This fragrant, beautiful Dragon Boat Festival flower can also be eaten as a wild vegetable - do you know it?

At the start of June, the weather in the north is still fairly cool, but in the Jiangnan region it is already so hot that people are drenched in sweat. To avoid the scorching sun, people choose to go out early in the morning to buy groceries. The Dragon Boat Festival is almost here, and the vendors at the vegetable market have also started selling a kind of fragrant flower. This flower is not only very fragrant, but can also be eaten as a wild vegetable, though most people do not know it is edible. Because this flower usually blooms around the Dragon Boat Festival, folk tradition also calls it the "Dragon Boat Festival flower." Do you know it?

This flower is the gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides). It, along with the magnolia (Michelia alba) and jasmine, is called the "Three Whites of Summer." All three are equally full of fragrance, and in southern cities you can often see vendors selling these flowers along the streets, with many buyers. Among these "Three Whites," the gardenia has the shortest flowering period and is the most seasonal, blooming for only about a month before withering. Because it happens to bloom during the traditional Dragon Boat Festival, it is even more popular. Whenever gardenias appear on the streets, you know the Dragon Boat Festival has arrived, with delicious zongzi to eat and dragon boat races to watch.

In southern rural areas, women "wear flowers in their hair" around the Dragon Boat Festival, tucking blooming gardenias into their hair, so that the whole person is bathed in rich fragrance and carries a scent wherever they go. The gardenia's fragrance is not only pleasant but also has a certain mosquito-repelling effect. This is the season when mosquitoes and flies are gradually increasing, so wearing a gardenia in the hair to repel mosquitoes is a good method. Besides wearing them in the hair, more people choose to place gardenias indoors, bringing fragrance to the whole room, even better than air freshener. But for food lovers, what they care about most is still whether it can be eaten.

The answer is yes, it can be eaten, and it tastes good. The petals of the gardenia are thick and fleshy, with plenty of edible parts. They can not only be stir-fried, but also served cold, deep-fried, stewed in soup, preserved in honey, or brewed as tea. Eaten in moderation, they can clear heat and reduce internal fire, purge lung heat, and relieve cough. The gardenia can count as a kind of wild vegetable. Before cooking, blanch it once in boiling water to remove the astringent taste, and then it can be pan-fried, deep-fried, or stir-fried together with meat, eggs, and other vegetables. After cooking, the gardenia has a tender, fresh texture with a light fragrance, and it is quite nice to try it once in a while.

Dear readers, do you like gardenias? Has anyone eaten gardenias? What other ways are there to eat gardenias? Please share in the comments! Let us learn together!