Freeway Refresher

Heading northeast on highway 58, in the Malaysian state of Perak, we encounter a stretch of roadside stands hawking air nira nipah - nipa palm sap.

We know that palm nectar is drunk in southeast Asia, fermented and mildly alcoholic (sometimes called 'toddy'), and in a version distilled and much stronger. But fresh sap sold as a beverage is something new to us. The vendors along this stretch of highway are clearly Malay, so we know that what they're peddling will have about as much kick as a glass of water.

This cluster of air nira nipah stalls is explained by Sungai Dedap, the river we've just driven over. Brackish water-loving nipa palms grow on riverbanks and in mangroves. As we backtrack over the river later in the day we keep an eye out and, sure enough, both banks of the river are crowded with squat, multi-trunked nipas.

Nira - which refers to the sap of any palm, not just the nipa variety - is collected from the tree's immature flower buds. It begins to ferment as soon as it leaves the bud for the collection vessel. Some collectors who plan to make sugar from the sap drop a tiny piece of kulit gelam (bark of the cengal tree) into the container to inhibit fermentation (other methods are used as well).

This vendor (like others, we assume) collects his sap at dawn and slows fermentation by getting it on ice straightaway. The cold nira is tasty and refreshing. We detect hints of coconut, perhaps a whiff of something vanilla-ish. It's sweet but not cloyingly so (sugarcane juice and fresh coconut juice are much sweeter), and much less sweet than the aren palm sap we tasted on Sumatra. (Sugar made from nipa sap is, likewise, the least sweet of all the palm sugars we've sampled.)

Ever on the palm sugar trail, we ask if any nipa sugar is being made in the area. The vendor looks at us like we're crazy. Sugar from air nipa nipah, he asks? Yes, we tell him - in Sarawak (on Malaysian Borneo) locals use the liquid to make semi-liquid gula apong. We'll have to deliver a sample to him next time we're up highway 58.

What, we wonder, does he do with his leftover nira? He points to the bottles of milky liquid in front of him (above and opening photo): cuka, or vinegar. Palm vinegar (made from both coconut and nira palms) is a Philippine kitchen staple but less commonly seen in Malaysia. Its smell is off-putting - strong enough to stink up the car, slightly alcoholic - but the taste is mild and intriguingly complex, like no Western vinegar we've ever tasted. He recommends sprinkling it over barbequed fish. Another nira and cuka vendor we speak with later in the day describes mixing the vinegar with chopped chilies, garlic, and shallots and sprinkling it over fish that's headed for the steamer. Her husband takes a spoonful a day, straight - good for high blood pressure, he says.

Air nira nipah, highway 58 just north of the Sungai Dedap, Perak, Malaysia.

Comments

[rosie]

How interesting. I hadn't heard of this drink before today. I love learning about new things like this. I thought the drink in the cup looked very thirst-quenching with it's ice-cube and straw.

[Robyn]

Rosie - this was new to us to. Very refreshing indeed. Thanks for your comment.

[RST]

You can be very sure that the vessels used to harvest and to store air nira nipah are squeakily clean as the slightest bit of contamination would precipitate the process of fermentation or worse, cause the entire batch to "turn". This is the same case with the delicious but unstable aguamiel from the maguey plant (which is made into maguey nectar and of course pulque).

[Robyn]

RST - certainly. Though we did find an insect floating in one of our bottles of vinegar. ;-) Wonder if we leave these vinegars aside if they will mellow a bit, or become more fermented.
BTW got a link for aguamiel (is that 'honey water'?)?

[Nilmy Atha]

I heard that cuka nipah may be used to cure kidney stone. Can anyone who have heard this clarify how it is used. Thanks

[Felicity Tan]

The fresh air nira taste refreshing with ice. Cost about RM2.50 for a bottle of 325ml fresh air nira. The Nira Cuka cost RM2 for a 325ml. Nira Cuka = nira enzyme = alkaline. Good for kidney stone n reduce high blood pressure.

[Manoj]

How I miss Nira here in South Africa.. :(