It's lotus pod season here in southern China.
We get dried lotus seeds all year round and there is nothing wrong with them!
But at this time of year, for a few weeks, we get roadside vendors selling fresh lotus pods. The idea is to pop out the seeds and eat them as they are. I've never seen these in supermarkets or even regular markets - always street vendors.
Anyway, the two in the picture below cost me a massive 2元 each (31 cents US; 20 pence UK).
Here are the popped out seeds
But what do they taste like? I can't improve on this:
Mulan was sitting on a low chair, picking lotus seeds from a pod in her hand, and looking at the lake through the red balustrades. Redjade, having been brought up in Hangchow, was quite familiar with such things and was working away at the seeds with her nimble fingers, sitting at a high table with Afei and Huan-erh. Mr. Yao lounged in a low rattan chair. Lifu was sitting close to Mulan on the balcony and watching her pick the seeds. He had eaten sugared lotus seeds, but he had never eaten them fresh from the pod, and was staring with great interest.
“Do you eat them raw like that?” he asked rather foolishly.
“Of course,” said Mulan, and she took one she had just plucked out and gave it to him. Lifu tasted it and said, “It is good, but different from the sugared ones. It is so mild you almost don’t taste anything.”
“That is just it,” said Mulan. “We eat it just for its pure mildness and its slight fragrance. That is why a busy man cannot enjoy it. You must not think of anything when you eat it.”
Mulan showed him how to pick a seed, and after eating it, Lifu exclaimed with delight.
“If you shout, you will lose the flavor again,” said Mulan. “You must chew them slowly, one by one. After a while, take a sip of good tea and you will find a pure fragrance in your cheeks and palate for a long time.”
Lin Yutang – Moment in Peking, 1939
