Lily Buds (Golden Needles / Tiger Lily Buds / Jin Zhen)
What it is
The dried, unopened flower buds of daylily (Hemerocallis), long and slender, golden-brown, and slightly chewy. Called "golden needles" (jin zhen cai) or "tiger lily buds." Sold dried, in tied bundles or loose.
How it's made
Buds are picked unopened, then dried. Before cooking they are soaked to rehydrate, the tough stem tip is trimmed, and they are often knotted to keep their shape. Note: only properly dried/cooked daylily buds are used; the fresh, raw buds of some lily species can contain irritant compounds, so the cured dried product is the culinary form.
Flavor profile
Earthy, slightly tangy and floral, with a pleasant musky-sweet note and a distinctive springy, fibrous chew that holds up in soups. Subtle but recognizable.
Culinary uses
A defining ingredient in hot and sour soup, where they appear alongside wood ear, bamboo shoots, and tofu. Also essential to mu shu pork, Buddhist vegetarian dishes, and braises; they're frequently paired with wood ear and lily bulb in northern Chinese cooking. The chew and tang they add are hard to replicate with substitutes.
Regional variations
Used across Chinese regional cuisines, particularly northern and Buddhist vegetarian cooking; also in Korean and some Southeast Asian dishes.
Cultural & historical context
Daylilies have been cultivated in China for both food and medicine for over two thousand years; the buds carry associations with the "forget-worry herb" (wang you cao) in classical Chinese tradition and are a thrifty, prized dried vegetable in home cooking.
Reference notes
- Tags: `vegetable`, `dried-flower`, `chinese`, `soup`, `vegetarian`, `umami-adjacent`
- Related ingredients: wood ear, bamboo shoots, tofu, dried shiitake
- Related cuisines: Chinese (northern, Buddhist vegetarian)
- Suggested links: [Wood Ear / Cloud Ear], [Dried Shiitake], [Snow Fungus (Tremella)]