Butterfly Pea: The Blue Flower Tea That Turns Pink

Butterfly Pea Flower — อัญชัน (an-chan) — Clitoria ternatea.

Steep the dried petals and the water turns deep midnight blue. Add a squeeze of lime and it swings to bright magenta as you watch — the color trick Thai cooks use to tint rice and layered sweets. That blue comes from anthocyanins, the same pigments that color blueberries. Mostly it lands on your plate as a tea, with the young shoots and pods eaten cooked.

Beyond the color trick, butterfly pea is simply a caffeine-free flower tea — nam anchan, barely sweet over ice — and a blue dye for rice and sweets. The cited human study tested only 15 men drinking a sugary flower beverage; it did not test memory or any disease outcome.

Nam Anchan Manao — น้ำอัญชันมะนาว (nam-an-chan-ma-nao)
Khao Yum with Blue Rice — ข้าวยำอัญชัน (khao-yam-an-chan)

Research context

A small crossover trial of 15 men found a sugary drink made with the flower blunted the after-meal blood-sugar and insulin spike and raised blood antioxidant capacity — BMC Complement Altern Med, 2018

Sources

Source: Chusak C, et al. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2018 (PMID: 29310631; DOI:10.1186/s12906-017-2075-7).

Narration transcript

Opening

Thai butterfly pea — อัญชัน, an-chan. Steep the dried petals and the water turns deep midnight blue. Add a squeeze of lime and it swings to bright magenta as you watch — the color trick Thai cooks use to tint rice and layered sweets. That blue comes from anthocyanins, the same kind of pigment that colors blueberries. Mostly it lands on your plate as a tea, with the young shoots and pods eaten cooked.

Nam Anchan Manao (น้ำอัญชันมะนาว)

For nam anchan manao, steep the dried flowers into a deep-blue tea, sweeten it lightly over ice, then squeeze in lime and watch it turn magenta. It cools the heat of a spicy Thai meal.

Khao Yum with Blue Rice (ข้าวยำ)

Steep the flowers into the rice water to tint the jasmine rice blue, then toss it with herbs, toasted coconut, and a tangy dressing for khao yum — khao-yum.

Closing

Beyond the color trick, butterfly pea is a caffeine-free flower tea — nam anchan, barely sweet over ice — and a blue dye for rice and sweets. It is an easy climbing vine that will cover a fence in a season and, like other beans, feeds the soil as it grows. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or take blood-thinning, diabetes, or sedative medication, check with your doctor first. Follow Longevity Biome, and LIKE this video for regular updates.

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