Bukayo

Bukayo: Filipino Coconut Candy in Caramelized Sugar

Bukayo is a Filipino candy of mature coconut strips simmered in brown sugar until the syrup turns thick and amber and sticks to every piece. It is chewy, sweet and a little toasty, made with only coconut, sugar and a pinch of salt.

About Bukayo

Bukayo is one of the oldest sweets of the coconut islands. It is made across the Visayas and in many Tagalog provinces, sold in small plastic bags at market stalls, bus stops and church fairs, and packed into boxes as a pasalubong (a gift brought home from a trip). The name is the same in most of the country, though the texture changes from place to place: some cooks stop while the strips are still soft and syrupy, others cook them until they are dry, hard and almost brittle.

The method has no tricks. Strips of mature coconut meat go into a pan with sugar and a little water, and you stir over low heat until the sugar goes from liquid to syrup to caramel. The sugar does the work, and what you are watching for is the color and the sound: the bubbles slow down and get bigger, and the syrup stops running off the spoon.

Bukayo pairs with the other coconut recipes on the site. If you open a coconut for it, keep the water to drink, grate the leftover meat for Biko or Buko Pie, and use the husks for the fire if you cook outdoors.

Ingredient notes

• Mature coconut meat: use a brown, mature coconut, not a young green one. The meat should be firm and white, about 1 cm thick. Young coconut meat is too soft and falls apart in the syrup.
• Muscovado sugar: gives the deep molasses flavor and the amber color. Brown sugar works, with a lighter taste.
• Water: only enough to dissolve the sugar at the start, it all cooks away.
• Salt: a tiny pinch sharpens the sweetness.

Tips for the best Bukayo

1. Cut the strips the same size. Thin strips about 5 cm long and 3 mm wide cook evenly. Thick pieces stay raw inside while the outside caramelizes.
2. Use a wide pan. A wide pan has more surface, so the syrup reduces faster and the strips are not stacked on top of each other.
3. Keep the heat low and stir often. Sugar goes from amber to burnt in less than a minute, and low heat gives you time to catch it.
4. Stop when the syrup clings, not when it is dry. Take the pan off the heat when the strips are glossy and the syrup is thick. It will keep thickening as it cools.
5. Spread it out to cool. If you leave bukayo in a heap, the strips set into one lump. Spread them in a single layer so each piece sets on its own.

What to serve with Bukayo

Serve bukayo as it is, with hot coffee or salabat (ginger tea), or with a plain bowl of rice porridge. It also works as a topping on Halo-Halo, where the chewy caramel strips go in with the shaved ice.

Variations and substitutions

• Softer, syrupy bukayo: stop cooking earlier and serve the strips with the syrup, the way it goes into halo-halo.
• Dry, hard bukayo: cook longer until the syrup crystallizes on the strips, then leave them to dry.
• With sesame: stir 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds in at the end.
• With calamansi: a few drops of calamansi juice at the end give a faint sour note against the sweetness.

Storing and reheating

Store bukayo in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. In a humid kitchen, keep it in the refrigerator. If the strips stick together, warm the container briefly in a low oven (100 °C, 5 minutes) and separate them.