Bayam Brazil

Sissoo spinach, also known as Brazilian spinach, Bayam Brazil, Sambu and Samba lettuce is a tropical edible groundcover of the genus Alternanthera used as a leaf vegetable.

Sissoo spinach is a vigorous and spreading groundcover about 30 cm (12 in) high with crinkly leaves, rooting at the nodes. The leaves are crunchy, slightly more so than the temperate climate spinach, and not slimy. Some cultivars are slightly bitter. They require steaming or boiling when eaten in large quantities because of the presence of oxalates. It is eaten alone as a green or added to other dishes as a spinach substitute.

Reportedly, Brazilians usually eat it raw in salads with oil and or vinegar, tomato, and onion, although the literature recommends cooking it. Sissoo spinach can be added to quiches, pies, curries, dals, pasta sauces, lasagna or added to dishes and stir-fries late in the cooking process as a spinach substitute and to add a nutty flavour.