Daylily

Hemerocallis citrina · Edible flower

40 pairings

The daylily is the edible flower and unopened bud of plants in the genus Hemerocallis — not a true lily — long grown across East Asia for food as well as ornament. Its dried, spindle-shaped buds, sold in China as jin zhen ("golden needles") or huanghuacai, lend a sweet, faintly musky, chewy note to hot-and-sour soup, moo shu pork and Buddhist vegetarian dishes.

Picking a good onedrag

Supple, amber, sweet with hayBrittle or damp, musty, mould-specked

Shop packetThe bag as bought: rinse, soak, squeeze dry, knot or trim, then into hot-and-sour soup or moo shu. Fresh buds are a different article - blanch and soak those.Everyday best

Where it came fromLoose from a dry-goods bin, sold to be eaten

Colour of the strandsGold, a few darker strands through the batch

Bend one strandDrier and springy, snaps cleanly when folded

Bud and stalkMostly whole, some broken tips and short stalk

Smell in the bagQuieter, dry and hay-like, the musk faded

What to look for, from supple, amber, sweet with hay to brittle or damp, musty, mould-specked.

Preparing