Would you care for some Bougainvillea and Santan Snacks?
That’s right.
Santan, Ixora coccinea.Â
Bougainvillea, Bougainvillea spectabilis. 
These flowers are abundant in Asia. Â They make places like parks, schools, offices, and residences fresh and beautiful. Â In the Philippines, they are used in one or two of the following events.
- Flores de Mayo
- All Saint’s Day
- All Soul’s Day
- Flowers for flower Girls in Weddings
But NEVER were they used as food.
In Southern Thailand, on the other hand, they are food. Â Yes, totally amazing. Â The snack is called “Dok Mai Thot”, which mean fried flowers. Â Fried Bougainvillea and Santan taste like just like any other crisps. Â It was an amazing experience. Â I could not believe I was eating Bougainvillea and Santan flowers.
For you to be able to empathize with me, here it is.
Ingredients
Bougainvillea flowers ( as many as you want)
Santan flowers (as many as you want)
Flour
Procedure
1.  For the bougainvillea, take out the core and only use the petals. For the  Santan flower, take out  the filament at the center of the flower.
2. Â Wash them in a colander for sanitary purposes.
3. Â Mix a cup of flour and water in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt if preferred, without it is totally fine.
4. Â Dip the flowers into the batter.
5. Â Deep fry the flowers.
6. Â Serve with tomato sauce or any of your favorite dipping.
Although cooking oil is use here, I still think that this snack is healthier compared to any processed snacks in the groceries. Â Flowers are full of fibers and other nutrients that are not found in processed snacks.
Do you know of any exotic snacks the world has not heard of? Â Do share with us.
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Interesting i never tried but now i would like to try both.. 🙂
I often get this comment. And yes, when I was first introduced to this I was also surprised by the idea.
Are all types of bougainvillea edible?
As far as the variants that are found in Thailand are concern, yes.
wow i didn’t know such dish exist but I did “eat” santan for “snack” before just pluck the flower and then sip the nectar haha
Interesting! I think I have tried the Santan before!
I love Bougainvillea and santan but I’ve never thought of frying them! I should try this!
Oh, I remember eating Santan when I was younger. If I remember correctly, we just pull out the petals and sip the sweet juice of some sort that came out. 😀
It looks good. But does it taste good?
Yes David, Bougainvillea and Santan taste good. You ought to try it.
I remember when I was a kid, I like eating the santan flower 😀 a friend of mine told me it can be eaten. Haven’t tried bougainvillea tho. The recipe looks yummy 😀
I absolutely want to try these! It looks so yummy. 😀
yes I do care for some Bougainvillea and Santan Snacks. It’s a perfect vegetarian recipe Mitch – Carl | http://veggiecircle.blogspot.com/
I’ve tried Santan Crisps already. My mom use to be a vegetarian and she cooks this kind of food to me way back in my elementary years.
The idea of eating flowers is entirely new to me and I have to admit it’s pretty interesting.
I haven’t tried eating those flowers anyway thanks for sharing this, we will have something to try out and added on our weekly menu plan.
What a lovely idea for these flowers, fried then for a snack! I’ll try this recipe at home.
This interests me greatly, both as a health food nut and as a frugal dad. So all we need to do is grow these in our house and then that means healthy snacks unlimited? How can I not like that?
Can you dig a little deeper and get nutrition info?
Oh that would be a great idea. I might as well have another post for that. Thank you
Wow I was stunned seeing the flowers turned into food. I used to play with santan and bougainvillea flowers when I was a kid. Never thought they could be deep fried. I wonder how they taste..
They taste good Fervil.
That’s amazing! I’ve eaten edible flowers before, but I’ve never had fried, breaded flowers. That sounds so yummy!
That is really interesting–looks tasty!
looks delicious. wanna give this a try! I have heard somewhere in Laguna, a restaurant serves different flower dishes.
Wow! This is amazing. I had eaten flowers when I was in Bohol but not Santan and Bougainvillea. And the funny thing is, you’ve experienced that in Thailand
Ivd seen on TV (I forgot what program) about flowers that can be eaten but i have’t taste it yet. Thanks for posting the recipe.
Wow, that’s something new I learned today. I didn’t realize you can eat them. I remember, when I was young, I would pull some santan flowers, pull out the pistils and lick the sweet sap.
I didn’t know that these flowers are edible.
I know that rose can be eaten, but I guess it’s worth trying to eat them.
I know the santan contains a juice inside because we sip on those when I was little. But as a food? Hmm would love to try that 😀
I must admit that this is the first time I know that these flowers could be mixed with flour, cooked and eaten. Do they have nutritious value?
What a great post! In our area it is popular to use zucchini flowers: dip in batter and fry. I have yet to try them, tho!
Wow, this is something new, I tried the crickets in thailand but not this one. We’ll try to look for it in the next couple of weeks once we get back to Thailand.
I honestly didn’t know this particular flowera can be serve as snack. I know there are edible flowera but not this one and also I only do suck the sweet nectar of santan when I was a kid. I really find this interesting.
It would be interesting to have flowers for snacks just to try it out.
This reminds me of my childhood years, especially the santan! It used to be my favorite flowers in school 🙂
oh this is new too me. while as a kid i know that dew from santan can be tasted i never really entertain the thought of eating flowers, though this sounds great:)
As a kid, I’ve tried Santan dew as well, and yes, I’ve never thought of the flower itself.
In Manila, groceries and supermarkets do not sell flowers as edible food so I think this is why not a lot of people know that these flowers can be eaten.
I know this stuff and have eaten one. BTW have you tried doing a Gumamela Salad?
I heard of Gumamela salad from friends, but I haven’t tried yet.
When we went to Bohol this year and visited Bohol Bee Farm, the tourist guide actually mentioned that whatever flowers bees sip and pollinate upon can be eaten by humans as well. So we ordered a salad bowl of veggies with flowers and I think bougainvillea was one of the ingredients. It was not tasty but just unique.
That’s right. If bees can eat them, humans as animals, shouldn’t have any problem eating them.
I haven’t tried Bougainvillea and Santan flower crisps yet, but I’ve had other kinds of flowers fried to crisps too, and I love them! 🙂 Anyway, thanks for sharing this recipe. I’ll make sure to try them soon. Will have to ask for some flowers from my neighbor muna. ^^
Can you share with us this other flower crisp you have already tried?
One of which I’ve tried and blogged about was the Rellenong Bulaklak at Pepita’s Kitchen. They’re fried squash blossoms but also stuffed with Kesong Puti. 🙂
If you’re interested to see, here’s where I mentioned it:
http://www.thepurpledoll.net/2012/11/pepitas-kitchen-lechon-degustacion.html
pretty….. 😀