Coastal Staple · Sago Dumplings
Saksak
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Photo coming soon
This staple is a starch, not a grain — pounded from the pith of the sago palm rather than grown as a crop at all.
Saksak is sago flour mixed with mashed banana, wrapped in banana leaf and boiled in coconut milk into a soft, chewy dumpling. Traders from Gulf and Western Province bring it into Port Moresby's markets, where it's sold as a quick, filling snack.
Why it's made this way: Sago palms grow wild across the swampy river deltas of the Gulf, Western and Sepik regions, and processing the starchy pith into saksak has fed coastal communities there for generations, long before rice reached PNG.
Roughly what's in it
320kcal
3gprotein
68gcarbs
6gfat
Estimated per typical street-vendor portion — not lab-tested.
More from Papua New Guinea
Part of World of Street Food — 3248 dishes from 118 countries.
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