Dodol: The Coconut-Palm Sugar Candy

Dodol — a dense, chewy, toffee-like candy made from glutinous rice flour, coconut milk, and palm sugar — cooked for 4-8 HOURS of continuous stirring until the mixture thickens to a paste that pulls away from the sides of the pot and sets into a firm, sliceable block when cooled. Dodol is both a candy and a preservation technique — the dehydrated, sugar-concentrated block keeps for weeks.

• Filipino yema (same coconut-sugar candy principle — different technique), Thai khanom tom (same coconut-palm sugar candy family), Japanese yokan (same dense, sliceable confection — bean-based instead