By Alina @ TLY
Pandan turns a bowl of bird's nest a soft jade green and gives it a grassy, vanilla-like fragrance — that's simply what the leaf does. In this Ten Lei Yen recipe, you steep pandan leaves in the water before double-boiling, and both the color and the aroma carry straight through to the finished bowl.
We use pandan here purely for aroma, color, and taste, steeped or double-boiled with the nest. Soak the dry nest 4-6 hours or overnight before cooking; each dry piece typically runs 8-14 grams. Double-boil for about 40 minutes, and expect the soaked nest to expand to roughly 3-4 times its dry size. Sweeten with rock sugar for a classic finish, or swap in monk fruit for a no-added-sugar version. Cooked nest keeps 3-5 days refrigerated, and unopened dry nest keeps 2-3 years in a cool, dry place.
Regular price
$800
Sale price
$725
What You'll Need
- 1 whole dry edible bird's nest (about 8-14 grams)
- 4-5 fresh or freeze-dried pandan leaves, rinsed and tied in a loose knot
- 3 cups water
- Rock sugar to taste, or a monk fruit sweetener for a no-added-sugar version
How to Soak the Nest
Place the dry nest in a bowl of room-temperature water and soak for 4-6 hours, or leave it overnight in the refrigerator. Once it's softened, gently separate the strands by hand and pick out any fine feathers or debris. A whole dry piece expands to roughly 3-4 times its original size once fully soaked.
Steeping the Pandan
Fresh or freeze-dried leaves both work here; freeze-dried ones are handy to keep on hand, and they rehydrate as they steep in the hot water. Bring the water to a light simmer with the knotted pandan leaves in it for about 10 minutes, letting the color and fragrance release into the liquid, then take the leaves out before adding the nest. Steeping the leaves first — rather than dropping them in raw at the end — is what gives the broth its even jade tint and rounds out the aroma.
Double-Boiling the Nest
Set the soaked nest into a heatproof bowl, pour the pandan-infused water over it, and cover. Place the bowl inside a larger pot of simmering water — that's the double-boil method, which cooks the nest gently with indirect heat instead of a hard direct boil. Double-boil for about 40 minutes, until the strands are tender and translucent. Stir in rock sugar to taste in the final few minutes, or a monk fruit sweetener if you're keeping this sugar-free; monk fruit is here strictly as a sugar substitute for taste.
Serving and Storing
Ladle into small bowls and serve warm, with a fresh pandan leaf knot on top for aroma as it's spooned. Leftovers keep 3-5 days in the refrigerator in a sealed container; reheat gently rather than boiling hard, to protect the texture. Unopened dry nest keeps 2-3 years stored in a cool, dry place away from direct light.
What about the monk fruit option?
If you'd rather have a no-added-sugar version, swap the rock sugar for a monk fruit sweetener at the same stage. It's a straightforward taste and sugar-content swap — monk fruit doesn't change the texture of the nest or the pandan flavor, it simply replaces the added sugar.
If you're choosing a nest for this recipe, our guide to bird's nest grades explains the differences, and you can browse our current Blue Label, Red Label, TLY 5A, and Specialty Nest selections.
or
or
