Senna siamea
organism / organism-senna-siamea
タガヤサン
Tagayasan (khi lek), a wild edible plant recorded in Thailand as being heated before eating to reduce its bitterness.
Photographs (captions in Japanese)
Leaves of Senna siamea (ขี้เหล็ก). A branch with pinnate compound leaves bearing rows of elliptical leaflets is shown.
Shown: Senna siameaPart / state: A branch with pinnate compound leaves (leaves only; no flowers or pods shown)
Photo: Renjusplace / CC BY-SA 4.0 / original image / ledger's original image
Scope and provenance of the photo
Identification: Identified as labelled in the source. The source describes it as a plant photographed in Kuthiathode, Kerala, India. Only leaves are shown, which are not necessarily the young leaves and flowers eaten in gaeng khilek. Re-identification by a specialist has not been done.
Image shown: The 1920 px version from Wikimedia Commons. No cropping or color changes by NIGAMI LAB. For display, a WebP capped at 1200 px wide is served; the ledger's original image can be checked from the link above.
On this page (9 sections)
Reading the bitterness
Tagayasan (Senna siamea, local name ขี้เหล็ก / Khi Lek) is recorded as a wild edible plant in an ethnobotanical survey in Pa Tio District, Yasothon Province, Thailand. Its leaves, young shoots, and flowers are used in cooking; they are bitter as they are and are described as being heated before use to reduce bitterness.
This record comes from a survey of 50 people in one region. It gives neither a specific heating method or duration nor how much bitterness remains afterward. The same survey links the leaves, young shoots, and flowers used in Thai cooking under the name khi lek to this plant species.
Sources for this overview
Ethnobotanical study of wild edible plants in Pa Tio District, Yasothon Province, Thailand
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the local name and the account of reducing bitterness by heating. / Confirmed the survey limits and the link between the leaves, young shoots, and flowers and their source species.
Other names: ขี้เหล็ก (th)
Follow the connections
khilek leaves →is prepared from→ Senna siamea
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
Composition and content (1)
Scope: The leaves, young shoots, and flowers of Khi Lek used in Thai cuisine
Note: Connected the edible plant parts in the dish with the plant species.
Show data
ingredient-khilek-leaves —is_prepared_from→ organism-senna-siameaHow processing and cooking change it (1)
Scope: Pa Tio District, Yasothon Province, Thailand
Note: An example of a cooking-culture practice of reducing bitterness by parboiling and discarding the water.
Show data
organism-senna-siamea —is_documented_as_having→ (the claim sentence above)Culture (1)
Scope: A general-audience article from the Highland Research and Development Institute (HRDI).
Show data
organism-senna-siamea —is_documented_as_part_of→ (the claim sentence above)