Detailed Explanation of Key Lily Processing Techniques and Practical Methods
Lily belongs to the Liliaceae family as a perennial herbaceous plant, and is a precious specialty used both as medicine and food. Its underground bulb has the effects of moistening the lungs and stopping cough, and clearing the heart and calming the mind. Besides being eaten fresh, it can also be processed into various flavored health foods, and can also be exported to earn foreign exchange, greatly increasing the value of lilies. Several lily processing methods are introduced below for reference.
I. Dried Lily
1. Peeling Select plump, fresh, insect-free, undamaged, high-quality lily bulbs as raw material. Trim off the fibrous roots from the bulbs, and peel off the scales by hand from outside to inside, or make a horizontal cut at the base of the bulb to separate the scales. Sort the outer scales, middle scales and core scales into separate containers, then pour each into clean water respectively to wash, scoop them out and drain off the water droplets, and set aside for use. If the scales are mixed together, because they vary in age and tenderness, it is difficult to control the blanching time, which affects product quality.
2. Blanching Add clean water to a clean iron pot to 2/3 of the pot's capacity and bring to a boil. Put the scales into the pot by category (the amount of scales should preferably not protrude above the water surface), stir up and down with an iron ladle 1-2 times, and boil over high heat for 3-7 minutes (outer scales 6-7 minutes, core scales about 3 minutes). Watch closely for changes in the color of the scales. When the edges of the scales become soft and the color changes from white to rice-yellow and then to white again, quickly scoop them out, place them in clean water to cool and rinse off the mucilage, then scoop them out and drain off the surface water, ready for drying. Each pot of boiling water can be used to blanch scales 2-3 times in succession. If the boiling water becomes cloudy, change the water before blanching again, so as not to affect the color of the finished product.
3. Sun-drying Spread the scales evenly in a thin layer on a drying mat and dry them in the sun for 2-3 days. When the scales are 60% dry, turn them over and dry them again (otherwise, the scales are easily broken and shattered when turned), until completely dry. If rainy weather occurs, spread them in a ventilated place indoors and never pile them up, to prevent mildew; they can also be dried by baking. For dried lily that needs a longer storage period, sulfur fumigation should be carried out when they are 90% dry.
4. Packaging After drying, the lily slices should first be graded. Those with snow-white, intact, large and thick scales are the top grade, suitable for export. Then pack them separately in food-grade plastic film bags, each bag weighing 500 grams, and then put them into cardboard boxes or fiber bags, each piece weighing 25 kilograms, and store in a dry and ventilated room, preventing moisture and mildew, and preventing insect damage and mice bites. Export products should be packaged according to contract requirements.
II. Candied Lily
1. Material preparation Select fresh, large, thick-scaled, insect-free, undamaged, mold-free bulbs at about 90% maturity as raw material. Peel off the scales layer by layer into outer, middle and inner portions; the inner core should preferably be peeled to a weight of about 25 grams. Put them into clean water to wash, then scoop them out and drain, and pile them separately for later use.
2. Blanching Put the outer, middle and inner scales separately into boiling water, stir up and down, and after boiling for 1-2 minutes, immediately scoop out the scales and put them into cold water to cool and rinse, then scoop them out and drain off the surface water.
3. Hardening First prepare a 1% lime solution with quicklime and clean water. Pour the clarified lime liquid into a vat (or tank) container, then add the blanched scales and soak for 6-8 hours, stirring once every hour to harden them evenly. Then scoop out the scales, rinse repeatedly with clean water to remove the residual lime liquid, and then scoop them out and drain off the surface water completely.
4. Sugar solution preparation Take 16 parts white granulated sugar, 16 parts glucose and 68 parts clean water, boil together to make a 32% sugar solution, then add citric acid and sodium benzoate at 0.3%-0.5% of the weight of the sugar solution, filter through four layers of gauze, and set aside for use.
5. Sugar boiling Put the scales into the 32% sugar solution and boil for 3-5 minutes, then add an appropriate amount of white sugar to the pot until the sugar solution concentration reaches 43%, boil for another 3 minutes, then scoop out and remove from the pot, and soak in 43% cold sugar water for 12 hours.
6. Drying First, scoop out the sugar-boiled scales and drain off the sugar solution, spread them evenly on bamboo curtains and dry in the sun, covering with a gauze cover to prevent contamination by mosquitoes and flies. Second, use a glass greenhouse for natural drying, which both saves energy and prevents pollution. Third, spread the scales flat on baking trays, put them into a constant-temperature drying oven or drying room, and bake at 60°C for 10-14 hours, turning and baking 1-2 times after 6 hours, until dried.
7. Packaging When baked until the moisture content of the scales is below 15%, take them off the trays while hot, then grade them according to color and size, cool for 24 hours, and package them in composite film food bags; this is the finished candied lily.