What Does Pandan Taste Like?

Scouring the internet to find out what pandan tastes like? You’ve found your source! Below, we’re discussing flavor, texture, recipes and tips for all things pandan.

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Let’s dive right into it…

What Does Pandan Taste Like? 

Pandan is a tropical Southeast Asian plant.The leaves are flowery and fragrant with a pleasant white rice flavor and a fruity tone that will remind you of banana.You may also detect a nuttiness or coconut essence.

“Tropical” is perhaps the best word to describe the flavor of pandan.It’s sweet, very aromatic and mild in taste.

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Can You Eat Pandan Leaf?

Like vanilla, pandan is not eaten straight, but rather used to flavor foods.If you’re curious, you’ll find pandan close to tough grass in texture.

Pandan is not a food experience in and of itself but rather a flavor experience.Boil it in water and run it through a sieve to enjoy it by itself.

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What is Pandan Used for? 

Like vanilla, pandan is used as a flavoring agent in many different desserts.It may be used in ice cream, cakes and sweet icings (which you can make in vegan versions).

But that’s not all you can do with pandan.As previously mentioned, pandan can be boiled with water to produce a tasty beverage, and it can also be added to savory dishes.A traditional way of enjoying pandan in savory cooking is to add it to rice, which will give the rice a pleasant taste and aroma.

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What Can You Substitute for Pandan Leaves? 

Pandan is not necessarily available outside of Asian markets, so it’s good to know what you can substitute for it in a recipe.While nothing can replace the flavor of pandan, vanilla might be a good place to start.Pandan does not taste like vanilla, but vanilla will give your recipe a similarly sweet and dessert-like taste.

If vanilla isn’t cutting it, a splash of jasmine tea in addition to the vanilla might work a little better.The tea will add the flowery scent and flavor while the vanilla will add the sweetness.

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How to Eat Pandan 

For starters, you’ll be wanting to know how to extract the juice from pandan, which you’ll learn in the first video linked below.Then, you can move on to the wonderful world of pandan desserts in the second video.

To make pandan juice, you’ll need fresh pandan leaves, a grinder and a sieve.You’ll see the easiest way to accomplish this with scissors.No grinder?No problem.Use a blender instead.

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Now that you’ll have fresh pandan juice, you can make vegan pandan cupcakes! This recipe uses pandan juice as well as pandan extract in addition to flour, sugar, oil, coconut milk and other typical vegan cupcake ingredients. If you don’t have pandan extract, you can leave it out. You’ll just have more subtly flavored vegan cupcakes.

Wrap Up 

Pandan is a mild-tasting tropical plant that combines a variety flavors, including banana, rice and coconut.It’s usually used for desserts, but you can add it to savory dishes as well.If you’re still not sure how you might go about using pandan, just add some of the juice to one of your favorite vegan vanilla cookie or cake recipes and invite some friends over for a tasting party.

Further Reading: What Does Panang Curry Taste Like?

Joey Bruno

Hey, I’m Joey. I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid and love everything about it. You can find my writing about food, kitchen appliances (such as blenders) and much more. Thanks for stopping by!