9 hours ago, KennethT said:
I didn't think you could eat pandan leaves... I've always seen them being very fibrous and stringy - most recipes I've seen using them have them as a flavoring agent and then removed - like in rice or custard.
In retrospect, you are probably right. I just went by the Chinese translation from the menu (it was bilingual in Chinese and Vietnamese). It is quite possible that they mistranslated the Vietnamese.
Lá thơm literally means 'fragrant plant' and is applied to a number of things, including bay leaf. Unfortunately, translating 'fragrant plant' into Chinese gives one of the Chinese names for pandan.
So, in the end, I'm not sure what it was. I have eaten thịt bò lá lốt several times in Vietnam, and while these were similar in appearance, there was a different taste.
I will investigate further on my next visit.
