The Universal Leaf
Much of the fruit, herbs and vegetables you eat at Four Seasons Resort Langkawi comes Malaysia's natural bounty. But one particular plant makes its way into your teacup as well as your food, while occasionally covering your skin in a therapeutic bath. This versatile plant, called the "pandan" or "screwpine," is essential to daily life in Malaysia and takes centre stage at the Resort.
Traditionally, pandan leaves are wrapped around other ingredients or dropped into cooking pots for rice and curries, imparting a vanilla-like flavour that enhances both sweet and savoury dishes, as well as a green hue. At our renowned restaurant Ikan-Ikan, pandan leaves are used in the classic Malaysian dish Nasi Lemak, a fragrant rice cooked with coconut milk. Other favourites include pandan-wrapped grilled seafood, satays in peanut sauce, braised lamb shanks in biryani and sweet dessert rice. Coupled with a glass of a pandan beverage, and the leaf can make its way into every element of your meal.
But don’t forget The Spa: the pandan’s therapeutic properties are integrated into skin treatments at Four Seasons Resort Langkawi, including floral baths. Pandan tea is at hand during you time at The Spa, and the leaves are woven into baskets and mats seen around the Resort. Malaysians also place the leaves in cupboards to freshen, and fold them into little boxes to hold jellies and puddings.
You’ll be hard-pressed to leave Four Seasons Resort Langkawi without encountering pandan in one form or another, and with so many versatile uses, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
