This pandan jelly (agar agar pandan) is a pandan-based treat. This cooling and refreshing jelly is colored entirely from the natural green color of the pandan (screwpine) plant.
When combined with layers of thick and creamy coconut milk jelly layers, this pandan jelly makes a truly refreshing, and absolutely delectable treat!
There are 3 different colors of jelly layers in this jelly. First is the green layer, followed by a milky green layer, and the third, a pure white layer.
The green layer is made up of plain agar agar solution that has been added pandan juice. The white layer is made up of coconut milk (the creamy white liquid that is derived from the white flesh of a coconut). The milky green layer is a combination of both the green pandan jelly solution and the white coconut milk jelly solution.
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❓What is pandan?
- Pandan (screwpine leaves) is a tropical plant with long, green, blade-like leaves. It is commonly grown in the Southeast Asia region. The leaves are widely used in making Asian dishes (both food and drinks), both to enhance the flavor and aroma of the food as well as to provide natural green coloring to them. Pandan leaves are well known for their unique flavor and are also referred to as the vanilla of the east.
- Pandan leaves can be used in fresh and frozen form. These can be purchased from Asian grocery stores or Asian supermarkets.
- Pandan is also sold in extract form (pandan extract or pandan essence) and these are easy and convenient alternatively for those who are not able to get the natural leaves.
❤️Why you will love this recipe
- This pandan jelly makes a delicious dessert.
- It is an easy to make pandan dessert. There is no baking required and you only need 5 ingredients to make it.
- Served chilled, this pandan coconut milk agar agar jelly makes a refreshing sweet treat on a hot summer day.
- The jelly is made using fresh pandan leaves. There is no artificial food coloring used.
- This makes a great vegetarian and vegan dessert too.
Like this jelly recipe? Here are my other posts you might want to check out
- Pandan Cake - Easiest Pandan Flavored Pound Cake
- Pandan Cookies with Coconut and Gula Melaka - An Easy Recipe
- Coconut Jelly with Palm Sugar (Coconut Milk Agar Agar)
- Coffee Jelly - An Easy Homemade Coffee Dessert
- Lychee Jelly - An Easy Fruit Jelly Recipe
- Pineapple Nata Jelly - An Easy Tropical Konnyaku Dessert
- Gula Melaka Syrup (Palm Sugar Syrup)
📋Ingredients
- Jelly powder (agar agar powder) - this is sold in powder form. Use clear, unflavored jelly.
- White sugar - white sugar helps maintain the green color of the pandan, unlike brown sugar, hence it is recommended to use white sugar when making this jelly. Both coarse white sugar or granulated sugar will work for this recipe.
- Pandan juice (made from fresh pandan leaves) - contributes to the lovely aroma and pretty green color of the agar agar jelly.
- Coconut milk - This is the white substances that is squeezed out of the white coconut meat. It is not the clear coconut water that is natural present in coconuts. Coconut milk used in this recipe to make the white and creamy green layers. Coconut cream will also not work for this recipe as it is too thick. Use full fat coconut milk for best results.
- Water - use filtered water.
*Refer to the recipe card below for full list of ingredients and exact quantities. For best results, use a digital kitchen scale where applicable*
🧾Substitution and variations
- Fresh pandan juice can be replaced with green pandan extract or pandan essence (store bought). Start with half a teaspoon and increase in small quantity for a stronger pandan flavor.
- Instead of pouring the jelly into multiple layers, you can pour each color into a single layer, creating a 3-layer pandan jelly.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you do try, please let me know in the comments section below!
👩🏻🍳How to make
Making the pandan juice
- Wash the pandan leaves to remove any dirt. Cut them into 1-inch small pieces and place them in a food processor.
- Add water and process until fine.
- Strain the pandan water with a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth.
- Squeeze out all the juice such that the amount of juice extracted equals the amount of water added to the leaves in the blender. Set the juice aside.
Cooking the jelly
- In a medium-sized pot, measure the water. In a separate bowl, measure the agar agar powder (jelly powder) and sugar and mix well. Pour this mixture into the water and stir well.
- Turn on the flame to medium heat and cook the jelly solution until the sugar and jelly are completely dissolved. Stir to avoid the jelly from settling to the bottom of the pan. Let the jelly cook over medium low heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Stir occasionally.
- Once cooked, divide the jelly solution into 2 equal portions. Add the strained pandan juice into one portion.
- Add the coconut milk into the other portion. Mix well.
- Transfer one third of the pandan juice jelly solution into a measuring jug.
- Add one third of the coconut milk jelly solution to it and mix well. This will make the milky green jelly layers in the pandan jelly. Cover all 3 jelly solutions to prevent them to cooling down to room temperature as that will set the jelly.
Assembling the coconut pandan jelly
- Spoon the first layer (bottom layer) of jelly into the prepared mold. The first layer should be the green pandan layer. Refrigerate to set.
- Remove from the fridge and gently pour in the next layer, this time the milky green jelly layer. Refrigerate to set. For even thickness of the jelly layers, measure the quantity of jelly poured so that it is consistent for each layer. I use a count of 5 small ladles for each jelly layer.
- For the third layer, pour the same amount of white coconut layer. Refrigerate again.
- Repeat the process in the exact same order until all the jelly solutions are used up. If there is any residual that is not enough for full layering, you can combine all three colors into one and pour it as a final layer. Return the pandan jelly to the fridge and let it set and chill completely for at least 2 hours.
🍽️Serving & storage
- Once the jelly is completely set, remove it from the fridge. Use a thin flat spatula to loosen the sides of the jelly from the mold.
- Cover the mold with a tray and turn it over, along with the mold.
- Tap gently to release the pandan jelly onto the tray. If you find it difficult to release the jelly from the tin, place two toothpicks on each side of the jelly (between the jelly and the tin) before turning the jelly over. The little air pockets created around the toothpicks (between the jelly and the tin) will help to release the jelly.
- Cut as desired and serve. The jelly is best served chill.
- Keep leftovers refrigerated. Consume within 4 to 5 days.
💡Expert tips
- To prevent the jelly solution in the pots from setting while assembling the coconut jelly layers, keep them warm by placing them over pots of hot water (double boiling) or simply heat them up intermittently to ensure they don’t cool down. Keep stirring the solutions every now and then to prevent any jelly films (skin) from forming at the surface and the sides of the pots.
- To ensure you get even layers of each color, use the same sized ladle or cup to pour each layer.
- To prevent the jelly layers from sliding off after cutting, make sure the jelly you pour over each layer is hot (steaming). This will help the layers to adhere better.
💭FAQs
There is definitely a tendency of the jelly layers to come apart as you cut and arrange the jelly.
One way to ensure the layers do not slide off too easily is by making sure the jelly solution you pour over the previous layers is steaming hot. This helps the layers stick together better.
Other ways include handling the jelly gently. When holding it, try to hold all the layers together instead just one part of it.
Also, cutting the jelly into wider pieces can help too.
Another way is to pour the jelly in individual serving cups. That way, you will never have the problem of the jelly layers separating.
Technically you can. However, too much of pandan juice will result in your jelly (especially the green layer) to taste like grass and that might not sit well with some people. Hence, it is important not to use too many pandan leaves to make the juice.
Reducing the leaves is also fine. It will have an impact on the depth of the green color of your pandan jelly.
Yes, they can. This is probably a good option if you are intending to serve the jelly at parties as you will have one less task of having to cut the jelly and making sure the layers do not separate as you move the jelly.
This pandan jelly does take some time to assemble and with each layer added, you have to give it sufficient time to set before adding a new layer. All this waiting time can result in your unused jelly solution in the pots to also cool down and set.
One way to avoid that is to heat them up intermittently. You don’t want to keep the heat on continuously as that will result in the jelly solution evaporating and reducing is quantity, but suffice if you heat it up every time you notice it cool down.
Also remember to keep stirring the solution every now and then to avoid the surface of the jelly from forming a thin layer of film (as the surface will cool down quicker than the rest of the jelly).
The other way to keep the jelly from setting is to place the each jelly pot over another pot of hot water (similar to double boiling). The heat from the steam will help keep the jelly warm and prevent it from setting.
Yes, you can. If you are pressed for time or simply do not have the patience to go with the many layers in this pandan jelly, you can make this agar agar jelly in 3 simple layers.
Start by pouring in all the green jelly into the mold as the first layer. Let it firm up and then pour in the milky green layer (all of it) followed by the coconut milk jelly layer. Let the jelly set and chill completely before unmolding and cutting.
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📖Recipe
Pandan Jelly (Agar Agar Pandan)
For best results, use the metrics measurements. US customary measurements have not been tested and are only meant for guide.
Ingredients
- 10 g jelly powder (agar agar powder)
- 200 g white sugar
- 300 ml coconut milk (thick)
- 900 ml water
- 6 pandan leaves (30 cm length each)
Instructions
- Prepare the mold and set it aside.
Making the Pandan Juice
- Wash the pandan leaves.
- Cut them into 1-inch sizes and add them into the blender.
- Add 300ml of water and process the leaves until fine.
- Strain with a fine mesh strainer or a cheesecloth and squeeze out all the juice. Measure the juice. If it is less than 300ml, add water to reach 300ml. Set aside.
Cooking the jelly
- Measure 600ml water in a medium saucepan.
- Separately, mix the sugar and jelly powder in a bowl. Add this mixture into the water in the saucepan and stir to combine.
- Turn on the heat and cook the jelly over medium heat. Stir to prevent the jelly from settling to the bottom. Continue cooking until the sugar and the jelly powder are dissolved and until the solution comes to a rolling boil. This should take approximately 5 to 10 minutes.
- Divide the jelly solution into 2 equal portions. Add the pandan juice to the first portion. Stir over low heat. Cover and turn off the heat. This is for the green jelly layer.
- Pour the coconut milk into the second portion. Stir over low heat. Cover and turn off the heat. This is for the white jelly layer.
- Transfer 200ml of the pandan juice jelly and 200ml of the coconut milk jelly into a separate heat-proof pot. Mix until well combined. This is for the milky green jelly layer.
Assembling the jelly
- To prevent the jelly solutions from setting in the pots, you would need to keep the solution warm as you assemble the jelly. If you notice the solutions cooling down, heat them up lightly and stir well. Keep them covered.
- Spoon 5 small ladles of the green pandan jelly solution into the prepared mold. Refrigerate until the jelly sets lightly (you should be able to feel the surface of the jelly set if you touch lightly with your finger, but the bottom can still be wobbly).
- Remove from fridge and very gently, pour 5 ladles of the milky green jelly on the pandan juice layer. Spoon the jelly as close to the top surface as possible to prevent it from breaking. If it breaks, the jelly layers will get mixed up and you will not get the distinctly colored jelly layers.
- Refrigerate until the second jelly layer sets lightly.
- For the third layer, pour 5 ladles of coconut milk jelly. Refrigerate until it sets lightly.
- Repeat the process until all the 3 jelly solutions are used up. For the final layer, if there is not enough of either solution to make a full layer, combine the solutions and pour them into the mold as one final layer.
- Refrigerate the jelly until it is completely set and thoroughly chilled for about 2 hours.
- Once completely set, remove the jelly from the fridge. Run a thin spatula along the sides of the mold to loosen the jelly.
- Place a plate on top of the mold and turn it over with the mold underneath it. Tap to remove the jelly onto the plate. If the jelly does not release, try to insert 2 toothpicks between the jelly and the tin before turning the jelly over. The little air pockets created between the jelly and the mold (by inserting the toothpick) will help release the jelly.
- Cut the jelly into small pieces before serving.
Notes
- To prevent the jelly solution in the pots from setting while assembling the coconut jelly layers, keep them warm by placing them over pots of hot water (double boiling) or simply heat them up intermittently to ensure they don’t cool down. Keep stirring the solutions every now and then to prevent any jelly films (skin) from forming at the surface and the sides of the pots.
- To ensure you get even layers of each color, use the same sized ladle or cup to pour each layer.
- To prevent the jelly layers from sliding off after cutting, make sure the jelly you pour over each layer is hot (steaming). This will help the layers to adhere better.
Variation:
- Fresh pandan juice can be replaced with green pandan extract (store bought). Start with half a teaspoon and increase in small quantity for a stronger pandan flavor.
- Instead of pouring the jelly into multiple layers, you can pour each color into a single layer, creating a 3-layer pandan jelly.
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