Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Lily Bulbs


People are becoming more and more health conscious nowadays. We are more aware of the nutrition label on a food package, invest more time in exercising or pay more attention to the media for the latest health updates. However, this is really just old news. Our ancestors already knew that each food owns its particular nutritional value. Granted they didn't have the jargon of vitamin A, B, C or D, they knew that certain food could heal or maintain a healthy body.
For example, Chinese cuisine is very particular with food combination, especially in soups. If you're not feeling well, then a particular organ is 'lacking' something. It's like the ying-yang concept. For myself, I prefer warming food in the evening. I can have a salad in the afternoon, but at the end of the day, I want to warm my body with something soothing and comforting. This post will feature a 'warming' food - lily bulbs. They are also used in herbal remedies. You can find them in Asian supermarkets. Once you open up the small package, you just peel them and make sure to wash them well (lots of dirt since they are 'bulbs' from the soil afterall). You can add the snowy petals to an Asian dessert soup, but I like to stir fry mine with other vegetables. I love their natural sweetness and delicate texture and innocent appearance. You just want to handle them with care and love. Here, I stir-fried the lily bulbs with watercress, wood ears, and brown rice.

4 comments:

Faith said...

What a lovely food this is! The way it looks reminds me of onion.

Gar said...

@Faith - yea. like the sweeter cousin of the onion, without the pungent taste. :)

Gar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
shannon (the daily balance) said...

yummy! these sound great. I'll have to keep my eyes "peeled" for them! (wow i am a NERD!)