EatTheWeeds: Episode 25: American Lotus

[@tdiddle8950]

Love this vid. Can't wait to get out there and find lotus. I've seen it before, but didn't forage. What kinds of crazy exotic things can I cook with the myriad products available there? Catfish Meuniere with American Lotus flour. On a bed of quick pickled lotus root topped with a chiffanade of young lotus leaves. On the side, a fried lotus bud (like fried squash flowers). Amazing culinary adventures, here WE GO!

[@brightmooninthenight2111]

Did you do it?

[@tdiddle8950]

@brightmooninthenight2111 Unfortunately, the American lotus is fairly rare in my area, so not yet.

[@brightmooninthenight2111]

@@tdiddle8950 did you see that green Deane just released his fist foraging book? I have it. Its awesome

[@tdiddle8950]

@brightmooninthenight2111 I'm actually not really a part of that world...though I highly respect it. I'm not familiar with your citation, but I have really enjoyed "Eat the Weeds."

[@ozjthomas]

Thanks

[@plantrex1953]

Magnolia has a larger flower. Lotus seed is wonderful.

[@OregonOutdoorsChris]

I've been researching lotus plants a lot lately and I was fortunate enough to have youtube bring up your video. Lots of great information! In terms of cultivation, do you know what it would take light wise to grow them indoors?

[@tdiddle8950]

I am no expert, but I can tell you two things: Wild plants are an unknown for specific cultivation, especially indoors, but the American lotus is really strikingly similar to the Asian lotus, so most likely if something works for the Asian lotus, it will likely work for the American version. And two, being a wild thing, I wouldn't expect American lotus to.be a big indoor producer even if you can grow it successfully...meaning that the plant lives and remains healthy.. Most agricultural plants have been being breed for centuries, or millenia, and so it's hard to get the same production from a wild plant that you can get from a cultivated plant. With all of that said...I have done a fair bit of research concerning commercial American lotus cultivation. American lotus is a substantial food source, but perhaps what is even more important is that it is know to clean the water it lives in of organic material and toxins. That's why I think it could be important in large and evolved aquaculture systems. I think it could be like a wetland that could clean the aquaculture system very, very efficiently...AND provide a unique, diverse, and sustainable food source. I mean really, what can you do with lotus seed flour? I hope we find out.

[@tdiddle8950]

Oh, and responding to another part of your question...it would take an astounding amount of artificial light to allow an American lotus to grow. They are warm season plants that always grow in (really) full sun. That would be super-expensive to even attempt to replicate indoors. They grow well in most marshy Eastern US environments...I just got through watching.a vid about a marsh filled with American lotus in Iowa...so why can't you just cultivate them outside? You just need a kayak and some seeds.

[@ickycan]

way cool thank you

[@gokucrazy22]

lotus root is a traditional side dish in Korea and is personally one of my favorites. its good with white rice (short grain) and is sweet/salty. just look up yeongun jeori..

[@chansamonephommachack8920]

The lotus can be eaten in a chicken soup or be made into desert and also the seeds.

[@cross27]

coclaurine is within the flower which reminds me of a nicotine derivative since it has an almost identical action to nicotine on the nicotinic agonist receptor sites but yet has a slightly different and subjectively more complex structure. almost like nicotine stacked twice, plus norcoclaurinee wich has a weight loss and energy boost component to it, not to mention a few other bioactive alkaloids

[@Khono]

Huh, looking at those seed pods I started to wonder if they'd be good for insulation. Since there are so many it seems likely they don't decay rapidly, one could get many from one season, they have individual pockets of air...

[@hobbexp]

realy good,, !

[@Khono]

Oooh, it's found here in Ontario too. You say it is a symbol of clean water. I was told that Typha latifolia, cattails should not be eaten from polluted water. Do you think these Nelumbo lutea mean we can eat Typha latifolia growing in the same water?

[@EatTheWeeds]

Well, clean does not mean free of bacteria but they don't like to grow with silt, runoff, and muck. ... the pods are often sold to florists.

[@EatTheWeeds]

I had some of the green seeds tonight. They were delicious... boiled them....I need to go collect some more.. they taste like a cross between a chick pea and a water chestnut... very nice.

[@b1gje55e]

the seed pod is very ominous looking

[@mrmadness2699]

+b1gje55e I grant you it looks strange, but you're gonna have to explain ominous

[@czarwright]

Very cool, Thanks again.

[@saia2205ify]

Leaves look like Nasturtium to me

[@charronfamilyconnect]

***I read that you can grind the seeds down, and boil into a cereal or finely grind the dried seeds into a flour, and bake bread with it without adding any wheat flour.***

[@ziicutie]

this video is broken and will only play the beginning I have tried coming back again a few days later and the same thing happens

[@raphlvlogs271]

The video quality was not good enough for seeing the details.

[@charronfamilyconnect]

Awesome plant buddy! When you crack the seed in half it looks like a coffee been. I read that there is alot of protein in the seeds. I wonder if this is considered a whole protein? Thanks again!

[@eviedechant]

please send me some of those seeds!

[@EatTheWeeds]

It looks like a shower head. Hard to mistake.

[@GreenLearning]

Wow, never knew they could be food. I need to transplant some of these along with cat tail to my area.

[@EatTheWeeds]

I think the seeds are a prime edible. The lake I showed you in the video was treated with an herbicide last fall to kill the lotus off. This year there are none.

[@michaelnrdx]

What kind of a barbarian would kill lotus?!! So much valuable food lost!

[@jjgrenwich264]

Bastards. Nature will prevail

[@maosung5219]

۱۴۰۲~۶~۲۸🌻😘🥰🌸🍓🌺🌷🌼

[@veritaserummaji5215]

East coast Native Americans ate this as THE primary starch. All these Natives and Irish Natives may suffer mood disorder, bowel irregularity and insomnia if they stop eating this sacred food. Sacred food means: since we ate this food for over 10,000 years, if we stop we will be sick and crazy. Lotus eaters are all closely related worldwide, Egypt means lotus eater.Three types of man 1) yam/ banana 2) lotus/ squash / bean 3) grass grain. Switching to another starch group predictably causes radical deficiency. Buddha's symbol was a lotus. Lotus is known as a euphorant spiritually. It is eaten by all Mystics and tent dwellers. - genetic behaviorist ( ethologist) medicine woman.