We’re renting a house here in Kuching, one with a backyard. On first day after we arrived in Kuching, we went over to see the house. What do we find, but a stand of pandan growing over on one side of the yard!
Pandan Growing in our Yard
Pandan is a plant with long, tough green leaves. When cut or crushed, the leaves give off this wonderfully sweet, herbal aroma. Cooking with pandan leaves will infuse the pandan flavor into the food. For instance, toss a few pandan leaves in a pot of rice with some coconut milk, and you have nasi lemak!
When we were living in Hawaii, I had a huge stand of pandan growing in the side yard of my Mom’s house. I had nurtured this stand from a small keiki given to me by my friend’s mom. I was very proud of how large it had gotten. (And very sad when I found out my sister had pulled it all out!)
When we moved to San Jose, we couldn’t grow pandan because it is a tropical plant that can’t take the cool California winters. We had to make do with frozen pandan found in the Asian grocery stores. Most of the recipes we made calling for pandan actually used a bottled pandan extract paste. Fresh pandan was just too hard to come by.
Pandan growing in our yard
One of the first things we made in the new House of Annie was barley tea, boiled with pandan leaves. I was starting to come down with a sore throat, so this barley tea with pandan was perfect. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any gingko nuts or fuchok to make it more fancy.
Boiling Pandan with Barley
No matter. When it was finished, boiled and cooled, I drank nearly the entire pot by myself! It really hit the spot.
Barley Tea with Pandan
We’re so happy to find this pandan stand in our yard. In actual fact, every house here in Kuching has a pandan plant growing. Our stand just happens to be so large because no one’s been living in the house for almost two years. That’s a lot of pandan to cook with!
So, we need your help. Give us recipes that call for pandan! Leave a comment and tell us what you’d do with all this fresh pandan.
Aloha, Nate
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This post is entered in the 2nd Anniversary edition of the Grow Your Own roundup, created and hosted by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes.
14 Comments:
I love the smell of pandan. Cook it in nasi lemak will give that extra flavor. I wish I could grow pandan in my backyard.
Nate & Annie,
You guys are lucky... I love this herb.
You may want to try this recipe, called Nasi Pandan.
http://www.ncc-indonesia.com/detail.php?aid=640
I personally haven't tried it, but I've read the tasters comments. They enjoy the green rice. Sorry the recipe is in Indonesian. I hope Annie can understand.
Lucky you to have pandan in your backyard! Hubby loves this and I've been trying to get a pandan plant after mine died when I left it outdoors and there was a cold spell this spring. I nurtured that plant for 3 years! I can't seem to find a supplier with the right pandan species used for cooking.
P.S. Glad you're settled there for the meantime.
Nate,
There are lots of things that you can do with pandan. I believe that the Thais wrap chicken in it and deep fry it. You can also extract the essence from the leaves and make all sorts of stuff -- like chiffon cakes, etc. You can also use it to infuse flavor into a local coconut "jam" called kaya or serikaya.
@all - thanks for your comments!
@Zue - yep, nasi lemak is one option.
@Tuty - thanks! I think Annie can decipher it. We'll try it out.
@momgateway - I didn't know there were different kinds of pandan, and there's a right kind for cooking. Do tell?
@Reid - a lot of folks commented on Facebook about pandan chicken. We will attempt it. Stay tuned!
Thanks a lot for the GYO post. I too absolutely love the aroma of pandan - even a simple addition of a knotted pandan leave into a pot of boiling hot rice can bring wonders to the overall taste.
Well, if you couldn't grow it in California then I definitely can't grow it in Virginia! The nasi lemak sounds delicious, though.
I love fresh pandan leave but as you said I can only get frozen pandan from asian market here.Btw,you can add pandan leave when you cook rendang or curry to give extra kick..I understand there are few type of pandan spices,some are really fragnant and some are not..glad you guys are settle in for good
I have never had pandan leaves, the fresh version sounds more appealing. I like this recipe, and wish I could just have a sip.
hey nate and annie!
with so many pandan plants, you could try making a pandan brush for greasing pan or cake moulds or make your own pandan essence:
6-8 large pandan leaves blended with 150ml (2/3 c) water to make about 1/2 c of pandan "juice". don't forget to strain and discard the solids!
you can use it in things like onde-onde, kuih lopes, kuih cara, serimuka, kuih dadar, kuih cara, pandan jelly, etc. you'll need to use large amounts in each recipe tho - about 100-150ml.
you could try making
I live in Hawaii and was wondering if you knew places where I could find a Pandan plant?
@charm - thanks so much for all the recipe ideas!
@jennifer - If you live on Oahu, try going to Maunakea Marketplace in Honolulu's Chinatown. There are lots of vendors there selling fresh Asian herbs. Maybe one of them will sell you a plant!
Hi Nate & Annie,
I'm so jealous looking at your pandan plant. I'm currently trying to grow pandan plant in Chicago!! I know.. who am I kidding...right now the temp is only 7F (-15C). But I want to cook some dishes using this wonderful plant. Enjoy your stay in Malaysia. I grew up in Indonesia half of my life so I miss the food so much and try to recreate them here now that I'm into cooking :)
Salam kenal,
- Lisa :)
@Lisa - good luck with growing it! Maybe if you had a hothouse it would grow better.
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