The Serumpun Codex · Leaves, ferns and palms
Pegaga
A small, round-leaved herb eaten raw or cooked.
The entry
- Name
- Pegaga
- Other names
- Udu bulan (Kelabit); daun Cina (Iban); Asiatic pennywort
- Scientific name
- Centella asiatica (L.) Urb.
- What it is
- A small, round-leaved herb eaten raw or cooked.
- Knowledge from
- The Malays, who eat it raw as ulam. The Sarawak Department of Agriculture also records Kelabit (udu bulan) and Iban (daun Cina) names for it.
- How it is used
- Eaten raw as ulam, or cooked.
- In the French Borneo kitchen
- An emulsion at the Kuching Finale.
- Conservation status
- Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2019 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: who shared it with Serumpun and season and place.
Sources
- Sarawak Department of Agriculture
- Lansdown, R.V., Centella asiatica, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2019 (category read via GBIF)
- GBIF, IUCN Red List record for Centella asiatica
- Forest Department Sarawak, Protected Plants of Sarawak (Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998, Part II)
- Sarawak Government, Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998 (Cap. 26), Second Schedule, LawNet 2024
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.
How to cite this entry
Serumpun Sarawak (2026) ‘Pegaga’, The Serumpun Codex, ed. James Won. Available at: https://www.chefjameswon.com/serumpun/codex/pegaga/ (sources checked 1 November 2026).
Quote any entry with this citation, and name the community whose knowledge it is.