Pandan, Kantan and Blue Pea
Often referred to as the 'Vanilla of the East', the pandan is a tropical plant easily found in Southeast Asia and of course Singapore. It is an upright, green shrub with woody aerial roots and fan-shaped sprays of blade-like leaves. Traditionally, these leaves were woven into baskets used for cooking rice and meats. Popular local coconut milk rice dish, nasi lemak, has pandan-ish fragrance, with the pandan leaves tied into knots and cooked together with the rice. Putu piring, a Malay snack, also use small pieces of pandan leaves as garnish. And we all know the fluffy and greenish pandan chiffon cake!
Botanically called pandanus amarylifolius from the pandanus family, the pandan leaves have been used to flavour or colour desserts such as cakes and sweet beverages. The leaves are pounded and strained (or blended with a little water) to yield flavour and green food dye for kueh, desserts and sweets. Pandan is used with the essences of rose to flavour spicy rice dishes such as biryani. Popular local coconut-based jam spread, the kaya jam has pandan flavouring. The colour of the jam can be greenish or brownish depending on if there are more pandan or more coconut to it. Kaya toast set is a popular breakfast meal here in Singapore. And there is also pandan flavoured milk shakes, ice-creams, swiss rolls and even cupcakes! Hainanese chicken rice, a popular local delicacy, is cooked with sesame oil and pandan to make it more fragrant.
The use of pandan in Hainanese chicken rice is probably influenced by the Malays who often use pandan leaves to cook rice such as nasi lemak or the fragrant rice. And in Thailand, pieces of marinated chicken are enclosed in a clever wrapping of Bai Toey (the local name for Pandan leaf) and grilled or deep fried, the subtle flavour of pandan being imparted to the chicken. Pandan leaves infusion prepared with coconut oil is used to treat rheumatism. And the roots of pandan leaves contain 4-hydroxybenzoic acid with a potential to treat diabetes. And due to its distinctive aroma and the leaves that contain an oil that supposedly has insect repellant qualities, many taxi drivers put pandan leaves in their car as air freshener and as a natural cockroach and ants repellent.
The pandan indeed has many uses! The simple yet versatile pandan has become abundantly available for consumption and their fragrance and is commonly cultivated. Pandan being wild, yet useful, can be found along water streams and ditches and at many parks including at Pulau Ubin, Admiralty Park, Sentosa island, and at Singapore Zoo. They thrived well near water. Even IKEA stores and some supermarkets here sell potted pandan plants. Unlike other pandanus species like tectorius or screwpine, Pandanus amarylifolius has not been observed to produce fruits due to its lack of female inflorescence. The pandanus is a very common plant here.
A zingiberaceae or ginger family plant that many locals can relate to is torch ginger or bunga kantan. Bunga is a Malay word for flower, though the flower are bracts rather than a true flower. Known botanically as Etlingera elatior, torch gingers are tall plants with pretty pinkish, reddish or whitish blooms. The young or immature torch ginger flower bud or more commonly known here as kantan is used as food garnish or flavouring in many local dishes. When sliced, it imparts unique fragrant and aromatic flavour.
The popular peanutty local fruit salad rojak has slices of fresh torch ginger flower bud as one of the ingredients. It is also added in Penang laksa dish and to flavour curries. Just like pandan leaves and butterfly pea flower, the torch ginger leaves, stems and fruits are used in various ways throughout South-East Asia, thus making it a cherished specie that holds important cultural and culinary values. Medicinally, the decoction of its fruits is used to treat earaches.
Originating in the rainforests and resembling a flaming torch, hence the name, torch ginger can grow up to 6 meters (20 ft.) tall and enjoy warm climate like Singapore and is widely cultivated all over the world. Due to its pretty bright red or pink colour with overlapping bracts, torch ginger is often used as landscaping in tropical gardens or homes. You can find torch ginger plants with its stunning, flamboyant inflorescences in many parks all over the island such as at Sungei Buloh and at Jurong Lake Gardens.
A bright, slender climbing legume or plant, the funnel-shaped blue pea or butterfly pea flowers range from white, purple, light blue to dark blue. There are butterfly pea flowers that look more white than blue. This plant is quite common and is widely planted on fences and roadsides, in gardens and parks, and is adaptable to a wide range of soil conditions. The butterfly pea flower contains anthocyanin which has anti-oxidant and other health properties. Edible blue dye is extracted from the flowers to make cakes, kueh, snacks, rice and dumplings in Malay and Peranakan cuisine.
Nasi kerabu and pulut tai tai are among the dishes or deserts sprinkled with crushed petals and the butterfly pea's blue dye. The blue pea is also made into blue tea, supposedly good for fat burning, though it's pretty tasteless unless you add honey or lime. Medicinally, the leaves of blue or butterfly pea are believed to be good for treating acne pimples. And water from soaked leaves is used as eyewash for conjunctivitis. Traditionally also, the juice from the roots of the blue pea plant can be extracted and mixed with cold milk to treat bronchitis and to remove phlegm. While the seeds can be used to relieve tonsilitis. Such a useful plant!
Using plants as dyes is not new and we have been using plants to colour our world. Turmeric and pandan are also used as food colouring for its orange and green colour respectively. Mangosteen rind contains tannin for fixing dyes. And since time immemorial people have been using henna plants as natural body art or tattoo and hair dye. There is also a wild spurred butterfly pea, centrosema virginianum, from the same fabaceae family, but it's more purplish than blue. The blue pea or butterfly pea is also known as Asian pigeonwings and bluebell vine among its am nay other names, and botanically it is known as Clitoria ternatea. Indeed all the above plants are wild, some thriving along ditches and water streams, like the fragrant pandan.
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| Wild pandan |
The use of pandan in Hainanese chicken rice is probably influenced by the Malays who often use pandan leaves to cook rice such as nasi lemak or the fragrant rice. And in Thailand, pieces of marinated chicken are enclosed in a clever wrapping of Bai Toey (the local name for Pandan leaf) and grilled or deep fried, the subtle flavour of pandan being imparted to the chicken. Pandan leaves infusion prepared with coconut oil is used to treat rheumatism. And the roots of pandan leaves contain 4-hydroxybenzoic acid with a potential to treat diabetes. And due to its distinctive aroma and the leaves that contain an oil that supposedly has insect repellant qualities, many taxi drivers put pandan leaves in their car as air freshener and as a natural cockroach and ants repellent.
The pandan indeed has many uses! The simple yet versatile pandan has become abundantly available for consumption and their fragrance and is commonly cultivated. Pandan being wild, yet useful, can be found along water streams and ditches and at many parks including at Pulau Ubin, Admiralty Park, Sentosa island, and at Singapore Zoo. They thrived well near water. Even IKEA stores and some supermarkets here sell potted pandan plants. Unlike other pandanus species like tectorius or screwpine, Pandanus amarylifolius has not been observed to produce fruits due to its lack of female inflorescence. The pandanus is a very common plant here.
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| Bunga kantan (torch ginger) |
The popular peanutty local fruit salad rojak has slices of fresh torch ginger flower bud as one of the ingredients. It is also added in Penang laksa dish and to flavour curries. Just like pandan leaves and butterfly pea flower, the torch ginger leaves, stems and fruits are used in various ways throughout South-East Asia, thus making it a cherished specie that holds important cultural and culinary values. Medicinally, the decoction of its fruits is used to treat earaches.
Originating in the rainforests and resembling a flaming torch, hence the name, torch ginger can grow up to 6 meters (20 ft.) tall and enjoy warm climate like Singapore and is widely cultivated all over the world. Due to its pretty bright red or pink colour with overlapping bracts, torch ginger is often used as landscaping in tropical gardens or homes. You can find torch ginger plants with its stunning, flamboyant inflorescences in many parks all over the island such as at Sungei Buloh and at Jurong Lake Gardens.
 |
| Blue pea (butterfly pea) |
Nasi kerabu and pulut tai tai are among the dishes or deserts sprinkled with crushed petals and the butterfly pea's blue dye. The blue pea is also made into blue tea, supposedly good for fat burning, though it's pretty tasteless unless you add honey or lime. Medicinally, the leaves of blue or butterfly pea are believed to be good for treating acne pimples. And water from soaked leaves is used as eyewash for conjunctivitis. Traditionally also, the juice from the roots of the blue pea plant can be extracted and mixed with cold milk to treat bronchitis and to remove phlegm. While the seeds can be used to relieve tonsilitis. Such a useful plant!
Using plants as dyes is not new and we have been using plants to colour our world. Turmeric and pandan are also used as food colouring for its orange and green colour respectively. Mangosteen rind contains tannin for fixing dyes. And since time immemorial people have been using henna plants as natural body art or tattoo and hair dye. There is also a wild spurred butterfly pea, centrosema virginianum, from the same fabaceae family, but it's more purplish than blue. The blue pea or butterfly pea is also known as Asian pigeonwings and bluebell vine among its am nay other names, and botanically it is known as Clitoria ternatea. Indeed all the above plants are wild, some thriving along ditches and water streams, like the fragrant pandan.
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