Cooking from Your Flower Bed (Without Feeling Like a Weirdo)

Yes, you can eat hostas. I’ve written about it over at my day job. And frankly, I’m a bit surprised that more people haven’t jumped on this bandwagon. Hosta shoots are delicious and tender. They’re likely growing right outside your door, and they taste like asparagus. What’s not to love?

I think I understand the issue.

You can eat carrots, too. I’ve been eating them my entire life. But nine times out of ten, when I grow or buy them, I have no idea how I want to cook them. And we’re talking about carrots, a common everyday vegetable.

So, stating that you can eat hostas is kind of like, “Okay, even if I was interested in eating my landscaping…how do I do it?” 

Think of hosta shoots as highly convenient asparagus alternatives, growing right off your back patio.

And the first thing you should do is pick one and eat it. Seriously.

Before we go any further, go pick a hosta shoot from your yard, rinse it and eat it raw. That’s going to be the fastest way to know if you should keep reading or not.

Pretty tasty, right?

It’s like asparagus but like lettuce, but like asparagus.

Eating raw hosta shoots is the easiest way to enjoy this surprisingly delicious “new” springtime vegetable. I like to slice a few up and add them to a salad. They’re so fresh and crunchy!

If the deer have eaten your hostas before you can get to them, you’ll want to read this.

Okay, now that we know whether or not you even like them, I’m going to share an easy way to cook them.

One of my favorite ways of cooking asparagus is to braise them. Luckily, hosta shoots are equally suited for braising.

You end up with perfectly tender shoots that are slightly caramelized, which amps up their natural sweetness. They turn a lovely, bright green, making braised hosta shoots not only a delicious spring side dish but a beautiful one as well.

Braised hosta shoots are the perfect partner for broiled salmon. They’re equally comfortable nestled beneath a soft fried egg.

Picking Hosta Shoots

Here’s the thing about eating hostas. It’s not such an unusual idea. In their native Aisa, hostas can be found in the grocery store, where they’re called yuki urui (hosta icicles). They’re called icicles because when they’re cultivated, rather than foraged, the stems are blanched before harvest, leaving them snowy white.

Here, though, most of us don’t have the patience or forethought to blanch hostas for a few weeks before harvesting them. I don’t, anyway. Half the time, I don’t even realize they’re up until they’re a good six inches tall.

And that’s roughly about the height to pick them – five or six inches tall.

For braised hosta shoots, you want to choose shoots that are still firmly curled up. It’s okay if they’ve started to unfurl a bit at the tips, but if they’re too loose, they will turn out soggy.

I slice them as close to the ground as I can get with a sharp knife. You’ll need half a pound of hosta shoots for this recipe (roughly two dozen shoots) to give you four servings.

I’ve been enjoying cooking with hostas so much in the past week that I’m considering heading to the garden center to plant a few more around the property. I keep thinking they would make excellent refrigerator pickles!

Back to the kitchen!

Prepping your hostas

Rinse the hostas with cold water to remove any dirt or mulch. You’ll need to be gentle with them; otherwise, you’ll start peeling away the lowermost leaves. (Don’t panic if a few fall off.) Gently pat them dry and lay them on a clean kitchen towel in a single layer to dry further.

When braising either meat or vegetables, you want what you’re cooking to be as dry as possible. Otherwise, you end up steaming it, which can change the texture drastically. We’re going to sear the hostas on higher heat first to give them a little bit of caramelization before cooking them over low heat in a base of butter and chicken stock (or white wine if you’re fancy).

The result is a tender tip with a lovely bite and a firmer, crunchy base. That’s why we want the hostas to be as dry as possible before we cook them.  

Modifying the Recipe

When creating this dish, I took my cue from asparagus. The texture and flavor are so similar you could easily swap in hosta shoots for any asparagus recipe. The main differences are that hosta shoots are slightly less firm, and their flavor is more subtle and delicate.

With that in mind, I skipped the alliums.

When I braise asparagus, I usually add shallots or garlic. But because the hosta flavor is so mild, I didn’t want anything competing with it. In hindsight, I think the more mellow flavor of shallots would go well with hosta shoots. Adding a couple of tablespoons of minced shallots would be a welcome addition.  

I used chicken broth as the liquid for the base, as you’re more likely to have it on hand. However, white wine can easily be used instead. It changes the entire dish, making it brighter and slightly more acidic. It’s quite lovely.

You know what would go great with this ultra-springy side dish? An ultra-springy dessert – mom’s famous rhubarb custard pie.

Let’s cook!