Source: Mashed
Ahh Autumn, one of the most beautiful times of the year. As the leaves turn into pretty shades of red and orange, in this month’s post, we will be talking about another kind of leaf – pandan! Pandan is an ingredient that we use in pandan chiffon cake, which is one of our newest items on the menu.
In this post, we will talk about:
What pandan is
How pandan leaves are used
How to store pandan
Where we get our pandan from
🌿What is pandan?
Pandan is a tropical plant from the screw pine family that is known for its long, slender, bright green leaves. It is described as the Asian vanilla for its grassy, vanilla taste with hints of coconut and almond. Because of its fragrant aroma, pandan is widely used in Southeast Asian cuisine, as well as in South Asia.
Source: Nyonya Cooking
While its discovery cannot be traced back to an individual event, researchers suspect that the earliest specimen was found in the Maluka Islands in Indonesia where the rare flowering specimen was found.
Pandan leaves are used in many ways. In the markets, they may be sold fresh, frozen, and dried, or made into a paste, extract or powder to give the dish a light green hue and a sweet fragrant aroma.
🌿How are pandan leaves used?
Pandan is often used in cooking both savoury and sweet dishes. People like to wrap savory foods, such as chicken or sticky rice with a pandan leaf to imbue these dishes with an aromatic note. An example of this dish would be nasi lemak, a dish of Malay origins that involves rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan leaves, served with a few sides such as sambal (a hot chili paste), fried anchovies, eggs and peanuts.
Side note though - in Asian cuisine, it’s quite common to wrap rice with leaves, and pandan is not the only kind! There are also bamboo leaves that are used in traditional Chinese dumplings (zongzi), and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves in Filipino cuisine (suman malagkit).
Source: Marion’s Kitchen
More often, we see pandan used in baked goods and desserts such as pandan cake, banh da lon (Vietnamese steamed cakes), and pandan kaya, which is a sweet jam made with coconut milk, eggs, sugar and in this case, pandan leaves too. Then, there’s also pandan ice cream!
Source: Full of Plants
🌿Are pandan leaves only used for culinary purposes?
Actually no! These leaves are also used for handicrafts, where they are woven into mats and baskets. Because of its fresh aroma, some people use it as an air freshener, and also as an insect repellant. So when you grab a taxi, sometimes you might see pandan leaves on the dashboard, where the leaves are cut into small pieces and place in a bag.
Traditionally, pandan leaves also have traditional medicinal properties. Drinking pandan tea after a meal is said to help with digestion and lower blood sugar. The leaf is also well known for relieving pain. Researchers found that the oil in pandan is rich in phytochemicals, which can help to relieve symptoms of arthritis.
Source: Agriculture Magazine
🌿How do you store pandan at home?
Fresh pandan leaves can be stored in the refrigerator by gently wrapping them with a damp paper towel, or sprinkling water in a plastic bag and placing the pandan leaves in. If stored well, they can last for about 4 - 5 days.
You could also put the leaves in the freezer by laying them out separately on parchment paper, and wrapping them in a plastic bag. In the freezer, they can last up to six months. Do note though that the aroma may not be as fragrant as it is when fresh!
🌿Where do we get our pandan from?
For our pandan chiffon cake, we use the pandan extract from the McCormick brand at Way 1 supermarket in Ann Arbor. It’s not easy to find fresh pandan leaves that are readily available and affordable. Do let us know in the comments if you have any other product recommendations for pandan! It’d be super helpful ^_^
🌿What pandan dishes have YOU tried?
That’s it for now! We would love to hear about how you use pandan (if you do at home), or any delicious pandan dishes and desserts that you have tried!
In the meantime, Falai is going to find Marupo now for a slice (or three) of pandan chiffon cake. Till next time!