Hala fruit

What it is

The head measures 4–20 cm (1.6–8 in) across and holds 38 to 200 keys. Pull one out and the rest come apart easily. In edible varieties, ripe keys turn bright orange or orange-red and smell sweet. The soft types can be eaten raw; tougher ones are boiled or baked.

Where it comes from

Hala, Pandanus tectorius, grows naturally along coasts from the Philippines and Indonesia through northern Australia and across the Pacific. It is native to Hawaiʻi, where it grows on all the main islands except Kahoʻolawe. In the Marshall Islands, on the dry northern atolls of Aelok, Likiep and Mājeej, few food plants thrive, but pandanus grows well and in abundance.

How it's eaten where it grows

Marshallese mokwan begins with keys cooked in an earth oven. The juicy paste is pressed out, simmered until it turns red or light brown, and spread over banana leaves to dry in the sun. The dried sheets are rolled up and wrapped in pandanus leaves. A little dissolved in water makes the drink jōnnōb.

On the Rālik atolls of Ujae, Lae and Wōtto, the same kind of paste is called jāānkun, and sailors take it on voyages, slicing off pieces with no further cooking. Eating a fresh key means sucking or chewing the fibres at its end.

How it's grown

Hala bears its fruit on female trees. Food varieties are grown from branch cuttings so the new plants keep the parent’s qualities. The tree handles hot, windy coastal ground, including salty and sandy soils. Its long leaves have another harvest: Hawaiians weave them into mats, hats, baskets and canoe sails.

When and where you'll find it

Fresh edible keys keep poorly once picked, so ripe pandanus is best eaten soon after picking. Dried paste is the travelling form. Half the Marshall Islands' people live on Majuro and Ebeye, where there aren't enough pandanus trees for everyone, so family, friends and church groups bring paste in from the outer islands.