The weather in Los Angeles doesn’t allow the growing of Pandan plant. Unlike in Malaysia where this plant can grow so well and wild. I remember having one of this plant at the back of my house which I planted but didn’t bother to take care of it. It grew very well and we benefited by it because we can use it anytime we wanted too.

One time, I tried planting in Los Angeles but the pandan just won’t grow. I think the cold weather and the hot/dry weather are not suitable for this plant. After all, this is a tropical plant.

So whenever I want to use this plant, I have to buy it from the Chinese grocery store. Not all of them carry this item. There is one store far away from my home – the San Gabriel Superstore in San Gabriel has them fresh. I’ve seen frozen ones but they are not good. I like to use this as to add an nice sweet aroma to my sweet soup or ‘kaya‘ (coconut jam).

I don’t think they are expensive, about $1.60-$2 a pack with 3-4 stems of leave. It goes by weight – $11.99 per pound. It is also known as ‘La Dua’, which I think is Vietnamese. Vietnamese community use this plant a lot in their dessert.