Since ancient times orchids have been used for medical purposes, especially in ancient China, Greece, and ancient Mesopotamian civilizations including Indian Ayurveda of the medieval period. Historically Chinese were the first ones who fully the value of orchids for medical purposes and they passed down their medical technique to the next generation. Source. Now the question is are orchids edible and if orchids are edible then which species are safe to eat? Or which orchid should we use for which purpose?
Here you will learn
- Are orchids edible
- Which orchids are edible
- Orchid recipe
Let’s walk through the topic
Are orchids edible?
Orchids are not edible. Many orchids contain ingredients that are harmful to animals and humans. But there are lots of species that you can eat such as Vanilla, Dendrobium, Epidendrum, Leptotes bicolor, Cymbidium hookerianumn, Orchis, etc.
Most of the orchid flowers are considered harmless and edible. Depending on the species foliage, tubers, and pseudo bulbs can be consumed too. Colorful flowers are the most popular and experimental subject in cooking and making different recipes among orchid lovers such as colorful tea, salad, decoration for any kind of juice, homemade cake and so more.
If you buy any medicine that has a visualization of the main ingredient on the packet, you will often notice the picture of the main ingredient is any kind of orchid.
If we talk about global uses of edible orchids then we will see a lot of variations in cooking such as using them for dessert, sauce recipes, stir fry, sausage of tubers, salep and ice-cream, and our delicious vanilla cream from Vanilla.
From my personal experience orchid flowers tested like light-weighted green vegetables with a fresh vibe with a little bitterness at the base. However, I never tasted a lot of them (only a few). There is a high chance that other species of flowers will test differently in different uses. They say orchid flowers are delicious who experienced and explored different recipes.
Which orchids are edible
You can not just pick a random orchid and eat it. It is harmful to digest something we don’t know. Some orchids might be toxic if ingested in the stomach such as blue orchids and tinted orchids. Based on worldwide uses we made a list of orchids that you can eat without any harm.
Vanilla
Talking about vanilla and won’t come the name of vanilla this can never happen. Vanilla orchids are native to the tropical region of Mexico and Central America. Vanilla is mostly pollinated by hummingbirds and a few specific bees. After that, they produce long pods that contain the gem vanilla beans.
These vanilla beans produce vanilla flavor which is used in beverages, ice cream, cakes, and desserts. Vanilla’s perfume is one of the sweetest perfumes considered and vanilla oil is used in aromatherapy.
Orchis
Salep used to be a famous beverage in the Ottoman Empire and now Turkey produces this. It is produced from various dried orchid tubers mainly from Orchis militaris and Orchis mascula. It is a powder which you can use in cooking. But the right recipe for salep is mixing salep powder in a cup of milk adding sugar and cinnamon and blending it until it becomes sticky.
It is blessed with nutrition, Digestive aid, demulcent properties, energy source, and aphrodisiac.
Orchis mascula has some uses in traditional culinary in Europe. They are often boiled and used as vegetables or making nourishing soup.
Dendrobiums
Dendrobium is used as medicinal soup in Chinese cuisine. The orchids are mixed with chicken, pork, and other meat to make healthy fresh soup.
Dendrobiums are mostly used in decorating traditional desserts. they are carefully used in dishes like salad, jellies, and pudding. Making the dessert look elegant. They are also popular in making herbal teas.
Epidendrum
We can see the uses of epidendrum in cooking. In some African regions, their tubers are used in curry as spices like ginger to increase the test. But has no evidence of historical safety. They’re mostly planted for ornamental beauty but professionals suggest not to eat them. They can cause stomach problems and more poisonous issues.
Carolina butterfly orchid
You can use the Carolina butterfly petal tea. Decorating any type of juice with lime can be a great use too. You can use flower petals as a salad ingredient.
Oncidium Orchids
Their considered edible part is the flower petal. Especially used in salad ingredients in Asian cuisine.
Bletilla Striata
Known as Chinese ground orchid. Which is particularly used in medicine purpose. However, they are often used in several curry dishes.
Cymbidium hookerianumn
some species of cymbidium produces edible flower which is commonly used in decorating dessert and salad in Bhutanese cuisine. Salad is becoming repetitive. Because you can use most of the orchid flowers as salad ingredients.
They are used for floral aroma in curry which we can see commonly in Asian regions. Making tea is common use for the same reason.
Gastrodia sesamoides
They can be used after being sliced and chopped in a stir fry with other vegetables complementing them with health benefits and better taste and aroma. It can be used in rice too. It is served with a sight dish.
It can make a great dish with mushroom tofu and meat. Making the meat extra tender and allowing all other ingredients to absorb its aroma and flavor.
Orchid recipe
Chikanda recipe (meatless sausage).
The main ingredient of Chikanda is the Terrestrial orchid tuber. Clean the tuber and peel it to remove bitterness.
Groundnuts are one of the main ingredients. They should be blended. You can use chili paper salt onion or any other spices according to your test buds.
Soak and boil the tuber and let it dry. Now grind it to powder. Then roast the peanut grind it goodly and make a smooth paste.
Roast the groundnut with tuber then add chili paper for flavoring and salt seasoning. The mixture will look like a sausage portion. Now let it dry wrapping it with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
Remember experiencing something new is good. Without researching consuming random things can cause a lot of trouble.