The butterfly pea belongs to the pea or legume family (Fabaceae) and is a medicinal treasure chest. About a decade ago we watched a Thai man collecting the deep-blue flowers, which are widely spread in our home country Thailand, especially during and after the monsoon season. We asked him for what reason he`s harvesting the flowers, in Thailand called Dok Anchan. They are very healthy, he answered, we use them to extract a natural blue food coloring and I use them to color my coconut ice cream. The school kids love it. Our interest has been drawn and just a few weeks later, we found butterfly pea colored blue Thai rice in our supermarket. Butterfly pea flowers contain the powerful natural antioxidant blue proanthocyanidin and are also eaten, especially in Myanmar (formerly Burma) they are fried in a batter, as a healthy snack or side dish. In Thailand and other South East Asian countries, the flowers are used to color food and to produce a blue herbal tea,
which is served as a wellness drink on the rock or hot.