An unlikely herb from Southeast Asia is gaining popularity on American menus. Pandan, also known as screwpine, is a subtle ingredient with hints of vanilla, coconut, and a certain grassiness that sets it apart from the bold ingredients that often succeed in the United States.
It does have a lovely grass-green hue, however, which is no doubt part of its appeal.
As it gets more popular, access to pandan has grown, and chefs and bartenders are embracing it.
“I use pandan a lot in desserts. It’s so fragrant and you get the same tone as you do in vanilla,” said Thoa Nguyen, owner of the Banh & Butter Bakery in Aurora, Colo. “In Vietnam, we have a coconut pudding with all these tropical fruits and pandan jelly.”
At her Vietnamese-French café, Nguyen pairs pandan with jackfruit, puts it in scones with peach and apricot, and occasionally adds pandan foam on select coffee drinks.
Pandan cheesecake at Magna Kainan. Photo credit: Linnea Covington
Other examples of pandan desserts abound. At Sweet Piglet Bakery & Cafe in Randolph, Mass., pandan cupcakes with coconut pastry cream and pandan buttercream are a popular treat, and chef Carlo Lamagna of Magna Kusina in Portland, Ore., and Magna Kainan in Denver serves a glowing Basque-style pandan cheesecake. Los Angeles-based chain Wanderlust Creamery has made pandan tres leches ice cream.
Pandan leaves are often made into pastes, extracts, or powders to extract their flavor, but whole leaves are used to wrap foods; a popular snack in Thailand is bite-sized chicken pieces wrapped in pandan and fried. Thais also use it to make a mild tea.
It’s an inexpensive herb, selling for well under $1 per kilogram when fresh. Dried pandan leaves sell for around $3 to $4.50 per kilo, and pandan powder ranges from $7 and $13.
Nonetheless, it can definitely be used in upscale applications. At Lady Wong Patisserie in New York City, owners Seleste Tan and Mogan Anthony have worked pandan into the elegant cakes and desserts. For example, the nine-inch Matcha Pandan Mille Crêpes cake sells for $100, the eight-inch Pandan Pistachio Royale is $84.50, and a 16-piece box of Pandan Jam Cookies is $24.88.
Coffeegraph’s pandan latte. Photo credit: Linnea Covington
Like Nguyen at Banh & Butter Bakery, other operations use pandan in drinks, too.
Hood Famous Bakeshop in Seattle offers an iced or hot pandan latte, and in Denver, Coffeegraph founders Brenda and Troy Carlson make a pandan syrup to add to beverages, and for visual appeal, they have a pandan plant in a pot next to their espresso machine.
Carbon Coffee in Aurora, Colo., also uses pandan syrup in a special iced matcha drink.
The verdant ingredient has also started popping up on cocktail menus. At the Welton Room’s Monkey Bar in Denver, the Japanese Melon features tequila, melon, pandan, Japanese Calpico, and lemon. Jade & Clover in New York City created the Pandan Colada, for which the coconut in a Piña Colada is replaced with pandan.
Pandan fans can also find the ingredient at Atwater Cocktail Club in Los Angeles inside the La Recolte, made with Stolichnaya vodka, Calvados, pandan, Chinese dates, coconut milk, butter cookies, dulce de leche, and lemon.
