Today I planted a pandan aka Pandanus amaryllifolius which is in the same family as the Hawaiian hala tree. The leaves of the fragrant and edible pandan is extensively used in Southeast Asian cuisine for flavoring and coloring. The aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline found in pandan is what gives bread, basamati and jasmine rice their typical smell. Pandan is used mostly in rice, meat, seafood dishes and desserts. A quick recipe search made me very hungry all of a sudden.
This plant was domesticated during ancient times and the only way to propagate them is from cuttings. Ken broke off a piece of his pandan for me and I have several more plants to propagate.
Rainy season is officially here and it doesn’t look like the rain will take a break any time soon. It will get easier now to plant things out again without worrying about them drying out.
Originally posted on 2021-10-11, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.