Pandan leaves: the next big thing?
- Emily Hancock
- Nov 7, 2017
- 2 min read
Pandan leaves. Do you know what they are? No? Well, according to Nigella Lawson, they are going to be the ‘new matcha’. To keep you ahead of the trend, we reached out to one of our bakers who is also a pandan expert. Tamsin, who runs Pandan Bakery, is here to teach you everything you need to know about the latest arrival on the food scene.
What is pandan?
Pandan (also known as screw-pine plant) is a tropical plant from the genus Pandanus that is related to the lily family. The pandan leaf is long and thin (about 40cm long x 2cm wide) and has a variety of uses alongside food flavouring and colouring, such as air freshener. It can even be woven into bags and mats.
Where is it from?
It grows in South East Asia.
What does it taste of?
Very hard to describe...much like describing coca cola to someone that's never had it before! It's fragrant and floral, with some grassy/earthy notes.
How is it used in cooking?
You can steam things with pandan leaves (e.g. rice), or wrap things in pandan before cooking (e.g. chicken), or extract the juice from the leaf to add to dishes. The juice/extract adds a fragrant flavour as well as a bright green colour to desserts/drinks.
Does it have any known health benefits?
I know there are claims online that pandan has a lot of health benefits, but I'm not sure how 'proven' these are.
Where can you buy pandan in the UK?
Oriental and SE Asian supermarkets will almost certainly stock pandan extract or pandan essence. But only the larger ones will stock actual pandan leaves. The leaves are fresh too, not frozen.
How do you incorporate pandan into your baking?
We liquidise the pandan leaves either with water or coconut milk, and then strain though a muslin cloth to collect the bright green liquid. We then add this in much the same way you would add vanilla or any flavouring to cake batter, bread dough etc. You have to be careful not to add too little (otherwise you can’t taste it), nor too much (otherwise it will taste like leaves/grass).
Intrigued to try pandan? Pandan Bakery sell a wonderful variety of Malaysian-inspired cakes and bakes, including Pandan Chiffon Cake. Browse their shop here.