pandan bonanza.

+ vegan kaya that everyone can enjoy!

Hello and happy new year! I know, it’s March. But I hope that everyone reading this has had a good year of the rabbit so far.

I’ve been absent from Substack for a number of months - but I haven’t stopped writing and researching! Travelling means less time to experiment with new recipes, and I have to say, I didn’t cook a thing worth writing about. Having said that, I’ve tried some incredible new vegan dishes and can’t wait to divulge soon.

We are coming to the end of our six-month long adventure, and we’re now visiting my family in Thailand. I always love coming here - there’s such an abundance of fruits and veggies (not to mention the fact that it’s a vegan paradise). I appreciate it especially this time, because I swear, travelling in Europe by van gave me scurvy. So I’ve been taking full advantage of everything fresh - salads, stir fries, and smoothies galore.

Aside from my lack of nutrition on our European adventure, I also found it difficult to find cheap Asian groceries! I paid too much to admit for my pantry essentials like jasmine rice, noodles and soy sauce in numerous supermarkets across numerous countries. It gave me an even greater appreciation for the access I have to Chinese & South East Asian groceries in Sydney - the food I cook and eat plays a huge part in reminding me of home. I can’t even imagine what it’s like for refugees and some immigrants who may not have that same privilege. The ASRC (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre) has several collection points around Australia, so if you are able to, you can donate essential foods there. It would also be worth researching national favourites from the predominant refugee groups in your region and donate what you can - you could really connect someone to home.

Something I really missed while away was pandan! It’s been dubbed “the vanilla of the east” but I think it’s owed much more credit. Its flavour palate is so much more complex and interesting than vanilla.

It’s everywhere here, in both savoury and sweet foods - I even had a pandan roti with curry the other day, which was just so good.

And arguably the best thing you can do with pandan is make kaya! When I was younger, we used to call it egg jam - which sounds unnerving, but it was my favourite spread for toast. It’s popular throughout Southeast Asia and usually consists of coconut milk, egg yolks, sugar and pandan.

I’ve never seen a vegan version of it - I’ve looked at Asian grocery shops, online, at Singaporean and Malaysian restaurants - with no luck.

So, what’s the time-tested vegan solution to this problem? Make your own!

I shopped around for a few recipes, but didn’t find anything quite right for me. All of them contained sweet potato, avocado, or pumpkin. Having tried - unsuccessfully - to use veggies to replace a creamy element in recipes in my early vegan days, I find that the simpler, the better.

So I tried cornstarch and (blended!) silken tofu, and that worked a treat.

I served it on pandan toast & a bed of pandan leaves - a pandan bonanza, if you will - to welcome us back to Asia. But it’s also just as delicious on normal toast with a cup of tea.

Keep it in the fridge and enjoy being transported to Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, or the Phillipines 🌴

ingredients.

2 pandan leaves + 2 tbsp water

4.5 tbsp brown sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 tbsp cornstarch, mixed with 1 tbsp water

300ml coconut milk

220g silken tofu

Small drop of green food dye (optional)

how to.

1. Blend pandan leaves with water. Strain into a saucepan.

2. Next, blend all remaining ingredients until there are no lumps, and add to saucepan.

3. Heat the mixture on low, stirring continuously for 30 mins or until it starts to thicken. Yep, it’s hard work!

4. If you’re not getting a slightly thick, custardy paste, add another tbsp of cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water and stir.

5. Once it’s at a spreadable consistency, leave to cool and add to a jar. Blend again if it’s lumpy. Refrigerate and enjoy on toast!