Pepper Wood; Sakhan

The stem of a member of the Piper family, Piper interruptum is used as a flavoring in Shan, Palaung, Lao, and northern Thai cooking. The northern Thai and the Lao call it sakhan; the Palaung call it kham. The plant is a liana, a twining vine that needs shade and moisture. The stem (sold as small lengths of wood in markets) is used either as a thin slice of wood that flavors a stew or a broth and is inedible (rather as a bay leaf or a cinnamon stick is included as a flavoring to be set aside rather than chewed) or is finely minced so that it blends into other ingredients.