A week after I returned from California, I read about the heat wave in NorCal (started late last, early this week)...the HEAT in Sunnyvale, California was as high as 106F (40degC!!!). Talking about being at the right place at the right time. Well, though we escaped the heat wave in NorCal, the weather in Taiwan is not any better. Singapore too, I think?Spring is officially over? Nope...as I'm bringing you Spring Onions...and another way you can further release the aroma of spring onions before using them in cooking and especially for salads.
Use a fork and from the edge of the spring onion, start "scraping" them, as shown. You will get long thin strips even without using a knife. You make less cuts with your knife. You just slice to the length you desire.
The trick is not to save you time or steps in slicing or julienning. It is to release the aroma, or if you think it is pungency...that you dislike
- you can do the "freako" thinking and turn it to a way to remove pungency. Make a few "scrapes" and then soak in ice-cold water bath for a few minutes. Then it becomes easier to use in salads when the sharp biting taste has been partially removed. Spring onions are the most pungent tasting of young onions (spring onions > green onions > scallions, in the scale of pungency) with more biting taste than green onions. Note that the longer they are allowed to mature, the sharper the taste they gain. So if you really want to use spring onions in salads or cooking, make sure its flavor does not overpower the other delicate flavors. Weekend Herb Blogging is back with Kalyn's Kitchen this week and I'm hoping to share this tip and trick.Similar concept applies to onions. Here's how you can cut an onion to reduce an onion's pungency.
Also, a reading source where you can learn to differentiate spring onions, green onions, and scallions.
Finally, a condiment I made before - using green onions and minced ginger姜蓉. A good dip for poached chicken.
Tag: spring onions, green onions, scallions, cooking tips
oh thanks for this information..i knew there are differences among them but I never knew what it was..i just sometimes interchange in using thme h depends on their availability
ReplyDeleteThat's a great trick to scrape them with a fork. I'm going to try it on my next bunch of onions!
ReplyDeleteWe must definitely be thinking alike. Guess what the subject of my column is this week? Spring onions, green onions etc.! I am definitely linking to your post on Saturday. Thanks for the tip on releasing the pungency.
ReplyDeleteI like that idea of scraping to get the long strands of onion. Will definitely try that one. Also, I didn't know the differences between the types, thanks for the information, interesting and good to know.
ReplyDeleteHey, also wanted to say I like the new look of the blog with the photo banner (I read in rss, so not sure how new it is, but just noticed it!)
ReplyDeleteAhhh...so using a fork is the trick to do that? I have been wondering how to do it before I saw a gadget made for doing this.
ReplyDeleteHey TF! You visisted and you didn't tell me! We could've met up eep! Scary internet meeting.. OK maybe not hehe.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your onion post made me think about this channel on youtube called Cooking With Dog. They make authentic Japanese food which features long green onions which are impressively very long! You might want to check it out if you're ever bored. youtube.com/cookingwithdog
And PS - No they don't actually cook with dog. ;)
Oh yeah PPS - Since I post pictures of most of the things I make on this message board, I actually inspired someone else to make your BBQ pork puff pastries. He brought them to a party and took two for himself (he made 18 of them and cut them in half to make 36). When he went back for seconds, there were only 3 left! Heh.. just wanted to share that witcha.
ReplyDeleteSaturday was the hottest day...until about 3 pm. Then we had a freak thunderstorm and the natural air conditioning kicked in. By 8 pm things were quite pleasant!
ReplyDeleteoh!1 what a informative info you gave!1 thanks!..i never participate in herbs weekend,maybe I should try out!
ReplyDeleteyup, last weekend was freaking hot here in socal too. eh, wht do u mean they're not the same? they look the same what? lol.
ReplyDeleteI have been growing onions forever and didn't know the difference myself.
ReplyDeleteThe fork trick is neato.
Nice info on spring onions!
ReplyDeleteI love spring onions in everything :)
ReplyDeletea very handy tip and trick. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat tip, I will have to try it the next time. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information... I tend to get confused between all these things.
ReplyDeleteHi TF,
ReplyDeleteGreat fork tip! I bet many foodies would find it useful if they would find out about it. You could submit it to Chef's Tip (http://tips.chefsvalue.com/)