Betel nut uses

[Dr_Milker]

@discobot

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. — Leonardo da Vinci

Spoken like a true crack dealer!

[discobot]

Hi! To find out what I can do, say @discobot display help.

[Dr_Milker]

Would discobot like a betelnut?

@discobot fortune

[discobot]

As I see it, yes

[Dr_Milker]

Looks like discobot is slowly emerging from the uncanny valley!

[the_bear]

That guy with the facial tattoo should totes start chewing the nut. He’d look much more authentic if he did.

[Dr_Milker]

Yeah, nothing says “Taiwan independence” like a reeking red-stained mouth with a few missing teeth.

[DrewC]

Personally I think he should just get a giant betelnut splatter tattooed on his forehead. Cut out the middleman. Takes too long to get those teeth stained.

[Yang_Gui_Zi]

@DrewC

Betel nut girls are like Monet paintings. Beautiful from afar, but a rough mess up close.

Good from far…but far from good.

Or maybe, butter face?

[DrewC]

I’m glad you said it, so I didn’t have to.

[Yang_Gui_Zi]

@DrewC

I’m glad you said it, so I didn’t have to.

But I’ll let you explain it, because I don’t know what it means. I just heard it somewhere.

[hansioux]

@the_bear

If you can promote its use with none of the nasty additives, then do so.

I just wanna mention first that unlike many adventurous forumosans, I have never had a betel nut, so I actually have no frigging clue what it tastes like.

Now that’s out of the way, from what I gathered, the red juice comes from the mixture of lime stone powder and betel leaf or betel flower. Lime stone powder is added to balance the flavor with its strong alkalinity. So if we are looking for a replacement, we can look for something else that’s also alkaline.

Lime stone powder, a.k.a. calcium hydroxide, has a pH of about 12. It’s actually pretty easy to find an edible replacement, less grinding on the teeth. Konjac powder has an alkalinity of 56.2. Shitake mashroom is about 17.5. Some seaweeds can top the chart at 200. I wonder if they can be a healthier replacement without impacting the taste.

Yes, I know areca fruit itself can cause cancer. So can tobacco, alcohol, charred meat, sugar and more. It’s all about moderation. Without the red juice and lime stone powder, it also wouldn’t do so much damage to the teeth and have that big of a aesthetics impact.

[DrewC]

@Yang_Gui_Zi

But I’ll let you explain it, because I don’t know what it means. I just heard it somewhere.

Oh, would you look at the time! I gotta run! But I’ll conveniently leave this random link behind as I do so.

Urban Dictionary: butterface

[Dr_Milker]

Mods!?!?! Someone is sullying our squeaky-clean thread with vile PUA references!

[Yang_Gui_Zi]

@Dr_Milker

Someone is sullying our red-stained thread

FIFY

[Dr_Milker]

@Yang_Gui_Zi

@Dr_Milker

Someone is sullying our red-stained thread

FIFY

Dude, you’re crimping my irony…

[Yang_Gui_Zi]

@Dr_Milker

Dude, you’re crimping my irony…

Didn’t mean to curl your udders.

[Dr_Milker]

@Yang_Gui_Zi

Didn’t mean to curl your utters.

You mean “put my udders in a twist.”

[Yang_Gui_Zi]

Was just trying to play along your theme of crimping and ironing, so I added a curler…

I got nothing and just realized I utterly got it wrong.
I guess I’ll just get back to work.

[tempogain]

@hansioux

Konjac powder has an alkalinity of 56.2. Shitake mashroom is about 17.5. Some seaweeds can top the chart at 200. I wonder if they can be a healthier replacement without impacting the taste.

Count me skeptical

There’s already the ones with the leaf (and no red juice), but they are really astringent and don’t have the lovely flavor of the red-juice ones.