Tag: Cooking with pandan

Pandan, a fragrant plant used across Southeast Asia, should not be eaten raw. When unprocessed, the leaves are extremely fibrous, tough, and lack the pleasant, nuanced flavor that cooking and preparation unlock. It is a myth that you can simply chew on the raw leaf to get the full flavor experience.

A 2006 study published in the *Kasetsart Journal* found that fresh pandan leaves contain very low levels of natural sugars, with only 2.38 mg/g fructose and 1.77 mg/g glucose. This reveals a critical distinction regarding how much sugar is in pandan naturally versus in popular, sugar-laden desserts.

Over 600 species of the tropical pandan plant exist, but not all of its distinctive, blade-like leaves are edible. The edible varieties, most commonly *Pandanus amaryllifolius*, are prized in Southeast Asian cooking for their sweet, fragrant aroma and are generally safe for consumption when prepared correctly.