I love plants in the Piper genus. This genus comprises more than thousand species, probably majority of which are growing in the wild, hardly cultivated. These evergreen vines and creepers are first and foremost beautiful, and indeed majority of Piper species cultivated are ornamental. A handful of the pipers are known to have culinary value, among them are Black pepper พริกไทย, Chaplu Pepper ชะพลู, Dipli ดีปลี and the root beer plant (Piper auritum), that has a variety of applications in Central American cuisine.
Sakhan is probably one of the less known globally, among pipers of culinary value. It is however, well known in Southeast Asia namely in Laos, and the bordering Northeastern province of Thailand known as Issan that shares a culture with Laos.
Other names
- Piper ribesioides (Scientific)
- Chili wood
- Pepper wood
Culinary use
The more common use is of the Sakhan’s trunk as a spice, which tastes spicy and has a numbing effect. An essential oil can be produced from the plant berries.
The trunk of mature plants grows very thick and woody and can reach 4” in diameter. The trunk is dried and cut into two inch long segments and then into chips that are used in the cooking of stews such as the Lao ‘Or Lam’. The chips are boiled in a watery medium throughout the cooking process until they become softer and impart their spiciness, but not ingested.
Thaifooding 