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| Pandan leaves and water boiling away. |
Mom sent me an SMS while they were out this morning; they went to the market to buy a week-supply of meat, vegetable and groceries. She requested me to make Buko Pandan salad since she was going to buy fresh buko water from her favored vendor, so she might as well get fresh buko meat prepped too. What's nice about mom's favored buko vendor is that you just tell him what the buko is for (salad, pie filling, etc.) and he already knows which buko to choose and how to prepare it for you. He's like a buko whisperer!
Buko is the Filipino term for young coconut. It's the green coconuts which yields clear sweet liquid and tender meat. Niyog is for the mature ones which have no coconut liquid and tough meat usually grated and squeezed to produce coconut milk. Since we're going to make a salad, young coconut meat is preferred.
Pandan is a tropical plant native to the Southeast Asia and its leaves widely used for cooking. When cooked it gives off a sweet aromatic botanical scent and flavor; but the leaves are not eaten. Known to the west as Screwpine leaves, it's mostly used for dishes involving rice, cakes or sweets. Surprisingly, the leaves can also be used as cockroach repellent
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