Sep 27th, 2013

Lotus Pods, 2 Ways

by Jonah Holland

by Jonah Holland, PR & Marketing Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

This past weekend, when I was in New York City, I got to taste a plant I’ve often enjoyed looking at,  but never eaten — the lotus. Each May, Lake Sydnor is filled with the white-pink blooms of the famed lotus, Nelumbo nucifera ‘Mrs. Perry D. Slocum.’  It is a beautiful sight to behold.

'Mrs. Perry D Slocum' lotus blooming.

‘Mrs. Perry D Slocum’ lotus blooming.

Imagine my surprise when I ordered Tofu Basil at a dive in a back alleyway in the Financial District, near Wall Street and  A La Saigon had cooked beautiful lotus pods  into a lovely stir fry with house-baked tofu, fresh basil, snow peas, zucchini, carrots and cabbage. The taste? Fabulous! The texture, if you imagine a very tender water chestnut, you’ll have the idea.

Lotus pods, two ways

See the resemblance? Granted the stir-fry lotus pod likely wasn’t the exact same variety of  Nelumbo nucifera (sacred lotus minus the ‘Mrs. Perry D. Slocum’) that is used in most of Asian cuisine and my Vietnamese  Tofu Basil. Either way, I’m not sure I’ll ever look at my favorite ‘Mrs. Perry D. Slocum’ the same way again.

Next up on my culinary-botanical adventure: lotus seeds — both immature (watch, you crack them on your head apparently) and mature (have to peel them before eating).  After all, who knew that lotus seeds are considered the “Cajun Peanuts” of the South, or that lotus seeds of American Lotus, Nelumbo lutea,  were a dietary staple of the Native Americans  of south Louisiana?

About Jonah Holland

Jonah Holland is Digital Content Manager at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, where she has worked for 14 years overseeing social media, the blog, and the website. She is also a mom, yogi, open water swimmer, gardener, and seeker. She's been known to go for a walk in the Garden and come back with hundreds of plant photos, completely inspired to write her next blog post.

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