BUKO PANDAN RECIPE

Something green was what came to my mind when I was brainstorming for my next recipe. After all, St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and I wanted the recipe to be helpful for people looking for something to serve or eat for the Irish holiday.

I don’t know any Irish dishes but I do know Filipino dishes that have some green in them, particularly desserts that have pandan or screw pine leaves.

Pandan leaves are widely used in Southeast Asia for their infusion of aroma and flavor. Filipinos would take a strip of pandan, tie it in a knot, and incorporate it when cooking rice. Once the rice is done, it will give the rice such sweet aroma. To remove the pandan, we simply pull out the string; the knot will help not break the leaf upon removal.

The Buko Pandan recipe is one of those accidentally vegan dishes that snuck in to the mainstream. But what exactly is Pandan?

In addition to rice, Filipinos also use pandan in desserts such as in cakes, pastries, sweet salads, and ice cream. Pandan is often paired with coconut-either coconut milk or coconut meat or both. For my recipe, I’m featuring the widely popular sweet dessert: Buko Pandan or Coconut Pandan. The traditional recipe calls for heavy manufacturing cream which I simply replaced with coconut cream. Everything else was made in the traditional way.

If you couldn’t find fresh pandan leaves, you could get frozen ones at Asian supermarkets. If you couldn’t find either fresh or frozen, you may also get pandan extract, also at Asian supermarkets. Just follow the directions in the bottle for the ratio.

BUKO PANDAN SALAD

Serves 4

BUKO PANDAN RECIPE

 

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Ingredients

Pandan jelly:

• 6-8 strips pandan leaves
• 2 cups water
• ¾ teaspoon agar-agar powder
• ¼ cup organic sugar
  

Buko salad:

• 1 cup coconut cream
• ½ cup non-dairy milk
• ½ cup shredded young coconut
• 6 tbsp Nata de Coco

Instructions

1. Using a high speed blender or food processor, blend the pandan with water. Strain by using a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer.
2. Using a sauce pan or small pot, heat the pandan juice over high heat. Add a bit more water if you've significantly lost water during the blending (to maintain the 2 cups ratio). Let the juice simmer for about 5 minutes.
3. Add the agar-agar powder and sugar. Constantly stir until the powder and sugar have fully melted.
4. As soon as it starts boiling, turn off the heat and transfer to a mold, baking pan, or glass container. Let it cool then refrigerate to set (about 30-45 minutes).
5. Once the jelly has set, remove from the fridge. Cut into blocks and add them to your Buko salad.

Buko salad:

1. In a serving bowl, mix the coconut cream, nut milk, shredded young coconut, and nata de coco. Add a bit of sugar if you'd like to sweeten it.
2. Add the pandan jelly.
3. Garnish with lemon (suggested serving)

Notes

You could find pandan strips, coconut cream, agar-agar powder, young coconut, and nata de coco at Asian grocery stores.

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Buko pandan salad tastes sweet and refreshing. It’s great for parties or as a sweet treat after a long day at work. You could make a bunch ahead of time and just leave them in the fridge to snack on later. Anyway you want it, I’m sure you’ll be happy to discover the wonderful flavors of pandan. Kain na, let’s eat! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!