• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Forager | Chef
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Interviews
  • Partnerships
  • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Interviews
  • Partnerships
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Interviews
    • Partnerships
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Stalks and Shoots

    Japanese-Style Day Lily Shoots (Gomae)

    Published: Apr 5, 2019 Modified: Feb 16, 2023 by Alan Bergo This post may contain affiliate links Leave a Comment

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Day lily shoots are one of the first wild edible plants of spring I look forward to. Japanese style gomae salad is one of the best day lily shoot recipes I know of, and after you try it you'll probably want to make it a tradition at your house, too.

    Japanese style day lily shoot salad recipe

    Day lily shoots are delicious in all kinds of things, but a classic Japanese gomae preparation is one of the first things you should try with them. The basic recipe is really easy: take some nuts or seeds (sesame are traditional) toast them and mash up in a mortar and pestle, then add some soy sauce, a dash of maple syrup or sugar, and some of the same oil of the nuts or seeds that you used. 

    Edible Day Lily and Tiger Lily Shoots
    Day lily and tiger lily shoots: both edible.

    Traditional gomae does not often include oil, but I find it indispensable in the ones I make, and allows you to really deepen the flavor and focus on a single nut or seed. Although sesame is one of the most delicious, and the one I have pictured here, there are many different combinations you can use. Here's a few examples:

    Nut and seed combinations 

    • Sunflower oil + sunflower seeds
    • Pumpkinseed oil + pumpkinseeds 
    • Black walnut oil + black walnuts 
    • Pecan oil + pecans 
    • Hickory nut oil + hickory nuts 
    • Acorn oil + ground acorn meal 

    Soy sauce substitutes

    Soy sauce is good, but there's lots of other things you can use. Mushroom ketchup, fermented mushroom ketchup, garum, colatura--any sort of salty delicious sauce will be good here. 

    • Mushroom Ketchup 
    • Fermented Dryad Saddle Shoyu 
    • Garum 

    Sugar Substitutes 

    Traditionally white sugar is used, but maple syrup, birch syrup, or honey are all good too. 

    Other Shoots to Use 

    • Hosta Shoots
    • Wood Nettle Shoots 
    • Fiddleheads 
    Blanched day lily and tiger lily shoots
    Blanched shoots, cooling and draining.

    Warning: Don't eat daylily shoots raw

    Day lily shoots should never be consumed or served raw. Some people can tolerate them, but most (including myself) cannot. Intense nausea and dry-heaving typically follow just eating just a few grams. 

    Japanese style day lily shoot salad recipe
    Japanese style day lily shoot salad recipe
    Print Recipe
    5 from 1 vote

    Day Lily Shoots Gomae

    Day lily or tiger lily shoots served in the classic Japanese style tossed with gomae dressing.
    Prep Time5 mins
    Cook Time1 min
    Total Time6 mins
    Course: Appetizer, Salad
    Cuisine: Japanese
    Keyword: Day Lily Shoots, Gomae
    Servings: 4 Servings
    Calories: 87kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • 1 3 quart pot for blanching
    • 1 small mixing bowl

    Ingredients

    • 3 tablespoons nuts or seeds such as sesame
    • 1 tablespoon soy or equivalent
    • 1 tablespoon oil from the same nuts
    • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
    • 4 ounces fresh day lily shoots

    Instructions

    • Blanch the day lily shoots in boiling water for 45 seconds, then drain and spread out on a tray lined with a towel to dry naturally and cool.
    • Toast the nuts, then grind to a paste in a mortar and pestle, and stir in the remaining ingredients.
    • Toss ½ of the dressing with the greens, double check the seasoning, adjust as you see fit, adding more dressing to your taste, and serve, cool, lightly chilled or at room temperature, fashioned into high mounds on small appetizer plates, garnished with additional toasted nuts or seeds, and served with chopsticks.

    Notes

    Feel free to use your favorite nut or seed oils here to be creative. I often use foraged oils like Sam Thayer's hickory nut and acorn oil. But, there's absolutely nothing wrong with just sesame oil and sesame seeds if it's all you have. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1oz | Calories: 87kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Sodium: 253mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 215IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 72mg | Iron: 2mg
    « Acorn Flour Crepes
    Barrel Cactus Fruit »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Chef Alan Bergo

    HI, I'm Alan: James Beard Award-winning Chef, Author, Show Host and Forager. I've been writing about cooking wild food here for over a decade. Let me show you why foraging is the most delicious thing you'll ever do.

    More about me →

    Get The Book

    the forager chef's book of flora
    The Forager Chefs Book of Flora

    As Seen On

    Footer

    BACK TO TOP

    Privacy

    Subscribe

    Be the first to hear what I'm doing

    Contact

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 Forager | Chef®