Palm Sugar

Boiled down from the sap of either the palmyra/toddy palm or the coconut palm, palm sugar and coconut sugar come to market in Thailand in huge tins called beep, earning both these sugars the name "nahm tahn beep".

Interchangeable in recipes, they are used to sweeten or simply for balance and complexity in the seasoning of many savory Thai dishes. Brown sugar is typical in the North, where sugar-cane thrives and palm trees and scarce. White granulated sugar is a staple in every kitchen and on noodle shop tables. Either makes a decent substitute for palm sugar. Palm sugar's texture and color vary from a lusciously thick pale and shiny paste resembling solidified honey, to hard, plump little cakes that can be broken up and chopped or crushed down to a powdery, measurable state. If palm sugar hardens in the jar, microwave gently to soften it.