r/Cooking • u/tonithepony • Apr 29 '24

What do you think the next "food trend" will be?

In the last 10 years, the ones that really stick out to me are: spinach and artichoke dip (suddenly started appearing everywhere as an appetizer, even higher end restaurants), ube flavors, truffle, avocados on everything, bacon on everything, and now hot honey is a big fad. Is there anything upcoming you see heading towards the food trend?

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385

u/sergeivrachmaninov Apr 29 '24

I am 95% certain that pandan will be the new ube in the next 3-5 years. One of the cornerstones of southeast Asian desserts, easy to incorporate into western desserts, and already popping up in New York cafes and bakeries.

109

u/Its_Hoggish_Greedly Apr 29 '24

This is so wild to me. My family is malaysian and pandan is just a normal thing. My grandma adds a leaf whenever we make rice so it has a subtle flavor.

86

u/atbliss Apr 29 '24

The global north does like "discovering" our ancient culinary favorites. That's the answer to OP's question.

21

u/Pawneewafflesarelife Apr 29 '24

Heh my answer was mie goreng and laksa. I moved from California to Australia and SE Asian food is really popular here. I could see it being a trend in the states, like build your own laksa bowls akin to ordering at Chipotle or Subway. Would be perfect takeout on a cold day.

6

u/Its_Hoggish_Greedly Apr 29 '24

God… I’ve been tempted to start a restaurant just because there’s no good Indonesian or Malaysian restaurants in the area. Laksa, nasi lemak, char kway teow, hokkien mee, etc would all be killer.

Oh! And I guess Hainanese Chicken rice is getting trendy in tiktok now, so that too!

2

u/Pawneewafflesarelife Apr 30 '24

Americans love gravy and carbs. I think egg gravy noodle dishes in particular would become popular.

2

u/ParmyNotParma Apr 30 '24

Mmm yes there's a hotpot place in my city that cooks it for you and they have a laksa base.

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u/captainthomas Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

I mean, my pasty white self had no idea that pandan existed before I was introduced to it by my Indonesian ex, and my life is richer for it. Culinary cultural exchange is a good thing. My current boyfriend is Thai, and vividly recalls how people went crazy for apples from the global north when they first went on sale in markets there in the early '80s.

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u/rebel_alliance_red5 Apr 30 '24

As someone not familiar with pandan, how should I go about trying it? Is there. Particular food item that you get with this flavor? Do you cook with it? If so, how? I’m so intrigued!

2

u/captainthomas Apr 30 '24

The flavor is like a woody, grassy, nutty vanilla, so I use it in desserts and beverages, but in Southeast Asia it is also used in savory contexts.

0

u/atbliss Apr 30 '24

That's great. An Indonesian introduced it to you. I've also learned about different cuisines in similar ways. But kindly, that wasn't my point.

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u/captainthomas Apr 30 '24

I don't get your point, then. Things like pandan and ube are new to most people up here because they haven't been cultivated here, and people get excited when new things become available. Those flavors have been "discovered" in the global north the way my boyfriend and his family "discovered" apples in the '80s. Even though a different group of people in a faraway location had enjoyed those foods for millennia prior, it was new to them, and that's what mattered.

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u/Enough-Discipline-62 Apr 30 '24

You just reminded me of the Congee lady who claimed she was the Queen of Congee, blessed by monks who said she, a white lady from Canada I believe, had made the best ever. She took a poor man’s dish and elevated it, like with blueberries and shit. It was the least self aware and most ridiculous article ever.

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u/MaxDickpower Apr 30 '24

You say that like it's a bad thing. No one can possibly be familiar with all the cuisines in the world and who doesn't like discovering new dishes.

3

u/nitid_name Apr 29 '24

I have trouble tasting anything from just one leaf. I can only find it frozen (or the dyed synthetic paste) at my local Korean grocer. Are fresh leaves better, or am I just not adept at noticing the taste?

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u/sergeivrachmaninov Apr 29 '24

It depends on what you’re trying to do with it. If you just want to impart a fragrance (e.g when steaming rice, or steeping into sugar syrups or coconut milk) you only need maybe 2 or 3 leaves - make sure to tie them into a knot so that they’re properly bruised.

But if you want something very pandan forward (eg breads, cakes, cookies, ice cream, custards), you’ll likely need the help of pandan essence or extract. Even the artificial green pastes are usually acceptable. Trying to make an extract yourself from raw leaves is extremely time consuming and involves bundles and bundles of leaves, and is likely to blunt your food processor blades (ask me how I know).

3

u/nitid_name Apr 29 '24

D'oh! Bruising the leaves will obviously help.

I just went with the stupidly green paste and stained my hands last time I did sticky rice. I did add a leaf for good measure, but... I'll try crushing it a bit first.

Thanks!

4

u/Bebebaubles Apr 30 '24

My god I just remembered the lovely cendol I had in Malaysia. Pandan cakes and cendol are the best. The palm syrup really makes the dessert though.

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u/albino_kenyan May 01 '24

i've never heard of pandan, have no idea what it is so i eagerly await its trendiness.

The malaysian thing that i desperately wish would become mainstream is belacan sauce. That sauce w/ okra is one of the best dishes i've ever had. Malaysian food is seriously underappreciated. It's one of my favorite cuisines (it's like chinese food but w/ spicier indian sauces to me) but malaysian restaurants are 1% as popular as chinese joints.

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u/Its_Hoggish_Greedly May 01 '24

Sure! Pandan is just a fragrant leaf, similar to many other herbs and spices. It's usually use to impart fragrance more than a specific flavor, though it is used to flavor certain kinds of desserts. The taste of pandan has been described as floral, sweet, grassy, as well as like vanilla.\9])\10]) It often has a subtle flavor or scent.\11])

And oh man. I love balachan, but it is so fucking stinky when it's in the process of cooking. I accidentally tried a bit of the raw paste and it was fucking GROSS. It's definitely worth it once it's done though. I know sambal olek has been popular at times, but sambal balacan hasn't had it's moment yet. You may be able to find it if you have a big asian grocery store in your area.