it doubles as a breakfast fruit or a light dessert. Lowland regions see plenty of it through the spring.

Ripe bananas dipped in batter of flour, egg, sugar and coconut milk, then deep-fried until golden and crisp. They're served hot, sometimes dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled with honey, the soft caramelized banana inside playing off the crunchy shell. It's a common street and market snack, and because PNG grows so many banana varieties the flavor shifts from sweet to starchy depending on which one ends up in the batter. Towns and the coast take to them most. Quick to make, good as an afternoon snack or dessert, and best eaten fresh and hot. The spring banana harvest keeps fruit plentiful.

Fresh coconut water frozen into ice blocks or shaved ice for a cooling treat. Street vendors sell kulau ice at markets and roadsides, mostly in the hot coastal regions, and sometimes mix in lime, pineapple or mango juice before freezing. The coconut water brings natural electrolytes, so it hydrates as well as it cools. It's a childhood favorite across PNG and a cheaper, healthier stand-in for shop ice cream. Lowland heat keeps demand high, and the flavor is naturally sweet with a faint nuttiness, the country's plentiful coconuts turned into dessert.