Garlic chives
530164
221101582
2008-06-23T01:42:04Z
71.234.145.224
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2008}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Garlic chives
| image = Chinesechives.jpg
| image_width = 240px
| image_caption = Flowering garlic chives
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Monocotyledon|Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asparagales]]
| familia = [[Alliaceae]]
| genus = ''[[Allium]]''
| species = '''''A. tuberosum'''''<br/>'''''A. ramosum'''''
| binomial = ''Allium tuberosum''<br/>''Allium ramosum''
| binomial_authority =
}}
'''Garlic chives''' ({{zh-stp|s=[[wiktionary:韭|韭]][[wiktionary:菜|菜]]|t=[[wiktionary:韭|韭]][[wiktionary:菜|菜]]|p=jiǔcài}}, also 韮菜) are also known as '''Chinese chives''', '''Chinese leek''', '''ku chai''', '''jiu cai''', '''Oriental garlic chives''' or, in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], '''''nira''''' (kanji: [[wiktionary:韮|韮]]; hiragana: にら; katakana: ニラ); in [[Korean language|Korea]] known as '''''buchu''''' (부추), '''''sol''''' (솔), or '''''jeongguji''''' (정구지) or in [[Vietnamese]], '''''hẹ'''''. The plant has a distinctive growth habit with strap-shaped leaves unlike either [[onion]] or [[garlic]], and straight thin white-flowering stalks that are much taller than the leaves. It grows in slowly expanding perennial clumps, but also readily sprouts from seed. Besides its use as vegetable, it also has attractive flowers.
[[Image:P9261313.JPG|thumb|left|210px|A saucepan containing garlic chive flowers and soft tofu]]
The cultivated form is ''[[Allium]] tuberosum'' while the wild form is placed as ''A. ramosum''. Older references list it as ''A. odorum'' but that is now considered a synonym of ''A. ramosum''. Some botanists would place both wild and cultivated forms in ''A. ramosum'' since many intermediate forms exist.
A relatively new vegetable in the English-speaking world but well-known in Asian cuisine, the flavor of garlic chives is more like garlic than [[chive]]s, though much milder. Both leaves and the stalks of the flowers are used as a flavoring similarly to chives, green onions or garlic and are used as a [[Stir frying|stir fry]] ingredient. In [[China]], they are often used to make dumplings with a combination of egg, shrimp and pork. They are a common ingredient in Chinese [[jiaozi]] dumplings and the Japanese and Korean equivalents. The flowers may also be used as a [[spice]]. In [[Vietnam]], the leaves of garlic chives are cut up into short pieces and used as the only vegetable in a soup of broth and sliced pork kidneys.
Many garden centers carry it (usually unaware of its culinary uses) as do most [[Asian supermarket]]s.
A Chinese flatbread similar to the [[green onion pancake]] may be made with garlic chives instead of [[scallion]]s; such a pancake is called a ''jiucai bing'' (韭菜饼) or ''jiucai you bing'' (韭菜油饼). Chives is also one of the main ingredient used with [[Yi mein]] dishes.
Garlic chives are widely used in [[Korean cuisine]], most notably in dishes such as ''buchukimchi'' (부추김치, garlic chive [[kimchi]]), ''buchjeon'' (부추전, garlic chive [[jeon (food)|pancake]]s), or ''[[jaecheopguk]]'' (a ''[[guk]]'', or clear soup, made with garlic chives and [[Asian clam]]s).
==External links==
* [http://www.bogos.uni-osnabrueck.de/friesen/publications/Ch1Taxonomy%20and%20Evolution%20Allium.pdf Evolution, Domestication and Taxonomy] of Allium (PDF)
==See also==
*[[Allium chinense]]
[[Category:Allium]]
[[Category:Herbs]]
{{vegetable-stub}}
[[ar:الثُّوم المُعَمِّر]]
[[zh-min-nan:Kú-chhài]]
[[de:Knoblauch-Schnittlauch]]
[[fr:Ciboule de Chine]]
[[ko:부추]]
[[id:Kucai]]
[[ja:ニラ]]
[[nl:Chinese bieslook]]
[[fi:Kiinansipuli]]
[[sv:Kinesisk gräslök]]
[[th:กุยช่าย]]
[[vi:Hẹ]]
[[ur:ثوم دَرَنیہ]]
[[zh:韭菜]]