2/17/16

43 New-to-Me … #40 Dried Lily Bulbs

My first reaction when I saw a bag of dried lily bulbs at the Asian market was, "Aren't lilies poisonous?" Next, "What on earth do you do with them?" And finally, "I'm definitely buying these!"

This is the kind of insanity that happens when you do a project like 43 New-to-Me. But the beauty of it is that you occasionally find some amazing foods that you had no idea even existed. Unfortunately, that was not the case this time.

 

I did a bunch of research before trying them (as I still had a nagging feeling lilies were poisonous) and learned that dried lily bulbs are used in long-cooked soups, stews and desserts. They are, allegedly, a good source of fiber (which was no surprise to me after I opened the package. They looked a lot like toenail clippings). They had a very strange, very difficult-to-describe smell that had some tartness and sourness going on. I chose to make Lily Bulb Congee, reasoning that it wouldn't mask the flavor of lily bulbs the way a recipe with other flavorful ingredients might. 

My friends, Andi, Ann and I tried a bite of dried lily bulb and the prepared congee with a bit of trepidation. Once you get past the toenail thing (admittedly hard to get past), the flavor wasn't much of anything. Until suddenly it was. It was weird, as one bulb would have literally no flavor and the next would be pungent and sour-tangy. The majority were essentially flavorless (and thus fine), but the ones that were strong were awful. I gave them a 2, as I didn't have to spit them out, but it was close. Andi and Ann both also rated them a 2. 

Perhaps the next new-to-me food will be a treasure...

8 comments:

  1. Oh wow... that doesn't sound appetizing at all! I hope your next food is much better!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You lost me at toenail clippings. Ugh!

    ReplyDelete
  3. GROSS!!!! I wouldn't even have tried them once I saw the toe nail likeness of them! Ewwwww!
    You're brave (or crazy, LOL)!

    Off topic... I need your opinion about something and I was going to e-mail you but I didn't see your e-mail address listed.
    If you get a chance can you e-mail me at VasquezDoreen43@yahoo.com and I'll respond back w/ my inquiry (if you don't mind) Please and Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm brave AND crazy! And so are my friends.

      I'll email you. For future reference, my blog-related email address is:
      cindy.mycreativelife@gmail.com.

      Delete
  4. You are soooooooo brave .... the toenail clippings likeness would have had me running! LOL!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haha....sorry you had such a lousy experience.But you are going about it wrong. Chinese herbs are added to soups to serve as nourishment for the body. You have to use chicken or pork to create the base flavour, then just drink the soup. I never eat Chinese herbs because they are yucky! Try it in a Chinese restaurant.

    ReplyDelete

I moderate comments, so you will not see yours appear right away. Please check back if you had a question; I promise to answer it as soon as I see it. Thank you for taking the time to comment!