What’s the Deal With… Betel Leaves
You know that thing? That thing that’s everywhere, and it sounds like something you should already know about, so you don’t really want to ask? Well, we know about it, and we’ll give you the intel. Welcome to What’s the Deal With.
Photo credit: ISTL/StockFood
Unidentifiable leaves at your local Thai joint mystifying you? Never fear: If it’s a betel leaf, it’s perfectly edible. The heart-shaped leaf shown here, one of several atypical edible leaves out there, is enormously popular in Thai and Indian cuisines, and is worthy of a place in your culinary lexicon.
We asked Josh Walker, chef and co-owner of Southern-Asian fusion spot Xiao Bao Biscuit in Charleston, South Carolina, to elucidate. Here’s what he had to say.
What It Is: The betel leaf is the large, tender green leaf of the betel vine, an evergreen, thin-stemmed plant native to Southeast Asia.
Where It’s Popular: Thailand and India, in particular, though the leaves are also cultivated in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
What It Tastes Like: A betel leaf has a “slight bitter note,” explained Walker via email. Elsewhere, it’s been described as “a lot like a very strong arugula.” Texturally, it’s similar to perilla and shiso leaf: tender with a slight chew.
How It’s Used: "[It] can be used to wrap food, which a lot of times is grilled," Walker said. In Thailand, these treats are called miang kum, which roughly translates to "a lot of ingredients in one bite." Variations abound, but at Uncle Boons in New York City (a Walker favorite), the betel parcels come packed with dried shrimp, toasted coconut, fresh ginger, lime, chiles, and crushed peanuts.
In the past, cooks at Xiao Bao Biscuit have used the leaves to infuse a vodka-like Vietnamese rice liquor called Yerlo—”the betel gave it a nice grassy, herbaceous, bitter note,” Walker wrote—or added them to a simple salad of sliced mango and yam. Betel leaf also makes a cameo in the restaurant’s ma haw, a sweet-and-savory dish of minced pork, pineapple, and crushed peanuts served atop a broad betel leaf.
Other Uses: According to Lucy Ridout’s 2009 book The Rough Guide to Thailand, people in Thailand and India often chew on the leaves for fun, to “numb the mouth and generates a warm feeling around the ears.”
(They’re often chewed with areca nut, the seed of an areca palm, which lends a “mild narcotic effect.” The practice is controversial, and countries including Papua New Guinea have banned the ingredient.)
Where to Find It: You can check your local Southeast Asian market, but finding the prized leaves can be a challenge even for betel lovers like Walker. "Everyone on [the] East coast gets it from Florida and it’s not cheap," he noted. Luckily, Walker knows a local farmer who grows them, "so I’ve just used it when I can get fresh from him.”
So give the heart-shaped leaf a chance; it may charm you more than you expected.
