Buko Pandan Salad is a favourite Filipino salad served in almost every kind of party and special occasions in the Philippines and around the world where Filipinos live. This dessert is addicting.

When I was younger, I always remember my Papa puts some pandan leaves in cooking rice. He says it adds aroma to the cooked rice. I also remember in one of my seminars before, pandan leaves or a pandan plant is also a useful repellent for pests such as cockroaches. Just put the leaves or the plant in a place where cockroaches lurk around. This leaf also has medicinal properties.

Today, pandan leaf has become a widely used flavouring in many forms—in bakery products, drinks, desserts and other food products. The leaves are used like we use vanilla flavouring.

Pandan is used widely in Southeast Asian cuisine, so if you're from the West you would probably find them in Asian markets.
Ingredients :

  • 3 boxes unflavored green gulaman
  • 5 cups water
  • 4-5 pcs. pandan leaves
  • 2 cans thick cream
  • 1/2-3/4 can condensed milk (adjust to your taste preference)
  • 2 eggyolks
  • 1 small bottle macapuno (drained) or 3-5 cups grated fresh buko (young coconut meat)
  • 2 cups nata de coco (drained)

(Cooking Conversion Chart)

Cooking Procedures :

  1. Boil water together with the pandan leaves (twisted to expose the juice). Simmer for a few minutes. Dissolve gulaman in water. Simmer until gulaman dissolves. Remove pandan leaves. Transfer into pan trays and let it cool and hardens. Chill in refrigerator.
  2. In a saucepan, put thick cream, condensed milk and eggyolks. Stir until mixture is smooth. Cook in a double boiler (a cooking utensil consisting of two nested pans, designed to allow slow, even cooking of food in the upper pan by the action of water boiling in the lower pan). Stir occasionally until thickened a bit (not too thick). Remove from heat and let it cool completely.
  3. Take out chill gulaman and cut into 1 cm. cubes.
  4. In a large bowl, combine the macapuno, cubes green gulaman, nata de coco, and the cooled cream mixture. Blend well.
  5. Chill before serving or preferably overnight. Make this dessert a day ahead to let the cream mixture absorbed the pandan flavor. Yummy! Enjoy!