When we think of a garden omelet, we think of tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms gracing the confines of a fluffy egg. However, open your mind to this type of garden in your omelet – chrysanthemums, lavender and roses.
My mouth was fortunate enough to taste this recipe while in the ancient city of Dali in Yunnan, the southwest of China. Dali is home to a large concentration of one of China’s ethnic minorities called the “Bai”, whose cuisine contains many flowers for flavor and beautiful presentation. “Bai” means “white” in Mandarin and they take their name after their fondness for the color which to them, symbolizes purity. They are actually one of the groups most assimilated with the majority Han Chinese so many of the words in their language, some foods and traditions have been heavily melded together – although some researchers also suggest that their origination is from Tibet.
I could not find this particular creation on any English website. I scoured the Chinese sites and found one website (www.meishicc.com – you’ll need to read Chinese to check it out) that had the recipe…however, oddly enough, I can’t find the link anymore! So, sorry for not relaying the original link on here. And I greatly thank them for the photos as I am on the road right now and this will be my first recipe that I actually have yet to make – and the first where I didn’t use my own photos. I was just that excited to share it! :)
Flower Omelet Recipe:
Ingredients:
2-3 Eggs
1 Tbsp of oil (I use olive)
Edible Flowers (this can be found at specialty health stores – including Whole Foods)
OR
If you choose, here is a list of edible flowers that you can pick if they’re in season and you find them..
List from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edible_flowers
Some include:
Broccoli flowers
Dandelions
Hibiscus
Honeysuckle
Lilac
Violets
Roses (white heel removed)
As far as other ingredients, when I was in Yunnan, the restaurants there served it with a bit of chopped scallion and a mixture of mushrooms (another vegetable that Yunnan is famous for growing). Add if you like.
Photo above from the site; eggs and petals/buds
Crack the eggs, stir-fry the flowers a bit first so they are not almost raw when you add them in – as it doesn’t take so long to cook the omelet. If you add mushrooms, I would add them in with the flowers here to heat them up a bit.
Add some of the green onion and a bit, some of the petals and then fry the omelet until lightly brown on both sides.
Below should be the final result:
