Pak Khoot | ผักกูด | Diplazium Esculentum
Family: Athyriaceae - Genus: Diplazium
This edible fern is found in front of the bungalows of Eco-Logic Thailand. During the Edible Forest Tour with the staff of Eco-Logic you will be sure to go and pick them.
Paco Fern, also known as the vegetable fern, is an edible fern found throughout Asia. It is probably the most commonly consumed fern.
Vegetable fern is a terrestrial fern with a short and erect rhizome that is occasionally trunk-like or can be creeping. It grows about 50 centimeter tall
There are relatively few edible ferns, but this species is considered to be the most important edible fern in the world.
The Paco Fern propagates easily by spores. Vegetative propagation is possible by runners and rhizome parts with buds. Can be harvested the whole year through.
THE PLANT
This plant is a large perennial fern with ascending rhizome of about 20 centimeter high and covered with short rufous scales of about 1 centimeter long.
The plant is bipinnate with long brownish petioles, and the petiole base is black and covered with short scales.
The frond can reach 1.5 centimeter in length, and the pinnae is about 8 cm long and 2 centimeter wide.
THE LEAVES
The plant is often harvested from the wild for its edible young leaves (croziers); at Eco-Logic and the Thai Child Development Foundation it is harvested and sold by the students of the Foundation..
CULINARY USES OF PACO FERN
The young ferns fronds are quite nice, especially the tops. It’s a treat eating this tasty plant. They can be eaten raw, but Thais usually blanch them first. Eating them raw would provide more nutritional value.
Paco Fern can be stir-fried and used in salads. Or blanched or steamed and eaten with nam phrik or fried with oyster sauce.
NUTRITION
There is only just over 30 calories in 100 grams of Pak Khoot, but the other nutrients make it a very worthwhile addition to your diet. There are antioxidants, vitamins (especially A and C), plus omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids. The Beta Carotene content is also fairly high. Minerals include potassium, iron, manganese, and a bit of copper.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINAL USE OF PACO FERN
NOTE: please take advice from a doctor if you are planning to use herbal medicine.
A decoction of Phako Fern is used by women as a tonic after childbirth and is said to be good to cure expectoration of blood and ordinary coughs. The pulverize rhizome, soaked in water, is taken against diarrhea and dysentery.
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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