Recipe: Pickled Magnolia Flowers
It's waste-free Wednesday and this is also a great Cooler Than Compost recipe, because did you know magnolia flowers are edible?
Spring is finally here and there are many gorgeous magnolia trees flowering right now. What most people don't know though is that magnolia petals are edible with a gentle ginger-like flavour. They can be easily pickled and used in place of pickled ginger. If you have a magnolia plant, or are near a neighbour who has one, why not give the recipe below a go! We've tried it and love the results.
Time: around 30 minutes
Ingredients:
– 100 g Magnolia flower petals
– 350 ml rice wine vinegar
– 50 g sugar
– Pinch of salt
Method:
Gently rinse the magnolia flowers in a colander and let mostly dry.
Gently pull the petals from the flower and place in a medium size jar (e.g. 500 ml).
Place the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and gently heat until the sugar is dissolved. This is your pickling liquid. Set aside to cool.
Once fully cooled (important step – see below!), add the pickling liquid to the jar with petals in it, and fill the jar. Place the lid on and refrigerate.
That's it, the magnolia petals will be ready to eat in 24 hours.
The pickles go well with sushi, noodle dishes and rice dishes. Use wherever you'd like a gentle, crunchy, ginger-like taste.
Note: we learnt the hard way that the pickling liquid needs to be fully cooled to prevent the petals shrinking and turning brown (see last pic).
