# Pandan Is Southeast Asia's Next Visual Flavor After Matcha
Canonical URL: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/trend-desk/pandan-southeast-asia-next-visual-flavor
Answer-first summary: Pandan is rising as 2026's next visual flavor after matcha: a fragrant Southeast Asian leaf that tints desserts and drinks a soft green and smells faintly of vanilla and grass. FoodNavigator's cafe-fusion wave made room for new colored flavors; pandan has long seasoned Malay, Indonesian, Thai, and Vietnamese sweets, kaya, and rice.
Primary topic: pandan flavor
Published: 2026-07-08
Updated: 2026-07-08
## Primary Image
- Name: Pandan Is Southeast Asia's Next Visual Flavor After Matcha primary image
- Image URL: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/images/foods/history-and-origin-of-sesame.webp
- Dimensions: 1638x960
- Encoding: image/webp
- Alt text: Fresh pandan leaves tied in a knot beside a green pandan dessert
- Visual description: Pandan is rising as 2026's next visual flavor — a Southeast Asian aromatic leaf with deep dessert and rice traditions.
- Caption: Pandan is rising as 2026's next visual flavor — a Southeast Asian aromatic leaf with deep dessert and rice traditions.
- Visible entities: Pandan, Pandanus amaryllifolius
- Credit: The Foods That Shaped Us Research Desk
- Image terms: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/image-rights#terms
- Permission information: https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/image-rights#request-permission
## What's happening
After matcha taught cafes that a colored powder could define a year, pandan is the green leaf waiting in the wings: pandan lattes, chiffon cakes, ice creams, and extracts showing up on Western menus. FoodNavigator's 2026 matcha-fusion story showed how visual flavors travel; pandan offers a parallel path with a different geography and aroma [1]. Searches for "what is pandan" and pandan extract rise as bakers learn it is a leaf, not a tea.
## The history behind it
Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) is a tropical plant whose leaves are tied in knots and simmered in coconut milk, rice, and custards across Southeast Asia. It flavors kaya (coconut-egg jam), Indonesian and Malaysian cakes, Thai desserts, and Vietnamese sweets with a scent often compared to vanilla and new grass [2]. Unlike matcha, pandan is not powdered tea and not ceremonial in the Japanese sense; it is a kitchen aromatic, used fresh, frozen, or as extract, and central to everyday and festival cooking long before it became a "next matcha" headline.
## Why it matters
The food-history value is that pandan's Western moment is discovery marketing, not invention. A leaf that has seasoned Southeast Asian desserts for generations is being reframed as a cafe trend because it photographs green and tastes unfamiliar to many North American and European diners. For pandan and matcha context, see the articles below.
## How to try it
Buy frozen pandan leaves or pandan extract at Southeast Asian grocers. Simmer a knotted leaf in coconut milk for rice or custard, then remove it before serving; or whisk a few drops of extract into butter cake batter or latte milk. The aroma should be floral-grassy and gentle — if a product is only green dye, it is not pandan. Fresh leaves bruise and release more scent when tied. For the full pandan and matcha stories, read below.
## Sources & References
1. “Flavour trends 2026.” FoodNavigator (2026) https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2026/04/09/flavour-trends-2026/
2. Alan Davidson “The Oxford Companion to Food.” Oxford University Press (2014)
Related canonical pages: [Pandan](https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/food/pandan) | [Matcha](https://thefoodthatshapedus.com/food/matcha)