Fun Giveaway: Do You know what to cook with this?
Hello food lovers!
I have a bit of a food mystery here…I have some wonderful friends who travel the world, and when they go somewhere they come back home with spices from their vacation destination. They have acquired so many spices over the past few years, that they had an overload, and thought to send some of their extras to me. I received a huge box of exotic (to me) spices in the mail some weeks back. Some I have shared with foodie friends I have gone to visit in the past month or so, and I have been fun experimenting with the rest.
There was however, one item in the box that I was not familiar with and when I asked my friend about it, he told me that they are organic day lillies from Taiwan and that they are usually used in rice or meat dishes. The only characters that I could understand on the bag says: “ciharaay”.
Even with that information I have remained perplexed about what to do with them. So, I thought it would be fun to do a little experiment with my fellow food bloggers. If you are feeling adventurous and would like to cook with these flowers, please leave a comment here. The first 3 people to leave a comment or anyone who leaves a comment on this post before Thursday (which ever comes first), will get some of these flowers in the mail from me and can feel free to create a dish using these lovely flowers 
All I ask in return is that you post about your own experiment, whether it is a success or failure, so we can all learn something new.
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will sullivan - February 23, 2009 at 11:28 am
Hi! What a cool project. I’d love to be involved and will happily experiment with these. Great picture!
Best,
Will
nina - February 23, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Alien ingredient to me, but I will be amazed to see what our innovative bloggers come up with!!!
Betherann - February 23, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Wow this is a fun challenge! I’d love to give it a whirl!
Krista - February 23, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I wonder if they can be rehydrated and stuffed?
Kristina R - February 23, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I was intrigued by your post so did a little research and found that dried day lilies are an integral ingredient in Chinese hot and sour soup. While I am not a fan of the mushroom, I can see trying to make my own soup utilizing this unique ingredient.
Natasha - 5 Star Foodie - February 23, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Wow, I have never heard of these before. I’m up for a challenge.
Navita - February 23, 2009 at 1:20 pm
hey thts a new ingredient….i really m looking fwd to the concotions…:)
The Leftover Queen - February 23, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Thanks for the comments so far! Will, Nina and Betherann, I have sent you three an email so I can get your information and send those flowers out to you!
Thanks Kristina for doing a little more research! Hot and Sour soup sounds wonderful right about now!
Bellini Valli - February 23, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I saw a recipe for hot and sour soup that sounds amazing.
Bob - February 23, 2009 at 2:39 pm
Never heard of them before, but I can’t wait to see what people do.
Superchef - February 23, 2009 at 4:43 pm
well..i guess Im a little late..but just can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!!
Jenni - February 23, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Intriguing ingredient, indeed, Jenn! My first thought was rehydrating and using a la squash blossoms, but the hot and sour soup thing is very keen (that shows what a quick Google search before commenting can do for you)! Can’t wait to hear what everyone concocts w/these:D
Jen of a2eatwrite - February 23, 2009 at 7:07 pm
I want to find out what everyone makes with these – and I hope it goes beyond hot and sour soup, even though I love hot and sour soup!
Jean - February 23, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Obviously I’m way late on this one! But it’ll be fun to see what the lucky ones come up with! Need taste testers?
janet ching - February 24, 2009 at 6:57 am
Hi Jenn, as a chinese, this is not strange to me, I have this at home and I have a roast chicken recipe posted in my blog during chinese new year period.
http://janetching.wordpress.com/2009/01/26/chinese-roast-chicken-with-red-bean-curd-sauce/
One of the Common uses of day lillies in chinese cooking will match with red dates and black fungus, all hydrated first and steam with chicken pieces. I will blog about this when I return home next week.
Nice picture you have there by the way.
Ley - February 24, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I’m always really surprised to find that people cook with flowers. I’m not sure why it just astounds me, especially since I should be used to it by now, but I’m just always so amazed at the possibilities of such random ingredients. lol.
I’m excited to see what everyone ends up making with these. What are you planning on using them for, Jenn?
Jennifer - February 24, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Oh, I would LOVE to give this a try! Oh, my, I jsut got an idea already….why can’t dinner each night come to me that easily?
Maggie - February 25, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Day lily flowers are a key ingredient in moo shu. I’d love to see someone use them in that. This reminds me that it’s been far too long since I’ve gone browsing in an Asian grocery.
icep - April 13, 2009 at 1:10 am
Dear leftover queen:
I am so surprised to see the name “Ciharaay” appeared in your blog. The food product is, indeed, dried day lily, which Chinese cuisine used for flavor and nutrition in soup or moo shu pork. However, “ciharaay” is the name of the place where this product is produced. It is an aboriginal community in Taiwan, where I happened to do a short-term field research. Can you tell me how you get this product (via the email probably)? I am so curious!
About the story of the place, there is a news report from BBC that you can taste a bit besides the dried daylily in your kitchen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6987611.stm
Best,
Ronald
(from Taipei)
The Leftover Queen - April 14, 2009 at 9:29 am
Thank you Ronald for your lovely and informative comment. This is what I love about having a blog – learning new things. Thank you for explaining the meaning of the word “ciharaay”, as well.
I got this product from a friend who does a lot of traveling. I believe he said he got this one in Malaysia.
Thank you for the link to the article. It is very interesting, and sounds very similar to what Native Americans in North America have to go through. I have written about that extensively on my other blog:
http://www.travelcloseup.com/2007/04/04/my-time-with-the-navajo-elders/
However an interesting notable difference in the Amis tribe is that the younger generation does not want the electricity, as many of them have come back because of their disillusionment from living in the cities. Very interesting.