My Luscious Bush

Further to my earlier post, I wish to thank all and sundry who have painstakingly given their opinion on whether or not the aforementioned leaf is indeed the ubiquitous daun KADOK, wrapper of otak otak and dresser of mieng kam. Nipple Joe suggested the comments from that previous post are enough to spawn a whole new post....and yeah, he's right.

I have personally tried a leaf, after comparing pictures on the internet, and am happy to conclude that I think my bush is of kadok.





On a separate note, I wish to extend my heartfelt apologies my esteemed AWHIFFOFLEMONGRASS took umbrage by my suggesting her people are a "sirih chewing species". It's as insensitive as concluding that all chinks have slitty eyes and use chopsticks. Anyway, we discussed the issue at great depth, and this was the snippet of our ahem, every D&M conversation:

Thamby: call my ppl "sireh chewing"

Me: arent they?

Me: its an honor

Me: time honored traditions are hard to find

Thamby: kiss my black A**!

Me: I would chew it if i knew how, and liked the taste

Thamby: my black A**?

Thamby: ack!

Me: what?

Thamby: What what?

Me: what ack?

Thamby: you said u'd chew my black A**!

Thamby: YOU SAID "I would chew it if i knew how, and liked the taste"

Me: i did notttt

Me: chew sirih la donk

Ah, isnt heart warming to know this is what friends are for!!!! GUFFAW.....

Calling Teckiee, Calling Teckiee...

Dear Ms Teckiee,

I understand from Precious Pea that you are an expert in Mieng Keam. I have a a plant in my house that resembles the kadok leaf, but am not sure if it is or not. It may look like Kadok, sound like Kadok, smell like Kadok, but is it really Kadok?

Alas, Precious Pea is unable to furnish me with your physical postal address, so I have no choice but to resort to this means of open communication.

Attached herewith is a sample of the suspected Kadok. Alas I do not dare try it myself, as I have 4 dependents, and I think its quite unglamorous to die accidentally from eating a poisoned leaf. Therefore I hope with your expert eye, you can tell me if the leaf is indeed a Kadok.

Thanking you in advance for your expertise, and hope to be in contact with you very soon.

Yours ever faithfully
FATBOYBAKES









PART II - Updated After Teckiee's Reply:

Dear FFB,

You have come to the right person! I would try the daun kadok look-a-like for you cos Eat first think later ma... (plus I don't have any dependants LOL) so send me some ;P

I can’t tell if what you have is the Kadok. The Kadok have a more obvious leaf veins, the one in your pic looks quite flat. Go check the older leafs out and see if they look different.

You also look at how the Kadok grows. The Kadok grow upwards to about 2 to 3 feet before it starts to crawl out and makes new branches. Lots of leafs and usually have a white tiny pinky growing if it’s really health. (That’s the flower or something like that) Look at the top center of the pic, you’ll see that pinky I’m talking about.
http://ceria.tv/petua/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/betel_leaves.jpg

There’s another plant which the leaf looks like the Kadok, but grows more horizontally with less leaf. The stems are softer and look a lot more like other creepy crawlies. That one I won’t eat.

Luv,
Teckiee


Dear Teckiee,

Thank you for prompt reply. I hope you enjoyed your Dominoes Pizza.

I have re-taken another shot in better lighting, and compared it with the photo in the link you very kindly sent to me.

Interestingly enough, all the vein patterns in my mystery leaf (talk about taking a leaf out of a page) match those in the aforementioned Kodak Moment Kadok Shot.

I am thinking perhaps they are one and the same. You have indeed shed a priceless amount of light on this matter. Perhaps you can also enlighten me if Sirih and Kadok are one and the same? (or perhaps I should refer to the Sirih Chewing Species, like Thamby aka AWOL).

Ever yours,
FBB