Hi!
What is the difference between these two herbs?
chives and garlic chives
Garlic chives have a flatter wider leaf. They are a bigger plant and the smell and taste like garlic. For me they seed easier and grow faster than onion chives. I grow both. The chives are great for baked potatoes and sprinkling on anything. Garlic chives are good added to sauces for stirfrys at the last minute.
thank you Grammy.
Here is a picture of my garlic chives. I took it just a few minutes ago. I have a large bed full of them because a) they spread b) they are yummy c) I like the flower. The Asians use them a lot -- in eggs, pork dumplings and as a vegetable dish. They do have a garlic-onion taste, you eat only the leaves and can eat the little individual flowers as well. You can sprinkle the little flowers all over the top of a salad. Craig Claiborne's Chinese cookbook has a recipe for duck stir fried with these Garlic chives. I haven't tried the recipe yet, but I have a friend who says it is yummy and you make it out of an already cooked duck -- do it yourself or buy one at the Chinese grocery, already barbecued. It uses 3 cups of garlic chives, chopped.
Regular chives have a round leaf like a tiny onion, and cute little purple flowers in the spring. The Western chives are mostly used for decoration. They are often served chopped as a garnish on baked potato with sour cream or they are chopped and sprinkled on top of Vichysoisse. Both are worth growing and are very easy to grow.
This message was edited Jul 21, 2006 5:11 PM
thank you paja.
I even like to nibble the garlic chive seeds. They have a great taste... Spider do you have both? In this zone, my garlic chive are done and have seeded they will begin to grow in the fall and thru winter, going to seed in the spring.
podster,
Sigh, that's the difference between zone 8a and zone 5a. Mine aren't quite in full bloom.
Podster, I have both but they are not flowering yet.
Ideas for the use of garlic chives.
The first is a salad I made up from what was in the garden. We both liked it and have had it more than once lately. It is super-easy to make.
Salad with Oriental Garlic Chive Flowers
romaine leaves, washed, dried, torn up
arugula, young, washed dried and separated into individual leaves
Oriental garlic chive flowers, cut from stems of 2 flower clusters
salt, pepper
lemon juice to taste
olive oil to taste
1 to 1/2 oz. of goat cheese per person.
Dry and tear up greens. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add fresh lemon juice to taste 1/2 to 1 large lemon. Olive oil to taste, aprox. 1/4 cup. Toss and taste to adjust seasonings. Add pieces of goat cheese in pieces on top. Serve.
See my next post for second one.
This message was edited Jul 24, 2006 11:57 PM
I can't take credit for this one, but it is a standard Chinese dish. A friend of mine comes over frequently for bundles of Oriental Garlic Chives to make these traditional dumplings. She also took some starts of my plants so she could grow her own. I gather they are wonderful. Notice that they use a lot of the chives in the dumplings. It's a good thing garlic chives are such a vigorous crop.
http://www.thaitable.com/Thai/recipes/Chinese_Chive_Dumplings.htm
Betty