Have you ever perused the shelves of an Asian grocer to find sticky rice treats with a striking green color? You may have also noticed some Thai restaurants serving the iconic mango and sticky rice dish, with lush green rice that offers a vibrant contrast to the yellowish-orange mango. The secret ingredient for this visual masterpiece is a leaf renowned for its uses in predominantly Southeast Asian cuisine: the pandan leaf.
While natural pandan leaves produce a lighter green tint, restaurants may enhance the color using food dye to achieve the bright, emerald shade that pandan has become increasingly popular for. For home cooks attempting to recreate an eye-catching, Instagram-worthy mango sticky rice dessert, use pure pandan extract for an authentic but subtle green, or add a drop or two of gel or liquid food coloring to enhance the green notes. Another natural coloring agent is matcha, which can also render an earthy green color to the rice. However, it may affect the flavor of the rice — matcha has a distinct taste that would put a creative spin on the rice that you may either enjoy or dislike. But, it could be an innovative approach to savory rice preparations.
Pandan leaves in culinary cultures
Pandan leaves, often known as the “vanilla of Southeast Asia,” play a vital role in the culinary traditions of multiple Asian cultures. These long, blade-like leaves offer a unique combination of fragrance and flavor that’s often described as floral, nutty, and subtly sweet. In addition to Thai chefs using pandan to add that pleasant green hue to sticky rice, Indonesian and Malaysian cuisines also feature pandan extensively in both sweet and savory preparations. From infusing a distinct, aromatic flavoring to coconut rice to creating vibrant cakes and traditional, eye-catching kueh desserts like ondeh-ondeh (pandan-flavored rice balls filled with palm sugar and rolled in coconut), pandan leaves have been a celebrated part of many Southeast Asian culinary cultures.
The leaves can be tied into knots and added to steaming rice, wrapped around savory proteins, or steeped in coconut milk to create flavorful bases for various dishes. Some South Asian cuisines also feature pandan leaves in their cooking. In Sri Lankan cuisine, pandan leaves — commonly known as rampe on the island nation — are often added to traditional curries. Avid home chefs curious to expand their culinary horizons can find pandan leaves in fresh, dried, or frozen formats at their local Asian grocery store or even online.
