Sago - Part of the diet of the Ambunti area

One of the main foods in the Ambunti area is the inside of the sago palm tree. Once the sago palm tree has grown very large it is cut down and sliced open lengthwise.

A young sago palm tree picture

The inside of the palm tree is pulverized with a special hand made tool. Often this is done by the men but it varies according to the tradition of the village.

After the inside of the sago palm tree has been mashed very finely, the women wash it in either a trough or a bag. The people always work close to a stream so that water can be poured into the sago and the mixture kneaded. Notice the dirty water used to wash the sago.

The runoff is caught in a container and this contains the sago, which is called saksak in Tok Pisin. Once the water is drained off the sago it is allowed to dry and it is sold at the market. The sago is prepared in several different ways. Hot water is added to it and it is stirred with two sticks. Once it is a manageable consistency it is rolled onto the sticks and placed into banana leaves. This mixture is allowed to cool, and supper is ready. Just open the leaf and eat the sago-

There is very little taste to sago and consistency is like rubbery jello. Sometimes the sago is fried by just adding a small amount of water to the dried sago making it look like a pancake and this does give it a little more flavor, but it remains very dry tasting.

The best method of preparation is when bananas and coconut are added to the sago and it is cooked over the fire in a banana leaf. Above Oum is making sago.

Oum puts Sago in a banana leaf to cook.

The sago then looks like a cake and is quite tasty. However, one can only eat a small portion as it is very filling.

As far as my research was able to discern, sago is a carbohydrate and has no other nutritional value. I would appreciate any further information on the nutritional value of sago should someone be familiar with the product.