We recently wrote about Kunming's blooming flowers and trees. But the colorful blossoms are not only nice to watch at, some of them can also be eaten. There are various dishes and delicacies with a multitude of flower ingredients. Here are 9 of them that you can find in local restaurants during the flower blossom season in Kunming. Give it a try once travelling in Yunnan.
1 - Roses (玫瑰)
Rose flowers is a popular ingredient for local dishes and products. Rose pastries, rose tea, rose candy and also - as a non-food product - rose soaps.
2 - Banana flowers (芭蕉花)
Kunming is a melting port for ethnic cuisines featuring a great variety of natural plants such as banana flowers. They are usually cooked together with tomato, pork and egg.
3 - Sophora davidii flowers (苦刺花)
Sophora davidii (locally called Ku Ci Hua) can be found in most places of Kunming. After being scalded to get rid of the bitterness, the flowers get edible. Normally, the they are fried together with eggs.
4 - Broom flowers (金雀花)
Locals in Kunming like to fry the broom flowers together with eggs. The fragrant is sweet and it has a refreshing taste.
5 - Birchleaf pear flowers (常梨花)
The blossoms of the wild birchleaf pear bushes can be fried with eggs, eaten in a soup or can be served as a salad dish.
6 - Leaves of Chinese Toon (香椿)
The tender leaves of Chinese Toon are very trendy on the menus of many Chinese restaurants during spring months. There are mainly two ways for preparing this kind of refreshing natural vegetable: fried with eggs or mixed with Tofu as a cold dish.
7 - White azaleas (白杜鹃花)
Some azaleas are not suitable to be cooked, but the white ones are an exception. The freshly picked azaleas can be prepared deep fried and boiled. The most popular way for preparing azaleas is to make soup (with broad beans).
8 - Magnolia flowers (玉兰花)
There are several ways to prepare magnolia flowers, including frying after starched, sautéed with pork, porridge with magnolia flowers, and cooked with egg custard.
9 - Chysanthemum flowers (菊花)
The petals of chrysanthemum flowers are usually prepared with the famous Cross-Bridge Rice Noodle. Compared to the traditional rice noodles, chrysanthemum noodles have a very fresh taste.
Have we made you hungry? Do you want to get to know more about typical local dishes or even want to attend our culinary tour? Contact us directly for the fragrant bite!
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