Phak liang | ผักเหลียง | Gnetum gnemon
Family: Gnetaceae - Genus: Gnetum
Phak Lian can be found in the food forest of TCDF and Eco-Logic on the top of our 'mountain' and in the area of the Special School of the Foundation.
Phak Liang is an evergreen small tree or shrub, growing to 3 meter tall, although it is usually cut short to make harvesting the leaves easier.
Melinjo is widely used in the Thai cuisine. The leaves are also commonly used for vegetable dishes.
Regular harvesting of the shoots controls the size and shape of the bushes. Leaves can be harvested the whole year through.
THE TREE/SHRUB
Evergreen small tree or shrub, stem erect, up to 3 meter tall, much- branched down to the base, branches thickened at base.
The tree occurs wild in rain forests at low elevations up to 1,200 meter, they prefer high soil humidity and light shade.
THE LEAVES
The leaves are evergreen, opposite, 8–20 centimeter long and 3–10 centimeter broad, entire, emerging bronze-colored, maturing glossy dark green.
The leaves are edible and used widely in Thai cuisine.
THE FLOWERS
Flowers in whorls at the nodes.
Female flowers, 5-8 at each node, oblong and beaked.
THE FRUIT
The fruit-like female strobilus consist of little but skin and a large nut-like seed 2–4 centimeter long inside.
Male strobili are small, arranged in long stalks, and are often mistaken for flowers. The red (ripe) strobili are eaten by birds, mammals and reptiles
CULINARY USES
The young leaves are cooked in vegetable soup, fried with egg.
It is an important leafy vegetable in southern Thailand.
It can be used as a salad (young leaves), or stir fried with egg. At our Food Forest Kitchen Restaurant we use Phak Liang as a vegetable for our veggie tarts. Click on the link of the restaurant for the recipe.
NUTRITION
In 100 g of young leaves they contain water 75.1 g, protein 6.6 g, fat 1.2g, carbohydrates 9.1 g, fiber 6.8 g, ash 1.3 g, phosphorus 224 mg, calcium 151 mg, iron 2.5 mg and vitamin A 10889 IU.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL USE OF NEEDLE FLOWER
NOTE: please take advice from a doctor if you are planning to use herbal medicine.
In traditional medicine, the sap of leaf is used to cure eye ailments in traditional medicine. The Melinjo seeds are used to increase stamina. During early days, this plant is mixed with other ingredients to treat the dog bites. The plants help to treat the diseases such as anemia.
INTO THE WILD: a down to earth experience
For guests and visitors to Paksong we organize weekly tours "The Edible Forest" and Foraging weekends: Into the Wild. We work with local guides to take you in the jungle of Paksong. After foraging, we will cook a meal with the ingredients, using bamboo together with you!
Come and join and learn about the abundance of food that nature gives us!
INTO THE WILD!
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