Pandan, thought to originate from Indonesia’s Maluku Islands, is used across south-east Asia. It has a vanilla-esque aroma, notes of rose or coconut, and fresh leaves have that grassiness you get with matcha. You can get it fresh from south-east Asian grocers, and it freezes well.
It’s a trending ingredient in desserts and drinks. But in Indonesian cuisine, and others, it’s used a lot in savouries. I make coconut rice and throw in lemongrass and pandan for the aromas. I’ll knot a leaf and add it to a stir-fry, curry or soup for depth and the vanilla, creamy tone.
In a sweet dish that contains milk or coconut milk, I blend it with pandan leaf, then strain it for that concentrated essence and green colour. (I might do that for coconut rice, too.) I love pandan blondies, my signature at pop-ups.
I always have bottles of pandan paste or extract at home.
When baking calls for vanilla extract, I’ll substitute that with pandan paste. The vibrant green pandan food on Instagram is often boosted with paste, and I like to use a mixture of that and leaves – for colour and that fresh flavour.
Rahel Stephanie is the founder of supperclub Spoons. She will cook at the Orasay guest series on 13 October and has created a dish for Wagamama available at the Noodle Lab, Soho
