When garlic chives don't see the light of day

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Apr 1st 2006 @ 7:59PM

We're familiar with chives, the long, thin green blades that are most often used as a mild onion-flavored ingredient in cooking. Garlic chives, however, are similar to regular chives, but have a flat, rather than hollow, tubular blade. As the name indicates, they have a garlic flavor.

I rarely see regular garlic chives outside Asian cooking. Koreans pickle the blades in a seasoning similar to kimchee, producing what is called "boo-choo kimchee." However, only recently have I tasted yellow chives, thanks to my Chinese brother-in-law and his family. Yellow chives are "blanched" by shielding them from sunlight as they grow, the same way white asparagus are grown. These albino chives still have a mild garlic flavor and are one of my new favorite dishes when they are stir-fried with beef or pork. I only have to wonder if they have any nutrients.

Filed Under: Ingredients, Methods
Tags: asia, beef, chinese cooking, chinese cuisine, chinese food, ChineseFood, chives, dinner, frying, garlic, garlic chives, lunch, meat, stir-fry, vegetables, yellow chives

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-02-2006 @2:02PM McAuliflower said... I love putting raw garlic chives in my tuna sandwiches. Thanks for the reminder to keep my eye out for these at the market!
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4-02-2006 @4:26PM kitchenmage said... I finally got a patch of real garlic chives established last year, with any luck it's coming back up. Thing is, I only remember it was in one of the front beds and I've got 40 clumps of regular chives so I have to go *feel* every clump to find the flat ones...or wait for them to get bigger...or flower. When I figure it out, I'll have to move some behind the rosemary and see if I can make the "unSun-blanched" type.
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