Sweet Leaf (Sayur Manis)

Sweet Leaf, a popular leaf vegetable in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. We call it "Sayur Manis" or "Cekur Manis"  in Malay. To the local Chinese, it is known as"mani cai".

Sweet Leaf (Sayur Manis)

The great thing about this vegetable is that it is easy to grow in our climate, usually done via stem cuttings. It's a low maintenance plant that is trimmed regularly for it's leaves.

Cooking it
Only the leaves are used in cooking because the lower stemmed parts are hard to chew. It has a natural mild pleasant sweetish flavour. When cooking this, keep in mind that on its own, it doesn't require heavy seasoning. In Malaysia, it is typically stir-fried with egg or boiled in soups. It is also commonly served in Pan Mee , a local noodle soup dish usually sold by hawkers.

To remove the leaves from the stems, we place our thumb and index finger around the stem. Then, slide our fingers across. The leaves will come off as you slide. Rinse before cooking.

Eat the leaves, not the stem!

Where to buy
It can be found in most wet markets and supermarkets in Malaysia.

Storage

It doesn't keep long in the refrigerator. I clear it off within two days because the leaves begin to dry after that.

Check out: Sweet Leaf and Sweet Potatoes in Coconut Soup (Recipe)