Which Part of the Lotus Is the Lotus Root Shoot? A Detailed Guide to Cultivation Methods, Timing and Delicious Recipes

The lotus root shoot, called lotus whip, lotus silk vegetable or silver sprout vegetable in ancient times, is also known as lotus heart vegetable, lotus tip, lotus root shoot or lotus sprout. The lotus root shoot has a crisp taste and can be stir-fried, tossed in dressing, pan-fried, steamed, deep-fried, quick-fried or eaten raw. It can serve as either the main ingredient or a secondary ingredient, and suits both meat and vegetarian dishes. Many people in daily life love to eat it. So which part of the lotus is the lotus root shoot? How do you cook it deliciously? What are the cultivation methods and timing for lotus root shoots?

I. Which part of the lotus is the lotus root shoot?

The lotus root shoot is the young tender rhizome of the lotus, consisting of one internode and the apical bud at the tip of the rhizome. It is usually white, yellow or pinkish yellow. The most suitable time to harvest it is after rain in summer: follow the "green stalk" extending above the water surface downward to the root in the mud, and at the end connected to two lotus sprouts, the thicker one is the shoot.

II. How do you cook lotus root shoots deliciously?

(1) Pickled Lotus Root Shoots Stir-fried with Chicken Gizzards

Steps:

1. Prepare the ingredients;

2. Soak the sliced chicken gizzards in beer for ten minutes first;

3. Pour off the beer, squeeze out the moisture, then add salt, cooking wine, ginger slices and an appropriate amount of starch;

4. Mix well and marinate for five minutes;

5. Heat the wok, add an appropriate amount of oil, add the marinated chicken gizzards and stir-fry until they change color;

6. Add the pickled lotus root shoots and continue stir-frying, then add an appropriate amount of salt and other seasonings;

7. Finally, before removing from the wok, add green pepper slices and carrot slices and stir-fry together until they change color, and it is ready.

(2) Hot and Sour Lotus Root Shoots

Method:

1. Take an appropriate amount of fresh lotus root shoots (pickled ones can also be used) and rinse them clean;

2. Cut them diagonally into long slices;

3. Mince the garlic and scallions, and snip the dried chili peppers, setting them aside;

4. Pour an appropriate amount of oil into the wok, heat over high heat until it is 90 percent hot, then add the minced garlic and dried chili peppers and stir-fry until fragrant;

5. Then add the cut lotus root shoots and stir-fry quickly;

6. When the shoots release a little liquid, add two spoonfuls of salt and stir-fry until they release their juices, then add an appropriate amount of chicken essence, pepper powder, a small half-spoonful of sugar and half a wok of vinegar, stir-fry evenly, and once the liquid has reduced slightly, remove from the wok.

(3) Three Treasures of the Lotus Pond

Ingredients: 2 lotus seed pods, 3 lotus root shoots, 10 water caltrops, an appropriate amount of salt, an appropriate amount of oil, an appropriate amount of water starch

Method:

1. Shell the lotus seeds from the pods, shell the water caltrops and cut each in half, and cut the lotus root shoots into small sections;

2. Add a small amount of oil to the wok and heat it, then add the lotus seeds and water caltrops and stir-fry together;

3. Add the lotus seeds and water caltrops and stir-fry together, then add the lotus root shoot sections;

4. Prepare water starch in a small bowl, add salt and mix well, pour it into the wok to thicken with a light glaze, stir-fry evenly, and it is ready to be removed from the wok and plated.

III. Cultivation Methods and Timing for Lotus Root Shoots

1. Variety selection

Taikong No. 36, Jianxuan No. 17, Mantianxing, etc.

2. Lotus field selection and land preparation

Choose a paddy field with plenty of sunlight, convenient drainage and irrigation, loose and fertile soil, and high organic matter content, with a plow layer about 35 cm thick. Apply 2500 to 3000 kg of decomposed cow dung and pig manure, 40 to 50 kg of quicklime, 150 to 200 kg of decomposed cake fertilizer and 50 to 100 kg of superphosphate per mu.

3. Planting and field management

Plant from mid-March to mid-to-late April, with 120 to 150 seed lotus roots planted per mu.

Water level management: keep shallow water of about 5 cm in the early growth stage, which helps raise the water and soil temperature and promotes sprouting and growth. In the mid growth stage (peak flowering and fruiting period), raise the water layer to 10 to 15 cm. In winter, keep the water level of the lotus field at 5 to 10 cm.

Topdressing: starting in early June, apply topdressing once every 15 days, each time applying 15 kg of compound fertilizer and 7 to 8 kg of urea per mu, plus an appropriate amount of trace element fertilizer. Apply a supplementary dose of quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer in early to mid-August, which helps increase the late-stage yield of seed lotus.

Lotus seed harvesting: harvest lotus seeds from July to mid-to-late October. Fasi seed lotus is mostly harvested as iron lotus seeds.

Plowing the lotus field: if the seed lotus field is left unexcavated, the seed lotus roots in the field can reach more than 1000 per mu the following year. For Fasi seed lotus, use machinery to plow the soil twice from February to March of the following year to remove excess lotus buds from the seed lotus roots in the field; too many lotus buds and excessive density are not conducive to the growth of lotus root shoots or to later flowering and fruiting. During the second plowing, apply 50 kg of compound fertilizer per mu as a base fertilizer and spray herbicide.

Harvesting lotus root shoots: harvest lotus root shoots from late April to mid-June of the following year, generally once every other day. During the harvest period, start harvesting each day from about 1:00 a.m. until before 6:00 a.m., and then promptly transport the shoots to market. When harvesting, follow the direction of the opening of the standing leaf and reach down into the mud, pick the foremost internode, keep the lotus shoot covering from which the shoot was harvested, and at the same time remove old and withered leaves from the lotus field. If the apical bud of the harvested shoot is wrapped by the leaf sheath, this kind of shoot is commonly called “bitongshan” and is a top-grade lotus root shoot.

Topdressing: apply topdressing once every 10 to 15 days, with 50 kg each of nitrogen fertilizer and ammonium bicarbonate per mu.

Flowering and fruiting stage management: the emergence of lotus root shoots stops in mid-June, and lotus growth enters the reproductive growth stage. Field management then focuses mainly on harvesting lotus seeds, and subsequent management is the same as the first year. However, special attention should be paid to removing some leaves and keeping 5 to 6 leaves per sq m of lotus field. Management from the third year onward is the same as the second year.