ORIENTAL CHIVES

Oriental chives, also called garlic chives and Chinese chives, are both an edible and ornamental plant that are finding a place in more and more gardens.

As for its name oriental chives, it highlights its Asian origin and the fact that it has been used in Chinese cuisine for 4000 years. But the Japanese and Koreans use it just as much as the Chinese and it is very popular in India too. It is said that Marco Polo introduced this plant to the West, but it remained mainly a botanical collector's plant until recently.

Although it belongs to the same genus as chives, Allium, which it shares with the onion (A. cepa) and true garlic (A. sativum), oriental chives are not closely related to chives (A. schoenoprasum). Their common name comes from the fact that their leaves are used in the same way as those of chives. As for "garlic", its taste is more like that of garlic and it is used as a substitute for garlic in cooking.

Deficiencies of an unbalanced diet? Look at this table 🙂

for 100g of Oriental Chives

The open pink or white flowers of chives and garlic root are edible and brighten up soups and salads.

The salted herbs of Acadian cuisine are traditionally composed of salted onion stems, chives or spring onions. They are used to season meat or fish dishes.

• In the Bas-du-Fleuve, the preparation is enriched with parsley, carrot tails or grated carrots, savory, etc. In fact, you can salt any fresh herbs of your choice as you harvest or purchase them.

Pack them in layers of about 2 cm in a glass jar, adding a generous portion of coarse salt between the layers. Fill with cold water, close the jar and keep cool;
Chervil, parsley, tarragon and chives together make up the mixture known as fine herbs: fresh and finely chopped, they add their aromas to green salads, omelettes, as well as to poached chicken or fish. To prevent the cooking from dulling the taste, only add them at the last moment;

• Cottage cheese seasoned with chives is a classic. Try goat cheese, mashed with oriental chives, scallions and minced chervil. Serve as an appetizer on crackers;
  A tarator is prepared with partially skimmed milk, plain yoghurt and Greek yoghurt (around 9 % or 10 % fat), a cucumber cut into sticks, a bunch of thinly sliced radishes, a good quantity of chopped chives, chopped parsley and mint, salt and pepper. Cover and leave to cool in the refrigerator before serving;
• Prepare a chive-flavored oil by blending a large handful of chives with oil. Pour into a sieve set over a bowl and let drain for an hour. Discard the solids. Spread on bread that will be heated for a few minutes in the oven with cheese;
• Parmesan and Chive Popcorn: Sauté corn, melt butter, and add chopped chives and Parmesan cheese. Pour melted butter mixture over popcorn and season with salt;
• You can make a pancake with whole grains of spelt or Kamut, eggs, a large bunch of chives, onion and shallot. First, let the grains swell overnight and cook for half an hour. Then add the alliums and eggs, and make a dough that you shape into a pancake. Salt and pepper to taste. Pan-fry;
• In Asia, the flower stalks of the tuberous garlic with their buds on top are eaten as a vegetable rather than as a condiment herb. The bud should be closed and tight. Cut the stalks a few centimeters long. Sauté them for a minute over high heat in oil seasoned with a little sugar and set aside. Drizzle with soy sauce and mirin wine, thin strips of lamb or pork fillet, and sauté for just a few minutes. Add the pieces of tuberous garlic, reheat and serve. Sauté tuberous garlic with shiitake mushroom slices in the same way.

Finally, you can even use it as a herbal tea. Cook it as you wish!

It will be necessary:

• Cold stratification:
• Prepare the seeds: Clean them and, if necessary, soak them for a few hours.
• Mix: Mix the seeds with a moist substrate (sand or vermiculite).
• Condition: Put everything in an airtight bag.
• Refrigerate: Place bag in refrigerator for 4 to 12 weeks.
• Check: Make sure the substrate remains slightly moist.
• Sow: After the stratification period, sow the seeds in prepared soil.

That's all! It helps the seeds germinate.

Our seeds are vigorous, open-pollinated and adapted to the Quebec climate.

• Species: Allium tuberosum
• Sowing: Early March indoors, early April under cover outdoors
• Seeds: 15-20 seeds per pot, final transplanting into an outdoor pot or soil around mid-May
• Sowing depth: 0.5 cm
• Germination time: 7-15 days|
• Soil: Poor, humus-rich, loose and drained
• Location: Sun and tolerates shade and cold very well
• Spacing between plants: 20-25 cm
• Height at maturity: 60 to 75 cm
• Maturity: 80-90 days | Perennial
• Seed per envelope: +/- 100
  Our seeds are guaranteed for the year of purchase.