Green & Exotic Pandan

Native to the Asian tropical regions pandan is a green herbaceous plant that has been cultivated for culinary purposes. Enjoyed for its unique sweet aromatic flavor pandan is an ingredient in many Thai dishes. Pandan is especially popular as an ingredient in sweet dishes. Cakes, muffins, pies, breads and more, it is easy to add pandan to baking recipes. This exotic ingredient offers a vibrant green color to foods that look truly out of this world.
     

The flavor is difficult to describe and must be experienced first hand. Consider this, people who grew up consuming the flavor pandan are very accustomed to its taste, and say describing the flavor is like describing the taste of vanilla. In fact pandan is often called the vanilla of southeast Asia. Here are some easy ways to get started adding this tropical flavor to dishes.

Pandan is available as a bottled flavor extract but fresh is always best. The plant is available potted and can make a great addition to an indoor garden. Check out this video from Larry’s Botanicals YouTube Channel for more information on care of the pandan plant.

It is from the long shiny green leaves  of the fresh plant that the flavorful juice can be extracted. An electric juicer can be used to extract the juice but if none is available pandan juice can be extracted manually with this process.

1. Chop fresh pandan leaves into chunks. Add to a food processor or blender with 2 tablespoons of water. Blitz ingredients until smooth.   
2. Place mixture of pandan into mesh or cheesecloth and squeeze until juice is separated and collect in a small bowl.

The extract is easy to add to most recipes. Simply combine a tablespoon to the wet ingredients of most recipes where it would seem appropriate. Try this exotic flavor for yourself and add a new spin to your culinary world.

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