SOCIETY GARLIC
SOCIETY GARLIC or CHINESE GARLIC CHIVES (Tulbaghia Violacea)
Nearly everything is flowering in my veggie garden at the moment, especially these gorgeous purple flowers called 'Society garlic or Chinese garlic chives'. I always use the chive part in all my Asian dishes but never really new about the flowers until I was googling edible flowers and saw these and I thought, wow how cool now I can use the whole plant.
Society garlic is a perennial and is really easy to grow. I have it growing as a boarder around my rose garden as it seems to help with the aphids, I know its good for keeping nematode at bay but not aphids.. I have seen people grow it in pots successfully but will need plenty of water to start with then its pretty drought resistant.
To harvest just take a sharp knife or a pair of secateurs and chop off at the base, but if you only need the flowers I just pick them straight off the stem.
I make a lot of salads and I use the flowers whenever I can and the chives in a lot of my Asian cooking but the best two are in Garlic chive scrambled eggs (Niratama) and Garlic Chive Stir Fry with Chicken (Cang Ying Tou).
Garlic Chive Stir Fry with Chicken (Cang Ying Tou).
- 3 tablespoons oil, divided
- 500g chicken, minced
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce, divided
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ½ tablespoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- ¼ cup (35 grams) fermented black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 zucchini, diced
- 1 bunch garlic chives, cut into 2cm pieces
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 red chilli diced
- Preheat your wok over high heat until it starts to smoke slightly. Turn down the heat, and let the wok cool down a bit before adding 1 tablespoon of the oil. (This step of super heating the wok before adding oil prevents the meat from sticking to the wok. This method works well for pan-frying anything--fish included.)
- Once the oil is heated, turn the heat down to medium, and add the minced chicken. Cook it until the meat is lightly browned. Add in the Shaoxing wine, ½ tablespoon light soy sauce, and the sugar. Mix well, turn off the heat, and transfer the cooked meat to a bowl.
- Now turn the heat down to low, and add the last 2 tablespoons of oil and the ginger. Cook it for a minute, then add the garlic and fermented black beans. Cook everything for a minute or two, taking care to avoid burning.
- Next, add chillies, and turn the heat up to high. Stir fry everything together, and let it cook for a minute uncovered. Then, add in the cooked chicken and garlic chives and stir-fry.
- Now it’s time to add in the remaining light soy sauce (1½ tablespoons) and the sesame oil. Stir-fry to combine.
- Transfer to a dish and serve with steamed rice.
Garlic chive scrambled eggs (Niratama)
Niratama is a Japanese dish made with sauteed garlic chives with lightly seasoned scrambled eggs. Serve with toast or on top of rice!
- 100grams Garlic chives (1 bunch)
- 3 eggs
- 1tsp sugar
- 1/2tsp soya sauce or tamari
- pinch salt
- 2tsp vegetable oil
- Thoroughly wash the garlic chives in a bowl of water as they tend to hold a lot of grit towards the stems. Chop them into 3 centimetre lengths.
- Beat the eggs, sugar, soy sauce and salt together in a small bowl until uniform in colour.
- Heat a non stick frying pan, over medium-high heat, until hot. Add the oil and then the garlic chives, stir fry until they are bright green and wilted.
- Pour eggs into the pan and turn down heat. Cook until you see the bottom of the egg go opaque.
- Give it a gentle stir, scraping the cooked egg up off the bottom of the pan, with a spatula and allowing the raw egg to run underneath. Cook until the bottom layer turns opaque and stir again.
- Repeat this until the desired texture has been reached. Keep in mind the egg will keep cooking for a little while after you have turned off the heat.
Heat a nonstick
frying pan, over medium-high heat, until hot. Add the oil and then the
garlic chives, sautéing until they're bright green and wilted.
Pour
the eggs into the pan and turn down the heat. Let this cook until you
see the bottom of the egg go from translucent to opaque.
All images and text on this website are protected by copyright. Please do not post or republish this recipe or its images without permission. If you want to share this recipe just share the link rather than the whole recipe.
Heat a nonstick
frying pan, over medium-high heat, until hot. Add the oil and then the
garlic chives, sautéing until they're bright green and wilted.
Pour
the eggs into the pan and turn down the heat. Let this cook until you
see the bottom of the egg go from translucent to opaque.
All images and text on this website are protected by copyright. Please do not post or republish this recipe or its images without permission. If you want to share this recipe just share the link rather than the whole recipe.
y sauce and salt together in a small bowl until uniform in color. Heat a non stick frying pan, over medium heat u
Heat a nonstick
frying pan, over medium-high heat, until hot. Add the oil and then the
garlic chives, sautéing until they're bright green and wilted.
Pour
the eggs into the pan and turn down the heat. Let this cook until you
see the bottom of the egg go from translucent to opaque.
All images and text on this website are protected by copyright. Please do not post or republish this recipe or its images without permission. If you want to share this recipe just share the link rather than the whole recipe.
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