Garlic Chives, A Staple Story
Every Chinese family I know has garlic chives (allium tuberosum) in their garden. It’s a species of onion that hails from China, and is one of the earliest spring vegetables to come out, harvested beginning of March here on Long Island so that they are tender enough for saute-ing with pork and dried tofu. When they get older and a little tougher, we use them for pork and leek (a misnomer, as it’s not leek but garlic chives) dumplings, or scramble them with eggs.
It’s no wonder why garlic chives have become such a staple, given its winter hardy and perennial nature, and it’s drought and soil tolerance. I have it doing well in full sun and full shade, and it’s in several places in my garden. You can differentiate it from onion chives in that garlic chives have flat, blade like leaves instead of hollow tubed ones.
We call it “Jiu Cai” in mandarin, and we harvest both the leaves and the flowers. The flowers are used to make “Jiu Cai Hua Jiang”, translated into Garlic Chive Flower Sauce, which is used as a sauce for hotpot (Chinese Fondu) once winter hits.
It’s a cut-and-come-again vegetable, lasting us throughout the season into late fall. It sometimes, depending on how mild our winters are, is still seen poking out of the snow. Sometimes people blanch it (covering it so it grows yellow/white, the way we do asparagus) and it’s sauteed with river eel for one of my childhood’s favorite dishes.
Propagating is easy as you can do it both by seed and by splitting. Its thin bulbs underneath splits over time, and to maintain health, they should be thinned out every couple of years. They are difficult to dig up though, and once firmly established, form large clumps.
No matter, I’m always happy to give them a haircut because that means we get to eat it for dinner that night!
Plant Profile
Scientific Name: Allium tuberosum
USDA Hardiness Zone: 3 – 10
Grassy, clumping, perennial herb with strong garlic notes that die back to the ground in the winter, but coming out early in the spring. Tolerant of shade but thrives in full sun. Drought tolerant. Propagate via seeds or root division. Used in a variety of dishes in Asia.