Coco syrup

This is one of my favorite merienda treats: kamote fries with coco syrup dip.  The taste of coco syrup is sweet and pleasant with honey-like texture.  It is also devoid of any after taste which is common in other alternative herbal sweeteners like stevia.

Coco syrup is 100% natural and considered among the best natural sweeteners. Like coco sugar, the Glycemic Index of coco syrup is 35 and thus, classified as a low glycemic index food. 

Coco syrup, much like coco sugar, contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, phosphorus and boron. These minerals are necessary for many functions of our body, such as muscle and bone growth, cell production, mental development and immune system, and enzyme regulation. Compared to brown sugar, coconut sugar has 36 times the iron, four times the magnesium, and over 10 times the amount of zinc.

It is said that coco syrup and coco sugar are safe for those with diabetes and  hypertension.  Most important, they enhance the overall well-being of health-conscious individuals.  

Interestingly, many Americans, Australians, Japanese and Europeans are not aware that their favorite chocolate bars and pancakes and waffle syrups contain a healthy sweetener made from fresh coconut sap, extracted from coconut trees grown in the Philippines.

For the most part, the syrup topping is organically processed in a small plant located nine kilometers from downtown Bansalan, Davao del Sur. It is in the middle of a once-barren five-hectare farm.  In 2009, its coco syrup was the first coconut sweetener in the world to be exported to the US and Australia, with ten drums containing 2000 liters as initial shipment, according to its owner Benjamin Lao.

The immense popularity of the coco syrup in the US spurred a spike in export shipment, which now averages 56 drums every 60 days.  Lao earns an average gross of P2.5 million every shipment. Less the overhead cost, the profit from coco syrup contributes much to the earning of his small-scale business firm, the Lao Integrated Farms, Inc.  Currently, his firm now boasts of a P10 million worth of assets.

Apart from pancakes, waffles and chocolates, the coco syrup produced by Lao's farm is widely used as sweetener for other food products in restaurants and for industrial and pharmaceutical purposes, both locally and internationally.

Besides as dip for kamote fries, I also use coco syrup, believe it or not, as dip for sliced fresh tomatoes -- even with boiled ube (purple yam) taro (gabi), cassava (kamoteng kahoy) and squash.  You may also try coco syrup with fresh fruit, such as saba banana and strawberries.  They make wonderful condiment with healthy vegetable and fruit snacks, indeed.  And needless to say, coco syrup is simply scrumptious with pancakes, waffles, and French toast. 

Virtually every syrup company makes coconut syrup nowadays Even Starbucks has its own Fontana® Coconut Syrup.  But be careful and read the labels.  Most of these manufacturers produce coco syrup from specially-blended concoctions consisted of coconut milk, water and sugar.

The 100% all-natural coconut sugar and syrup is produced by collecting the sap from coconut tree blossoms.  Bamboo containers are used to collect the sap of the coconut trees right at the blossoms.  When the coconut trees are tapped, they produce a continuously flowing inflorescence (nectar or sap) that exudes from the coconut blossoms.  

To remove excess moisture, it is subjected to a minimal evaporation process at low temperatures for about an hour.  The end result is the raw honey-like coco syrup. When further evaporated into crystal form, coconut sugar is produced. 

Bohol Coco Farm Coco Syrup - 250ml bottle is P40 each

Bohol Coco Farm's raw honey-like consistency of its coco syrup is without a doubt my primary choice. That is because the farm's product development team is very meticulous, most especially with the quality and cleanliness of their resources’ operations, techniques and methods.  

Thus, I’m confident that I am getting true value for my money.  Besides, Bohol Coco Farm's coco syrup is simply marvelous, and without any of that unsettling after taste.

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Suggested read:

Setting The Record Straight: Coconut oil vs. Oil production

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Coco Sugar

I have a sweet tooth, or to be more precise, I am a sugar addict -- since as far back as I can remember.  At any large banquets, I would always feast my eyes on the alluringly laid out desserts and sweets on the buffet table first, while on the festive array of various delectable cuisine second.

When I first tasted coco sugar, I was not at all impressed by it.  I thought it lacking in sweetness as compared to muscovado and brown sugar.  This was during the time I was searching for an alternative to refined white sugar and chemically-concocted artificial sweeteners.  You see, I was once seriously addicted to aspertame (diet Coke), which I had eventually kicked.  And then I realized that the candies I usually munch on are also laden with chemicals. 

Through further readings, I kept coming across the health benefits of coco sugar.  And then one day, when I ran out of candies, instead of replenishing, I went for a small pack of coco sugar.  

I experimented by having a half teaspoon of which whenever I had sudden cravings for something sweet.  It was then I began to appreciate the coco sugar's unique taste and texture.  Henceforth, a small glass container of these sweet brown crystals replaced the colorfully-wrapped candies in my humble abode.

Here are some nutritional values of the natural coco sugar:

Coco sugar is 100% natural and considered among the best natural sweeteners.  It is also touted as a “wonder sugar” because of its myriad health benefits. 

The Glycemic Index of coco sugar is 35 and is classified as a low glycemic index food, and considered safe for diabetics. 

Moreover, coco sugar contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, phosphorus and boron.  When compared to brown sugar, coconut sugar has 36 times the iron, four times the magnesium, and over 10 times the amount of zinc.

The human body does not produce minerals; therefore, we must provide it with minerals through the foods that we consume.  These minerals are important factors in the many functions of our body, such as muscle and bone growth, cell production, mental development and immune system, and enzyme regulation.  In essence, our body requires these minerals to facilitate the vitamins to work efficiently in our system.

And speaking of vitamins, coco sugar also contains 12 of the B vitamins, including thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, nicotinic acid, biotin, pyridoxal and inositol. It is especially high in the vitamin inositol, which is necessary for nerve transmission, metabolism of cholesterol and the redistribution of fat within the body. In addition, inositol has been used to treat diabetes, depression and panic attacks.

The coconut sap, from which coconut sugar is derived, contains 16 out of the 20 amino acids. This sugar is especially high in the amino acids glutamic acid, which makes glutamine, threonine, aspartic acid and serine. 

Glutamine is very important for our metabolic function. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, glutamine can also be effective for the healing of wounds and injuries, building up the immune system, treating inflammatory bowel syndrome, helping with HIV/AIDS patients, and possibly help in the treatment of cancer.

With all these health benefits and unique whole food flavor, how can one go back to munching on candies, right?  Indisputably, coco sugar defies the old health adage: "The only thing good about sugar is that it tastes good."  Thus, as with anything, enjoy coco sugar in moderation.

Sources: Livestrong.com and Coconut Sugar Philippines

Bohol Coco Farm's coco sugar packs

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Thank you!

Bahalina

Instead of a Dom Perignon photo to usher in the New Year, I thought it more appropriate to feature an image of a bottle of the local Bahalina.  That way, I’ll feel like I’m participating in the Boholanos’ great love for celebrating New Year’s Eve.

I am not much of an alcohol drinker, but ever since my first trip to Bohol, I’ve always been curious about the locals’ preferred drink.  Bahalina, they say.  I know of tuba and lambanog, but nothing about bahalina.  This could also be just the local term for either the tuba or lambanog. No, bahalina is bahalina, I was told.

I finally had a taste of bahalina at The Buzzz Cafe.  As mentioned, being not much fan of alcoholic drinks, or wine, for that matter, I had no way of intelligently describing the bahalina’s taste.

Be that as it may, I ran into a couple of locals, Aris and Ayeh, who know about bahalina-making as learned from their family elders.  Since unable to describe its taste, perhaps, giving a basic description of how it's made will somehow absolve my shortcoming, in this regard.  Here’s what they told me:

Homemade Bahalina a la Boholano

Bahalina has its beginning from fresh tuba taken straight from the coconut tree into a bamboo casing about 5 inches in diameter and 12 inches in length, and then stored about five days. Some tongog may already be added in the bamboo casing.  Tongog is a pulverized concoction of certain plants that gives the tuba its reddish hue.

After that 5-day period, the tuba is then poured into 1-gallon glass bottles (to its fullest so that no air is allowed inside) and then sealed tightly.  Plastic jars may also be used but connoisseurs prefer using glass jars or bottles.  Plastic, they say, tend to compromise the taste.

When transferred into bottles, after only a day, the tuba becomes bahal.  There are older folks who prefer to drink the one- to four-day old bahal, which has retained a bit of the sweetness of the tuba yet, has formed a mild sourness.  But only a couple of days later, the bottled bahal will completely lose any of its residual sweetness.

The bottled bahal is then filtered by using a cotton cloth to remove the laog, or sediment.  The newly-filtered bahal is then transferred into new glass bottles.  This filtering process is done on a daily basis and can take as long as three months, or a hundred days.  The laog or sediment must be completely removed; otherwise, the not-so unfiltered bahal will turn into vinegar.

Once completely filtered, the bottled bahal is then buried into the ground, about a foot deep, for about two months, at least.  After that period, the filtered bahal has now become bahalina. However, the bahalina straight from the buried bottle comes with a tangy taste; hence, the locals add about two liters of Pepsi-Cola for every gallon of bahalina.  Some people use honey as sweetener, while others prefer powdered grape juice.

The bottled bahalina can last for many years.  In fact, connoisseurs prefer the aged bottles, at least five years.  That is because the older it gets, the bigger the hagtik or kick that it gives.  But for the even more serious connoisseurs who crave for that even bigger hagtik, they derive the tuba from a nipa tree, instead of just from any regular coconut tree; the entire filtering process of which remains the same.

Now, the remaining question: where did bahalina originally come from – Bohol or Leyte?

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Wishing everyone a wonderful and safe New Year’s Eve celebration!

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Related links:

Going Against The Current: Bahalina

Bahalina Livelihood Project

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Please note:

I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.

Thank you!

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