Why You Should Add Pandan Leaves Into Your Cooking?

I grew up with occasionally Mum or Grandma asked me to cut the Pandan Leaves at the backyard to add into their cooking. Most of the house we move into during my childhood time, it is convenient to get Pandan Leaves or Screw Pines Leaves. Now when most of us live in a high rise building, it is hard for us to see Pandan Leaves plant other then get it a Groceries Store. 

At that time, I only thought Pandan Leaves just for sweet fragrance smells. After doing some research, I found out Pandan leaves offer many health benefits such as : 

1. Helps to boost appetite

Just drop some of this into your rice or porridge. It works well to boost up your appetite.

2. Great remedy for pains and cramps

Mixed pandan leaves juice with coconut oil and apply this mixture to arthritis patients.

3. Helps in controlling blood sugar

Studies have shown that drinking extract of pandan leaves can help to reduce plasma glucose levels.

4. Lowering Blood Pressure

Add pandan leaves extract to your favourite drink twice a day. It can help in lowering symptoms of high blood pressure.

5. Helpful in Gout

All you need is to boil screwpine leaf with water or add few drops of Pandan Leaves extract. It helps in to reduce uric acid and get rid of kidney stones by drinking the remedy regularly.

There are many to list down but I will stop at just five since we all now know Pandan Leaves is not just for fragrance smell. Let us include Pandan Leaves into our daily life for its health benefits.

Well, its still depends on how you wanna use Pandan Leaves in cooking. It such a hassle for us in busy and hectic life to cut, blend and squeeze the pandan leaves for its juice. That was an old-time story. Nowadays, we are in a convenient era. Almost everything is made to cater to our hectic lifestyle.

Recently, I found this Pandan Leaf Extract which is made using the encapsulation technology to preserve natural pandan flavour. This natural aroma will be released once it heated up.

I tried this over the weekend with some simple 'tong sui' boiled.

Wash and soaked barley for 10 minutes and boiled it together with some red dates to give the sweetness. 

I just add all the ingredients including a few drops of Pandan Leaf Extract into the slow cooker. I added some dried longan after it boils. By the way, this is a sugar-free 'tong sui'. 

How does this taste? It tastes delicious. Indeed the pandan leaf extract did make a difference. It brings out the sweetness and smells the fragrance.

How does Pandan Leaf Extraction Process?

Step 1 Sorting and cleaning of fresh leaves

Step 2 Slicing of leaves using the vegetable cutter

Step 3 Drying leaves using fluid bed dryer

Step 4 Sonication by Ultrasound

Step 5 Enzymatic

Step 6 Solvent extraction 

Step 7 Concentration using evaporator

Step 8 Microencapsulation

Step 9 Homogenizing

Not bad for a Pandan Leaf Essence. Taste and smells just like old time grandma pandan leaves extract.

For more details about Pandan Leaf Extract you can browse more at this official website.

Important tips: Avoid add pandan leaf essence to the sour or bitter mixture because it only blends well and enhances sweetness.