Daylily and Mushroom Soup

Daylily and Mushroom Soup

　　Daylilies, also known as "forget-worry herbs," are the flower buds of a perennial herbaceous plant. They have a delicious taste and tender texture, and are rich in nutrients such as protein, vitamin C, calcium, carotene, and amino acids. Daylilies have a sweet and cool nature, and offer benefits such as stopping bleeding, reducing inflammation, clearing heat, and improving vision. They are often cooked together with black fungus and mushrooms, or used in soups and stir-fries with eggs, chicken, or meat. However, fresh daylilies contain a substance called "colchicine," which is non-toxic in itself but can be oxidized in the digestive tract into "dicolchicine," a considerably toxic compound. Therefore, it's best not to eat too much at one time. Additionally, because the toxic component in fresh daylilies weakens or disappears at high temperatures around 60°C, you can reduce risk by first blanching the fresh daylilies in boiling water, then soaking them in clean water for more than two hours, rinsing them thoroughly, and then cooking or eating them. This dish is available at various restaurants throughout Yichun, typically costing around 15 RMB per bowl.