Dining In 3 minutes 12 March 2019
Chase away the blues with this magical colour-changing tea and its stress-relieving antioxidant properties.
forage garden ingredients
The flowers of the butterfly pea plant are quite a sight to behold. Vibrant blue or violet-hued, the little blossoms have a bright yellow slash at their centres and delicate petals that resemble the shape of female genitalia, hence its botanic name cl*toria Ternatea.
Native to South-east Asia where the warm climate favours its growth, the bright blue petals from the flowers of the butterfly pea plant have traditionally been used as an ingredient in herbal teas as well as in cooking. The indigo flower imparts its beautiful blue colour when steeped in warm or hot water, making it a natural dye for various dishes and drinks.
As a natural litmus that changes colour when it comes in contact with acid, the eye-catching blue shade of butterfly pea flower extract and its mesmerising colour-changing properties have made it increasingly popular across the world. Last year, coffee giant Starbucks launched a limited-edition Butterfly Pea Lemonade Cold Brew that made its rounds on social media for its dreamy colour-shifting hues.
Left: Starbucks' limited edition Butterfly Pea Lemonade Cold Brew (Pic: Starbucks)
Culinary Uses Of Butterfly Pea Flower
In South-east Asia, butterfly pea flowers have long been used as a natural food colouring for food and drinks in Thai, Malay and Peranakan cuisines. Thepetals have practically no scent or flavour, making it the perfect food colouring agent for any dish or drink without changing its flavour. As a tea, it has a mild woody, earthy taste, not unlike green tea.
The flower is known as dok anchan in Thailand, where it is shredded into fine ribbons and added to rice salad, or its blue liquid extracted and steamed with jasmine rice. Many Thai resorts also greet guests with a welcome drink made from dok anchan and lemongrass. Traditional Thai snacks like steamed chaw muang dumplings and pale purple khanom chan cakes are coloured with butterfly pea flower extract.
In Malaysia and Singapore, it is known in the Malay language as bunga telang. It is used in Malay dishes such as nasi kerabu, pulut inti, kuih tekan and pulut tai tai, where rice is naturally dyed blue.
Nasi kerabu is naturally dyed blue with butterfly pea flower (Pic: Shutterstock)
The extract of butterfly pea flower is also widely used in Peranakan cuisine and gives dishes like savoury Nyonya zhang (rice dumplings) and kueh salat their signature blue tinge. The use of blue colouring in Peranakan cooking isn’t purely decorative though. Blue is the colour of mourning and used to mark certain kuehs for occasions such as funerals. Nine-layered rainbow kueh lapis when coloured with alternate layers of white and blue is reserved for funerals. Similarly, when served at funerals, the glutinous rice layer of kueh salat is fully coloured blue rather than just speckled with the colour.
Peranakan kuehs like this pulut tai tai are often coloured with butterfly pea flower (Pic: Shutterstock)
Behind Its Colour-Changing Properties
In 2015, Husk Distillers in New South Wales, Australia, launched Ink Gin which quickly gained attention for its eye-catching rich indigo hue in the bottle and its magical ability to change colour in the glass. The grain spirit is infused with 12 botanicals from around the world, including juniper berries, lemon myrtle,Tasmanian pepper berry, cardamom and, you guessed it, butterfly pea flower. The world’s first colour-changing gin turns from royal blue to blush pink when tonic or lemon is added to it.
The colour of butterfly pea tea changes depending on the pH levels of whatever it is mixed with. The blue colour changes to purple in the presence of a little acid, becoming hot pink as the acidity increases. To make an extract of butterfly pea flower for food colouring, steep about a dozen fresh or dried flowers in a cup of boiling water. After about 15 minutes, strain the liquid and discard the flowers. The deep blue water is then ready to be used as blue food colouring.
Different hues of red, purple and blue can be derived from the extract by changing the acidity of the liquid. Adding a dash of lemon or lime juice turns it into a purplish-red colour, while adding roselle hibiscus petals changes it to a bright red colour.
Ink Gin magically changes from blue to pink in a glass when tonic is added. (Pic: Husk Distillers)
Nutritional Benefits And Medicinal Uses
Used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine, butterfly pea flower tea has been consumed for centuries as a brain booster, antidepresant and calmative agent. When steeped as a tea, butterfly pea flower makes for a calming caffeine-free herbal tisane that has similar antioxidant properties as green tea.
The blue flower is rich in anthocyanin, a potent antioxidant that is also what gives it its fascinating colour-changing properties. The antioxidants in butterfly pea can rejuvenate the skin by stimulating collagen synthesis and lessen the signs of ageing. The anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties of butterfly pea flower extract can also help alleviate pain and reduce fevers.
Blue pea flower plants are creeping vines that help nourish the soil they are planted in (Pic: Shutterstock)
How To Grow Them
The butterfly pea plant grows as a creeping vine that winds its way up fences or poles, requiring little care when cultivated. As its name suggests, it is a legume and its fruits are long flat pods with peas inside that are edible when tender.
Once dried, the seeds can be planted in moist, well-drained garden soil and will start germinating in about two weeks. The hardy plant can be exposed to full or partial sunlight and its vines grow quickly and messily, so it is best to support them with sticks or train them to grow along a wooden trellis.
Not only do butterfly pea plants seem to thrive on neglect, being members of the legume family means that they have root nodules that contain rhizobium, a fungus that converts atmospheric nitrogen into usable nitrates that fertilise the soil. Because of this property, the butterfly pea vine can not only do well in poor soil, its growth also helps condition the soil and make it more fertile for other plants in a garden.
To promote bushy growth, pinch off the tips of the plant and harvest its flowers regularly so the vine does not go into seed production phase. The flowers can be harvested, dried in the sun and kept as a pantry staple for a very long time.
Written by Rachel Tan
Rachel Tan is the Associate Digital Editor at the MICHELIN Guide Digital. A former food magazine writer based in Singapore, she has a degree in communications for journalism but is a graduate of the school of hard knocks in the kitchen. She writes to taste life twice.
Dining In
Dining In 1 minute
Recipe: Try This MICHELIN Star Pho co*cktail at Home
This unique and aromatic creation is sure to impress your taste buds and your guests.
Pho co*cktail Vietnam
Dining In 2 minutes
A 101 Guide to Perfect Vietnamese Food and Wine Pairing
Spring rolls with champagne? Pho with red wine? We've got the answers.
Vietnamese Vietnam wine pairing
Dining In 3 minutes
One MICHELIN Star Musket Room's Camari Mick Shares Her Cinnamon Roll Recipe
The perfect addition to Christmas season.
New York City Christmas dessert
Dining In 3 minutes
The Perfect Pair: How to Select Holiday Season Bottles
Breaking down the essentials of opening the right drink.
wine pairing wine Champagne
All articles of Dining In
Keep Exploring - Stories we think you will enjoy reading
Dining Out 4 minutes
Why Hungary's Mangalitsa Pork Is Revered Worldwide
Discover more about the ingredient referred to as 'the best pork in the world'
Chef Interview Ingredients Editor's Pick
Dining Out 4 minutes
Paprika: Why This Smoky Spice Plays a Crucial Role in Hungarian Cuisine
We speak to five Hungarian chefs about the origins and importance of this distinctive ingredient, and its influence on the country’s gastronomy
Hungary 2022 Ingredients Paprika
Features 3 minutes
Rabbit: Malta’s Favourite Meat
We take a closer look at why you’ll find rabbit on the menu at many restaurants in the MICHELIN Guide Malta
Malta 2022 Recipe ingredients
Features 1 minute
Will Kombu Save the World?
Kombu is known as a healthy food that is essential for Japanese cuisine, but did you know that it also supports the natural environment in the ocean? We took a close look at the mystery of how kombu protects the planet.
Japan Sustainability ingredients
Features 2 minutes
How To Differentiate Oyster Varieties
Here's how to tell oysters from the US, France and Australia apart.
ingredients
Features 1 minute
Know Your Winter Fruit: Pumpkins and Squash
Halloween is coming soon, a good reason to learn about your favorite winter fruits!
ingredients
Features 3 minutes
Five Ingredients To Try This Year
Our MICHELIN inspectors have rounded up five exciting ingredients to try, in your kitchen or out to eat.
dining out ingredients cooking
Wellness 2 minutes
Dear Dairy: 5 Delicious Plant-Based Milk Alternatives To Replace Cow's Milk
Every year, 1 June is marked as World Milk day. Whether you're lactose intolerant or simply looking for new flavours, here's what you can look out for.
ingredients wellness Healthy
Features 2 minutes
Which Type of Egg Is Best?
Cage-free or free-range? Pasture-raised or organic? Brown or white? Here's what you need to know.
egg ingredients
Features 4 minutes
These are a few of our favourite things…
We asked some of our inspectors to share with us the ingredient they love the most and why
ingredients Inspectors Michelin Guide GBI 2020
Dining Out 2 minutes
Finding Gifts in Unexpected Places at Atomix
The one constant on this New York City restaurant’s menu perpetually in flux is the presence of rice.
ingredients Korean
Dining Out 3 minutes
Eric Ziebold’s Garden at RdV Vineyards Is His Ultimate Muse
The chef uses the bounty from his quarter-acre garden in his dishes at Kinship and Métier.
garden ingredients
Features 2 minutes
Ingredient Spotlight: Shallots
The little black dress of cooking.
ingredients
- MICHELIN Guide
- Magazine
- Dining In
- Ingredient: Butterfly Pea Flower