How to boil water in a leaf
“Hunger finds no fault with the cooking”
Cooking and fire starting have a couple of things in common: in both cases preparation is the most time consuming (and essential) element and in both cases knowing how to do it is not the same as being able to do it. Mastering either skill takes practice.
A couple of days ago I went into the jungle to cook breakfast and demonstrate a few tips and tricks for cooking in the jungle, in particular how to boil water in a leaf. It was also an opportunity to practice my own fire starting techniques as it is the rainy season here and that makes fire starting even more challenging than usual.
Being able to boil water in a leaf was something I’d been curious about for some time. Freelander (a regular contributor to this site) had sent me some photos of daun meliat – a pliable leaf used for boiling water in – but I haven’t, as yet, been able to find/identify it here. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I was in Bera where Stem (an Orang Asli) showed me how to make a scoop from a palas palm leaf. My first thought was “could this be used to boil water in?” and after a bit of experimentation I discovered that it can.
The (unopened) leaves of palas are traditionally used in the preparation of ketupat (a glutinous rice dish served during idul fitri) and, as such, I assumed there wouldn’t be any toxicity issues … and I haven’t suffered any ill effects from the water I’ve boiled in palas leaves.
But how useful is it to know how to do this little trick with a palas leaf? Well, it all depends what sort of situation you find yourself in: if bamboo is close at hand then all manner of pots and cups can be quickly fashioned; but what if there isn’t any bamboo, your only water source looks a bit dodgy and you want to boil it first?
What I like about the leaf method is that it’s very quick to make the container and the palas palm is quite prevalent in the jungle, so it is relatively easy to find. In the west the same sort of trick is done with containers fashioned from bark into which hot rocks are placed to boil and sterilize the water.
Knowing how to make bannock is another useful and simple skill to have. The basic recipe is 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt, but you can add in all sorts of other ingredients as well: I usually add in 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of milk powder and as many raisins as the mix will hold.
The jungle contains all sorts of useful leaves – some are enormous (terap/banana leaves) and make shelter building a breeze, some can protect you from the bugs (e.g. tobacco leaves to keep the leeches at bay), dry leaves are an important aid to fire-starting, some can be used as sandpaper, some will stop a wound from bleeding….the list goes on and on and I’ll try to cover at least some of their many other uses as we go along.
Hi JC!
I´ve been watching your vids for a while now and they are really awesome! You really are a very knowledgeable person and proper bushcrafter. A great mentor, my friend. The world needs more people like you, no doubt about it!
This last video of yours is great! Keep up the good work!
Just wanted to let you know what I think.
All the best!
LoneWoodpecker
Hi LoneWoodpecker,
Many thanks for the comment and the very kind words, much appreciated. I am fortunate that there are many people here in Malaysia (particularly amongst the Orang Asli) who are happy to share their knowledge of junglecraft with an outsider like myself and it is great to hear that there are people out there in internet-land who find these traditional skills of the Orang Asli as interesting as I do. For my part, I love to watch videos on bushcraft from other parts of the world and think it’s a great way for all of us to share what knowledge we have….I even know how to make an igloo from watching a Youtube video but very much doubt I’ll use that particular piece of knowledge over here!
Anyway, thanks again for the support.
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
I had always heard you could boil water in a leaf but had never seen it. Very cool! I, like yourself, usually use bamboo when available. However, I have at times also used a palm spathe ( the canoe shaped covering of palm inflorescences) with good results. They can hold quite a bit of water too! The bannock on a stick brought back great memories of my scouting days!
Cheers!
Gabriel
Hi Gabriel,
Many thanks for the comment and glad you liked the leaf water boiling trick. I guess that many ‘unlikely’ containers could be used for boiling water like this as the water stops the material from burning, but what I like about using the palas leaves is that it’s so quick and easy to make the container. I’ll keep a look out for the palm spathes you mention and try that too.
Bannock does seem to be a Boy Scout staple meal all over the world! I like it as long as it doesn’t make a mess of my pots and pans and so prefer to cook it on a stick. Another Boy Scout favourite is to take a sausage (cook it first) and then wrap it in bannock mix (cook it over a fire) and you get a sausage roll!
Cheers!
Paul
Bannock and egg for breakfast in the Jungle, perfect. I love the leaf trick and is good to know. Thanks for sharing again.
Hi John,
Thanks for the comment and it was, as I remember, a good breakfast! It’s funny how food always seems to taste so much better when you’re out in the wilds!
Cheers!
Paul
Hi Paul,
Something I was considering trying and maybe if it works shooting a video about was trying to bake a bannock inside of bamboo. Essentailly force the mixture into a piece of green bamboo and set it on a bed of coals then when it is done cooking split open the bamboo like sticky rice…Any experience or advice, have you tried anything like that before..
Thanks,
James a fellow jungle dweller
Hi James,
Many thanks for the comment and idea on bannock. I’ve never tried cooking it in bamboo but don’t see why you can’t and will give it a go next time I’m out cooking breakfast! Certainly the Orang Asal here often use bamboo to cook – usually for the fish and rice – but with meats or anything they want browned they usually slow cook it on a skewer above the fire.
Thanks again for the tip,
Cheers!
Paul