We just got home from a history-laden vacation that included
DC, Thomas Jefferson’s mansion/plantation, and the Gettysburg Civil War
battlefield. It was sweltering, hot and humid, a bit like Vietnam. We enjoyed
many simple and fancy memorable meals, which I’ll relate to you next week,
after I sift through all my notes and photos.
Today, I just want to relay a nifty tip that I got via email
from a frequent visitors to this site. I sometimes get into mini collaborations
with some of you to solve a vexing cooking issue or source an ingredient. When
things work out well, I love to share the findings so we all benefit.
I can’t remember when Josh G. and I began communicating
about sourcing plants for growing pandan (la dua in Vietnamese), a Southeast
Asian aromatic grown for its gladiola-like blade leaves that exude a grassy, vanilla-ish
flavor and green color to food. If you’ve seen green cakes at an Asian bakery,
chances are they’re made with fake or real pandan extract.
Pandan is also called screwpine, which just sounds terrible
so I prefer to call it pandan. If you don’t know about the ingredient, jump to
the pandan
primer. Its uses are mostly for sweets, though I love Indonesian festival
rice perfumed by pandan. It looks like a pineapple plant with the leaves emanating from the center. In Vietnam, you can buy them fresh at many markets.
Josh is a curious fellow and wanted to hunt down actual plants.
I referred him to some online sources that seemed a bit questionable. He
persisted on his own and this week, emailed this report:
Hi Andrea,
P&E has pandan!
They don't have an open nursery, it's just one man and his son. They're at the
SF Alemany market on
Saturdays and the Marin Civic Center
market on Sundays. Tends to leave early if he sells out. They're small plants,
4 inches at $5.00.
So, please spread the word, it makes no sense
with how many places need this to be fresh, to have to order it frozen.
He said while they are a wet marsh plant, in our
winters they can get too cold, and then get root rot. But he says he has enough
to be selling this whole season, so we should buy him out. ;)
I have three, and
may turn them over to some Fresno farmer's who are part of the community and
have green houses to protect them year round.
Josh, I’m spreading the word about your fabulous finding. If
any of you are in the San Francisco area, head to these farmers’ markets. They’re
among the best and largest in California. If you don’t live in the Bay Area,
look for Asian farmers or herb/plant vendors — especially Hmong or Lao farmers
who may be cultivating pandan but don’t know that they can sell it! Let them
know of your interest. Or, try a rare plants nursery such as Rare Flora in Florida the San Gabriel Valley that may know
about Asian plants.
I’ve never grown pandan and imagine that it would be great
in a hot, humid environment. But maybe the plants that Josh bought will
acclimate to moderate weather conditions. After all, my Thai kaffir (makroot/makrut)
lime and Indian curry leaf tree manage to thrive in coastal northern
California. That’s to say, plants are flexible and adaptable. You never know
where they’ll grow until you cultivate them yourself!
Related posts:
- Pandan
Primer - Pandan
Chiffon Cake - Pandan
and Tapioca Cake (banh bo nuong) - Viet
Coconut Waffles - Finding Asian Herbs for your Garden
If you find pandan near you, let us know your source! Or do you have experience growing it?
Chris says
Hi Andrea,
Another source for pandan / lá dứa plants is Perry Nguyen of Flora Exotica in Canada: http://www.floraexotica.ca/Vegie.htm Just scroll down to Pandan Plant - he offers 3 sizes and he ships by mail to anywhere, I believe. He carries all kinds of other interesting and hard-to-find plants too. Since summers in Quebec aren't long enough for my rau muống to produce seed, I order big bags of these from him too.
Just keep in mind that pandan is only hardy to about zone 9 so everywhere else, the plant must be brought in during cool or cold weather. They need heat and humidity.
Hugh says
I just discovered a guy selling, among other plants, various Asian citrus plants at Eden Center, the Vietnamese shopping center outside DC in northern Virginia. The supermarket in the center had other herbs and vegetables out front too. I didn't notice pandan but I wasn't looking for it or even really thinking about it until reading this post. Even if you aren't looking for plants, Eden center is well worth it for a visit to the tofu shop, either of the delis with excellent veg banh mi, or the all vegetarian restaurant. I gather the non-veg options are great too.
SimonBao says
A gentle reminder to folks to *always* check first - *before* purchasing or planting - to see if a non-native plant might be invasive. The nation and the planet are already being overgrown by out-of-control, non-native, destructive invasive plants; every gardener owes it to the descendents to check the status of any non-natives they're about to plant.
Otherwise, we risk losing our native biodiversity and threaten our ecosystems with the likes of kudzu, Japanese knotweed, water hyacinth, cheatgrass, or the deadly giant hogweed. Or snakehead fish, Asian carp, and Everglades pythons.
And a plant which is not invasive in dry climates or temperate climates can still be an invasive nightmare in the warmer, wetter, subtropic regions of the nation.
Some Google searching does NOT produce comments about Pandan (Pandan amaryllifolius) being invasive or creating problems in the US when it goes feral. What little I know of P. amaryllifolius suggests it won't be a problem for most in the US because it's not at all winter-hardy, it doesn't reproduce quickly, nor does it disperse offspring widely and successfully. (It's not like Tia To, Purple Perilla.) But gardeners in Florida or Louisiana or other subtropic areas might be smart to confine Pandan to pots, rather than letting it root in the great outdoors.
If ever in doubt, just check your local or state Audubon Society before planting non-natives; Auduboners usually maintain lists of non-natives known to be creating problems.
Ming says
Where can I buy pandan plant
Andrea Nguyen says
I just bought some from kensnursery.com. They were really nice. The site says inventory is sold out but contact them to see or get on a waitlist.
https://kensnursery.com/
Ming says
I’m in las vegas
Ruby Abrantes says
Does anyone know anyone or any place selling Pandan in Atlanta , GA area?
Andrea Nguyen says
Head to Buford Highway! Last year, I saw plants at Hoa Binh market.