Lily Bulb - why do we have to tie a knot?

Golden needles or lily buds are not vegetables. It is indeed an edible flower bud.

In Sarawak it is grown in almost every part of the state. Many people will dry the flowers and eat them as part of their soup or cook them fresh.

In Chinese it is called  金針菜 of golden needles but in mainland China, it is more commonly known as yellow flower vegetable (pronounces as huang hua cai 黃花菜 in mandarin).

It has another interesting name 忘憂菜, meaning forget-the-sadness vegetable (source unknown) So I wonder if it can help us overcome our depression and help us gain some happiness!!

However according to some sources it is rich in lecithin and helps to improve our memory.

The Foochows usually pair the golden needles with wood ears (black fungus) and these two ingredients must be used to cook our Dian Bian Hoo a Foochow specialty.

My favourite way of using golden needles is in preparing a hot pot soup....making it sweet and sour and rich...

Preparing them for soup one has to tie the buds in a knot in the middle. This is to prevent the bud from splitting and disappearing in the soup. I also like it knotted because I can chew the delicious morsels during the meal.

Eating golden needles will always make me remember my late maternal grandmother and her stories of China and old Sarawak.