Traditional Marshallese Food & Drink: 9 Foods to Try

For a sweet introduction to Marshallese ingredients, try a bōbshake, a creamy drink made with pandanus fruit. In Marshallese, bōb means pandanus, a tree that has supported life on the atolls for generations through food, fibre and building materials.

The giant pandanus fruit can grow to an impressive size and is naturally rich in sugar and vitamin A. Blended into a shake, it has a sweet tropical flavour that feels distinctly local rather than like another standard fruit smoothie.

Pandanus is also used in several other Marshallese preparations. The fruit can be preserved as a paste called jāānkun and is even distilled locally into “Bōb Whiskey”, which appears later in this guide.

Where to Try: Lokoben (Lagoon Road, Djarrit) and Tide Table Restaurant (Hotel Robert Reimers, Uliga). You may also find fresh bōbshakes at local markets, festivals and weekend stalls outside hotels, where vendors from areas such as Laura sell fruit drinks and traditional snacks.

Also spelled jakaro, jekaro is the traditional Marshallese name for sweet coconut sap collected from the unopened flowering stalk of a coconut tree. It is a milky white drink with an intensely sweet flavour.

After travelling all the way to the Marshall Islands, you may already know all about drinking coconut water straight from the shell. But it turns out the locals have a very different idea about which part of the coconut tree should end up in your cup.

Be warned, fresh jekaro is very, very sweet. Many people dilute it with extra water, which makes the flavour easier to enjoy without feeling as though you have accidentally ordered liquid dessert.

The drink is sometimes described as coconut toddy, although the fresh version served in restaurants is prized for its natural sweetness rather than alcohol.

Where to Try: Enra Restaurant (Marshall Islands Resort, Delap), Tide Table Restaurant (Hotel Robert Reimers, Uliga), Riwut Restaurant (Lagoon Road, Uliga), DAR Coffee Corner (Uliga Back Road, Uliga), Local Market (Marshall Islands Resort, Delap) and more. You may also find fresh jekaro at festivals and weekend stalls outside hotels, where vendors from areas such as Laura sell fruit drinks and traditional snacks.

Bōb Whisky is one of the Marshall Islands’ most unusual local drinks, made in Majuro by Divine Tree Distillery, also known as the Marshall Islands Pandanus Co.

Despite the name, it is technically not whisky. Traditional whisky is made from grains such as barley or wheat, while Bōb Whisky is a spirit distilled from fermented pandanus juice.

The process begins with juice extracted from the pandanus fruit, traditionally known as kolombur. This was once done by scraping the fruit by hand, an exhausting job that the distillery now handles with a mechanised juicing machine.

The juice is fermented with sugar and yeast before being distilled. The final spirit is smooth, with the distinctive sweet and earthy flavour of pandanus, and is believed to be the only spirit of its kind made from pandanus fruit anywhere in the world.

The distillery also produces breadfruit vodka, using the starch of breadfruit in much the same way that potatoes are used for vodka elsewhere. Still, Bōb Whisky remains the star product, probably because “pandanus spirit from Majuro” is a far better holiday story than “we bought vodka”.

Where to Try: K&K Island Pride Supermarket (Lagoon Road, Delap), Jittak Likatu Bar & Grill (Lagoon Road, Delap), Toeak Bar & Grill (Lagoon Road, Uliga), Happy Hands (The Shoreline, Uliga), Elefa Handicraft (Lagoon Road, Uliga) and selected Chinese stores around Majuro. You can also pick up a bottle straight from the source, Marshall Islands Pandanus Co. (Uliga Back Road, Uliga), which is about 100 yards/metres south of DAR Coffee Corner.

Tōñut, also written tonaaj or tōñaak, is the Marshallese take on the donut. Call it whatever feels easiest; everyone will understand once a warm bag appears.

Homemade tōñut are often shaped into round balls, while shops usually make the familiar ring shape. They are plain, with no icing, extra sugar or elaborate toppings, and are at their best when eaten fresh.

Locals often describe them as “mini donuts”, although they look fairly regular-sized to us. Bags costing around US$4 commonly contain ten, making them one of Majuro’s best-value breakfast treats.

Tōñut are often eaten warm with instant coffee or boiled eggs. Arrive early, as the freshest batches have a habit of disappearing before anyone who slept in has fully accepted their mistake.

Where to Try: Anmarwut Gas Station (Rita Back Road, Rita), Mon LiSaitem (Rita Back Road, Rita) and more.

Namonamo is a hot dog wrapped in a traditional Marshallese pancake or sweet fried bread, making it part breakfast, part convenience-store snack and entirely difficult to ignore once you spot one.

The wrapping is usually made from a simple batter of flour, sugar, baking powder and eggs. Similar sweet fried breads are common at breakfasts and family gatherings, but adding a hot dog turns the idea into one of the more playful modern Marshallese foods.

Soft, slightly sweet and easy to eat on the go, namonamo is the sort of snack that makes perfect sense after one bite. It may not be ancient island cuisine, but it has certainly earned its place in everyday local food culture.

Look for namonamo in convenience stores and petrol stations around Majuro.

Where to Try: Mon LiSaitem (Rita Back Road, Rita), DTK Gas Station (Riwut Corner, Uliga) and more.

Jāibo, also written jaibo, is a traditional Marshallese dessert made from soft flour dumplings cooked in thick, sweet coconut cream.

The dumplings are usually prepared from a simple mixture of flour, water and sugar, then simmered until tender. Fresh coconut cream is added to create a rich, gooey texture somewhere between a porridge, pudding and very comforting bowl of island carbohydrates.

The flavour is sweet and creamy without needing elaborate toppings. It is the sort of dessert that proves flour and coconut can do quite a lot when left alone together.

Where to Try: Riwut Restaurant (Riwut Corner, Uliga) - usually part of the "Local Combo", DAR Coffee Corner (Uliga Back Road, Uliga) and sometimes at the Local Market (Marshall Islands Resort, Delap) and Laura weekend food stalls.

Mā is the Marshallese word for breadfruit, one of the islands’ most important traditional staple crops alongside pandanus.

Although breadfruit is technically a fruit, it is not particularly sweet. Its dense, starchy flesh is usually boiled, baked, roasted or mashed, appearing in local preparations such as mā kellel and as a side dish at everyday restaurants.

For an easier snack, look for mā chips. Thinly sliced and fried until crisp, they are one of the simplest ways to try breadfruit without committing to an entire traditional feast.

Breadfruit’s high starch content also makes it suitable for fermentation. The Marshall Islands Pandanus Co., the same Majuro distillery behind Bōb Whisky, uses it to produce breadfruit vodka.

Where to Try: Yokwe Grab ’n Go (Lagoon Road, Bakan), DTK Gas Station (Riwut Corner, Uliga), DAR Coffee Corner (Uliga Back Road, Uliga), Local Market (Marshall Islands Resort, Delap) and more.

Banke, also called rice-banke, is a warming Marshallese porridge made by simmering rice with diced pumpkin, butternut squash or sweet potato.

The ingredients are cooked in coconut water or rich coconut milk until the rice softens and the vegetables begin to break down. The result is thick, creamy and gently sweet, somewhere between a savoury side dish and a very comforting bowl of porridge.

Rice-banke is often served warm alongside freshly caught fish or other seafood. The creamy coconut and sweet pumpkin balance salty grilled or fried fish particularly well.

Where to Try: DAR Coffee Corner (Uliga Back Road, Uliga), Riwut Restaurant (Riwut Corner, Uliga) - usually part of the "Local Combo", Local Market (Marshall Islands Resort, Delap) and more.

With ocean in every direction, it is no surprise that fish plays a central role in Marshallese cooking. Local catches are grilled, fried, sautéed or served raw as sashimi and poke.

Common reef fish include grouper, known locally as kūro, snapper such as jato or jaab, mullet called iōl and surgeonfish known as kwi. The exact selection changes with the day’s catch, so the fish market is often the best place to see what is available.

Tuna is particularly important, appearing as tuna steak, sashimi, poke and everyday plate lunches. It is also one of the country’s most significant fishing exports, making it as important to the economy as it is to the dinner table.

Where to Try: Enra Restaurant (Marshall Islands Resort, Delap), Tide Table Restaurant (Hotel Robert Reimers, Uliga), Riwut Restaurant (Lagoon Road, Uliga), DAR Coffee Corner (Uliga Back Road, Uliga), The Flame Tree (Lagoon Road, Delap), The Food Truck (Delap Park, Delap), Island Star (Lagoon Road, Uliga), Akia Cafe (Airport Terminal), Yokwe Grab 'n Go (Lagoon Road, Batkan) and just about everywhere!