Some information I found about eating water lilies. Still cannot find anything that specifically calls out a certain type of water lily although a lot are the native American yellow water lily or Native Asia lily varieties "Not Tropical". I have also run across several Thai Soup recipes. Several resources state that the flowers are edible cooked and raw. My in laws neighbor is from Thailand so I was thinking of asking her if she has any recipes or knows anything about the subject.
How to Get Food From a Water Lily Plant
Water Pot Fire Learn well how to identify a water lily plant. Water lily rhizomes grow in the mud of lakes and marshes and their leaves are large, triangular, green, and float on the surface of the water. Water lily plants possess flowers that are usually white, though they can also be red and sometimes even violet. Locate a water lily plant. Harvest the water lily flowers. These are edible raw, though you can also cook them by throwing them into a pot of boiling water over a fire for several minutes. Harvest the water lily seeds. Leave them out in the sun to dry then, once parched well, grind them to make flour. Harvest the water lily rhizomes. Then peel off the hard, outer layer. The fleshy stuff that remains can be eaten right away (after a good rinsing with fresh water) or sliced thinly, parched in the sun, then eaten. Boil a thick water lily root in water, then drink the liquid. This is a known medicine for diarrhea or, if gurgled, for a sore throat. If you aren't sure that what you are dealing with is, in fact a water lily plant, don't eat any part of it!
