Mani Cai

Name

Mani Cai

Other names

Cangkok manis, cekur manis, sayur manis

Scientific name

Breynia androgyna (L.) Chakrab. & N.P.Balakr., formerly Sauropus androgynus

What it is

A leafy shrub whose sweet young leaves are eaten cooked, never raw.

How it is used

Always cooked. In Taiwan in 1995, raw juice of the leaves taken for weight loss caused lung failure: of 278 patients, 8 needed lung transplants and 9 died.

In the French Borneo kitchen

A standing item in the Serumpun larder.

Season and place

Mostly cultivated, in home and market gardens. The first harvest comes three to four months after planting, then monthly as new shoots appear. No growing district in Sarawak is recorded.

Conservation status

Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2021 assessment); not listed under the Sarawak Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998.

Codex Alimentarius

No Codex standard

Medicinal knowledge

Held privately by the community

Consent

Given, recorded by CHASS, 30 October 2026

Still to be confirmed: whose knowledge it is and who shared it with Serumpun.

• World Flora Online
• Borneo Post, 2022
• NPR, 2014
• Barstow, M., Breynia androgyna, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2021
• PROSEA, Sauropus androgynus
• GBIF, IUCN Red List record for Breynia androgyna
• Forest Department Sarawak, Protected Plants of Sarawak

Added to the Codex on 1 November 2026. Sources last checked on 1 November 2026.

Anyone may cook with this knowledge, commercially too, provided the community it comes from is credited by name. To correct or withdraw this entry, write to the Custodian at connect@chefjameswon.com.

Serumpun Sarawak (2026) ‘Mani Cai’, The Serumpun Codex, ed. James Won. Available at: https://www.chefjameswon.com/serumpun/codex/mani-cai/ (sources checked 1 November 2026).

Quote any entry with this citation, and name the community whose knowledge it is.