Vegetable from China--what is it?

Food ingredient, if I could figure out how to post a pic, I'd do so. But it's easy enough to describe:

green color, solid flesh, diameter of a thin straw, 16" long, mild garlicky-chivey aroma and flavor, crunchy when cooked, sold in a pkg of a dozen, Origin: China, bought in the Marché Oriental. No ID label.

Reminds me of the stem of a very leggy Egyptian garlic, when young and fairly tender.

(Needless to say, my Bruce Cost is safely at home in KC... )

Any help much appreciated.

Geo

By any chance, could it be be what's pictured/described on this page (link) from foodsubs.com?

Chinese chives = gow choy = garlic chives = ku chai

Tnx! but no: these are circular in cross section, solid, maybe 3/8" in diameter.

Geo

Asian Ingredient Guide

Asian Vegetable Thesaurus

The Cook's Thesaurus

E.M.

Geo wrote:these are circular in cross section, solid, maybe 3/8" in diameter.

Geo wrote:diameter of a thin straw

I was going to suggest Chinese chive stalks. Grocers often cut off the top when the bud has already bloomed. They are generally the diameter of a thin straw and have a mild chive/garlic taste, similar to garlic shoots. But once the stalks get much past 1/8", they become very fiberous. At 3/8", I would think they would be inedible. Sounds like you had something else.

Mumon

Tnx MumonA--I looked at ErikM's refs, and the picture of the flowering garlic chive *could* be right. So I measured my guys and they go from a little smidge over 1/4" at the bottom, to a little less than 1/4" at the top, very uniform; the length is 14".

I remember once getting them in Wuhan, but it was only for a very brief time in early March. They came into the market, and then immediately disappeared.

They sure taste good, whatever they're called!

Tnx for the suggestions, both of you.

Geo

We grow garlic chives a lot during the summer months - they grow abundantly. Though the stalks that produce blossoms get fibrous once they reach a certain maturity, the stalks that have not blossomed maintain a more pleasant texture for eating.

probably a good way of determing if these are indeed the vegetable you are thinking of is the smell - garlic chives, especially after they have been cut and have sat for a few days are very pungent.

Tnx zim,

these are nicely garlicky-chivey in aroma, not overwhelming or anything, but rich enough to be enjoyable (if you enjoy that sort of thing--which I bet most of us do! :^)

But does the *size* sound right to you? My experience with chives has always been of a fairly slender sort of stalk; comparatively speaking, these are fatties, not too much smaller than a pencil, sort of Bic-ish in size.

Geo

hmm, upon further reading I doubt its garlic chive, they would not be solid or crunchy when cooked - possibly garlic sprouts/scapes? (i've seen these sold frozen in korean markets)

The timing of when you saw them in wuhan would seem to fit with that.

These most likely are "garlic shoots" or garlic scapes, if indeed these are round and the diameter of about a drinking straw. The Mandarin name would be "suan miao".

Suan = Garlic
Miao = Shoots or sprouts

These can be used in stir fries and do have a slight garlic flavor and tend to be crunchy.

Tnx peety, zim. Yeah, for sure that's what they are, garlic shoots. I've figured out how to use them, too. I give them c. 45 sec in boiling water, then into cold water (Montreal water is *cold*!--altho', I'd reckon that Chicago water is, too...). Then I stir fry them, and finish 'em off with my Universal Veggie Jiang:

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 Tbs oyster

1 Tbs soy

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp sesame

pinch salt

1 tsp cornstarch/4 tsp H2O


Add this to the stir-fry, throw in a palmful of chopped scallions, and eat.


Tnx for all the input everyone--this is a really useful vegetable, with great crunchy texture and nice soft but thorough garlic flavors.

Geo

Geo wrote:Then I stir fry them, and finish 'em off with my Universal Veggie Jiang:
<snip>
1/4 tsp sesame

Geo,

Sounds very good. One question, sesame seeds or sesame paste?

Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv--

Oooops, meant to totally snip that reference, since it's not Universal. If the veg is seriously green, e.g., spinach, one of the choys, or, even, collards (which fit in nicely), I'll put on a handful of toasted sesame seeds just before serving.

Learned this trick from a Korean pal, who'd saute the devil out of a pound, pound-and-a-half of spinach (thereby reducing its volume by, what?, 65%? something amazing anyway), sauce it with something pretty much mostly like mine, and then serve it with the sesame seeds strewn about the top. Looks nice, plus adds some textural/taste-ual interest.

Come to think of it, I seem to remember that he added a dollop of Chinese chili+garlic paste to the sauce as well...

Geo

I would have guessed sesame "oil"

I add a few drops of sesame oil and the toasted sesame seeds. I like the look and texture of the seeds, but the oil is much more flavorful....although perhaps not as delicate this way.


p.s. I am trying to work in a bit more flax seed oil to the diet, however, heat breaks down the Omega 3s and lignans, so I add a dash of flax along with sesame oil on spinach after it has cooled.

I used sesame seeds similarly a fair bit- I buy the pretoasted ones but retoast quickly a few seconds. Great addition sprinkled over hoisin with blanched chinese broccoli (gai lan), etc.

Yeah, I typically end up putting some sesame oil on as well, but not until everything is cooked--if I put it in the sauce, I think some of the aromatics get blown off.

I've tried it both ways, and prefer to use it almost as a table sauce.

And sazerac, I'm with you: the gai lan is great with sesame seeds.

Geo