Siam Villa Garden: Betel

Piper sarmentosum is a plant in the family Piperaceae used in many Southeast Asian cuisines. The leaves are often confused with betel, but they lack the intense taste of the betel leaves and are significantly smaller.

There is no "official" English name for it, but it is sometimes called wild betel. It is known as chaphlu (ชะพลู, pronounced [t͡ɕʰá.pʰlūː]) or cha phlu (ช้าพลู, pronounced [t͡ɕʰáː pʰlūː]) in Thai; phak i leut or pak eelerd (ຜັກອີ່ເລີດ) in Lao; and pokok kadok in Malay. In Vietnam, the local name of Piper lolot – lá lốt – is applied to P. sarmentosum also. It is also known as lolot pepper.[3] In Vietnamese it is called lá lốt (or sometimes in the South lá lốp). In Khmer, it is called japloo ចាព្លូ (or jeeploo ជីរភ្លូ), in Thai chaphloo ชะพลู, in Lao phak ee lert ຜັກອີ່ເລີດ (or phak nang lert ຜັກນາງເລີດ).

This plant is a perennial herb with creeping rhizomes, and a striped stem that grow to 40 cm high. Its leaves are thin, heart-shaped, and 8–10 cm long and 8–11 cm wide, with 5 main veins from the base of the blade, oil glands on the upper surface, and finely pubescent veins on its under side. Its petioles are 2.5–3 cm long. Erect white spikes of 1–2 cm long emerge at the axils.

Piper sarmentosum leaves are sold in bunches and are usually eaten raw.

In Bangladeshi cuisine, chopped leaves are tossed with chopped onion, green chili and a dash of mustard oil to be eaten as a salad with plain rice.

In Thai cuisine, the leaves are used to wrap miang kham, a traditional snack; they are also one of the ingredients of the Kaeng khae curry of Northern Thailand. The curry is named after these leaves, which are known as khae in Northern Thailand.

In Laotian cuisine, it is eaten as part of a salad.

In Malay cuisine it is shredded for ulam, a type of Malay salad.

In Vietnamese cuisine it is grilled in bò nướng lá lốt, a typical Southern Vietnamese dish. Minced beef is marinated with seasoning, soya sauce and various finely chopped spices such as garlic, onion and lemongrass then wrapped in Piper lolot leaves and grilled, which brings smokey flavor to the beef. It is served with rice noodles, fresh herbs, sliced star fruits and pineapples, and fermented fish sauce mắm nêm.

The practice of wrapping meat in vine leaves originated in the Middle East, which was taken to India by the Persians. It was subsequently introduced by the Indians to Southeast Asia. However, grape vines do not grow well in tropical climates, so the Vietnamese started to use leaves of lolot instead. It is native to the Indochinese region and recently introduced to the United States by Lao and Vietnamese immigrants. It is also used for medicinal purposes, to relieve a wide range of symptoms from inflammation to snakebites.