Can You Eat Cucumber Flowers? Benefits, Uses, and How to Tell Male from Female Flowers of This Everyday Vegetable

Cucumber, also known as hu gua, ci gua, wang gua, qin gua, qing gua, tang gua and diao gua, is a common everyday vegetable in China. It usually flowers in June and July, and after flowering it quickly sets fruit. So can cucumber flowers be eaten? What benefits and effects do they have? How do you eat them? How do you tell male from female flowers?

Can the flowers be eaten?

Cucumber flowers can be eaten. Cucumber flowers are, in fact, the young version of the cucumber. I have had them several times in restaurants, but this thing is really not easy to find in the market. Cucumber flowers are rich in vitamin C and have the effects of clearing heat, quenching thirst, promoting urination and reducing swelling. Whether served cold or stir-fried, they have a crisp, tender and delicious taste. It is said that cucumber flowers also have beauty benefits, but nothing works after just a bite or two. Not being a picky eater, not being partial to certain foods, and eating a bit of everything is perhaps better for your health.

Benefits and effects:

1. Cucumber flowers contain a large amount of cucurbitacin

Cucurbitacin is one of the most important nutrients in cucumber flowers. Once this substance enters the human body, it can noticeably improve immunity and effectively prevent the occurrence of cancer. In addition, it also has a good auxiliary therapeutic effect on hepatitis in humans.

2. Cucumber flowers are high in vitamin E

Vitamin E is an important nutrient in cucumber flowers. It is a natural substance that can beautify the skin and delay aging. Therefore, eating cucumber flowers can play an important role in prolonging life and preventing aging, and can increase the elasticity of people's skin. In addition, cucumber flowers also contain some special enzymes that can speed up the metabolism of human cells and are also greatly beneficial for beauty and delaying aging.

3. Cucumber flowers contain a variety of amino acids

Cucumber flowers contain a variety of alanine and arginine, both of which are amino acid components that are particularly beneficial to the human body. After absorption, they can improve the liver's detoxification capacity and have a good therapeutic and preventive effect on alcoholic liver disease and alcohol poisoning. In addition, regularly eating cucumber flowers can also prevent the occurrence of cirrhosis.

How to eat them:

Method one:

1. Wash fresh cucumber flowers and drain the water; cut dried chilies into diagonal sections and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat, add Sichuan peppercorns and fry until fragrant, then pour over the chili sections and set aside.

3. Put the fresh cucumber flowers on a plate, sprinkle with salt, pour over the fried Sichuan peppercorn and chili oil, and mix well before eating.

Method two:

1. Cut lean pork into shreds, add salt, minced ginger and garlic, and cooking wine, mix well and marinate for half an hour. Soak the cucumber flowers in salt water for a while.

2. Heat oil, add the shredded lean pork and stir-fry until it changes color, then remove and set aside. Leave the base oil in the wok, add minced ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant.

3. Add the washed cucumber flowers, add salt, add the shredded lean pork and stir-fry together, drizzle in light soy sauce, and stir-fry evenly.

Method three:

1. Put the cucumber flowers in a bowl and soak in salt water for 5 minutes, then rinse clean and set aside. Heat a wok, pour in an appropriate amount of cooking oil, add minced garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the drained cucumber flowers and stir-fry quickly over medium heat.

2. After stir-frying evenly, add an appropriate amount of salt and sugar to season. Before removing from the wok, add minced garlic and stir-fry evenly. Once the cucumber flowers turn emerald green, turn off the heat and plate them.

Cooking tips

1. Cucumber flowers are quite delicate, so just soak and rinse them in salt water; do not rub them;

2. This vegetable stir-fry is best cooked quickly and removed from the wok, avoiding long stir-frying;

3. Minced garlic can be added as desired; add it before removing from the wok to enhance the aroma and flavor.

Method four:

1. Peel the garlic, put it in a garlic press and press into minced garlic. Cucumber flowers are fairly tender, so soak them in salt water for a while and then rinse; do not rub them.

2. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in a wok, add half the minced garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, add the cucumber flowers, and pour in fish sauce.

3. Pour in the remaining minced garlic, stir-fry evenly, turn off the heat and serve.

Telling male from female flowers:

1. Look at the stamens.

If there is something in the middle of the flower that looks like a cylinder and is somewhat thicker, it is a female flower. If the stamens in the middle of the petals are slightly smaller and have a lot of pollen, it is a male flower. You need to look carefully to tell them apart.

2. Look at the receptacle.

If there is a very small cucumber under the receptacle, it means it is already developing fruit, so of course it is a female flower. Conversely, if there is nothing underneath, no small cucumber and no swelling at all, then it will wither and fall off on its own after the flowering period, and this is a male flower.