Tiger Lily Buds And Edamame Stir-fry

You have seen and eaten these in Hot and Sour Soups, and perhaps a couple of Moo Shu dishes. Traditionally, these exotic lily buds are woodsy tiger lilies, and they are actually unopened yellow day lily flowers. Because of its bright golden color when it is raw, lily buds are known as "Gum Jum" in Cantonese, which translates to "Golden Needle". At the Asian grocery market, look in the dry foods section where they are packed in plastic baggies and appear slightly pale yellow in color. Dried lily buds are mainly used in authentic chinese stir-fries, soups and hot pots aka fondues. In the chinese tradition, tiger lily flowers also represent "wealth", and you will see loads of it added to Chinese New Year vegetarian dishes such as Buddha's Feast. They are also great when paired up with any recipe that calls for shitake mushroom or wood ear mushroom, such as my Clay Pot Chicken recipe.

It's a pleasure munching these long, slender, needly flowers. Crunchy in texture when cooked, these tiger lilies lend a light earthy flavor as opposed to the heavier flavored chinese mushroom and portabello mushroom. I don't think I have seen any fresh golden petals like I used to when I was back home. I remember picking them out from my bowl of glass noodles when I was a kid, and crunching each lily flower bud before slurping my noodles.

I couldn't think of anything more light and pleasant to go along with my lily flower stir fry recipe than edamame beans. I love edamame bean pods steamed, eaten cold or hot, but I tend to get lazy with the peeling part, not to mention the messiness of the juice squirting all over. That's why I bought some frozen prepacked ones that is conveniently available all year round at the Asian grocery frozen section. Edamame beans have a cross taste between a regular green pea and a chinese broad bean, slightly crunchy, and easier on the bean taste. I think this would fit well in my second submission to the Weekend Herb Blogging at Kalyn's Kitchen :)

Here it is. A quick, no brainer recipe - lily buds stir fry with edamame soy beans and shrimp. This, I have to say, is yet another great addition to my spring and summer stir fry or salad medleys that I enjoy !

Tiger Lily Buds And Edamame Stir-fry Recipe

Ingredients :
1/2 cup dried lily buds ( soaked in water, washed and rinsed )
1 cup frozen edamame beans ( de-shelled )
4 peeled shrimp
1 tbsp oyster sauce
white pepper
sesame oil
mirin wine

Method :

1) Pan fry the shrimp until slightly browned. Add the edamame beans and lily buds, stir-fry, toss and turn for 1 minute.

2) Dash in sesame oil, white pepper, oyster sauce, and a splash of mirin wine. Continue stir-frying for about 3 minutes.