Just desserts.

 

Sometimes I get bored. And when I get bored, this is what happens: glowing green ectoplasm-ish “Jell-o” made from algae, the leaves of an aromatic plant, and sugar, topped with a thick gelatinous layer of sweet coconut milk. Sounds fantastic, doesn’t it? Probably, you saw the picture and thought it was some new hipster cocktail, but nope. It’s just desserts.

Over the years, I’ve sampled a bunch of different Lao desserts, and a lot of them involve coconut milk, sugar, agar agar (the vegan version of gelatine, made from sea algae), along with a phenomenal green coloring and a flavor that you can’t quite put your finger on. Turns out, the green color and the unique flavor come from the pandan leaf, a popular ingredient in Southeast Asian desserts.

I’ve been thinking about this ingredient for a while, and trying to figure out how to use it. I’ve seen it in a can, and in a tiny bottle of extract, and finally, today, I found it fresh at the Five Star Farmer’s Market. Seeing as I needed to use up the agar agar powder that I had purchased about 9 years ago, and I already had some coconut milk on hand, I decided to give it a go, and make this, just for kicks:

If you have ever used gelatin to make your own jello, then the process won’t really be a mystery to you. You dissolve the agar agar powder in boiling water, and then you add the sugar and pandan juice. Chill the first layer, and then make the second layer while the first is Netflix and chillin’ in the fridge. The coconut milk layer gets poured on top and then chilled some more.

It’s a pretty unique flavor, but the combination with the coconut milk is really nice. The reviews are in: the kids did not approve, but my husband and my mom loved it, and my dad and I both liked it alright but didn’t love it. Mostly, I just really enjoyed learning how to make it. It definitely looked pretty fancy – I can see getting creative with this stuff in the future.

There are actually all kinds of fun things you can make with pandan leaf. I’ve frozen a few, so I may try another recipe or two next time I get bored.