Scallion

Scallions (also known as green onions, spring onions, salad onions, green shallots, onion sticks, or syboes), are the edible plants of various Allium species, all of which are "onion-like", having hollow green leaves and lacking a fully developed root bulb.

Types

The Welsh onion (Allium fistulosum) does not form bulbs even when mature, and is grown in the West almost exclusively as a scallion or salad onion, although in Asia this species is of primary importance and used both fresh and in cooking. "Scallion" is also used for young plants of the common onion (A. cepa var. cepa) and shallot (A. cepa var. aggregatum, formerly A. ascalonicum), harvested before bulbs form, or sometimes when slight bulbing has occurred. Most of the cultivars grown in the West primarily as salad onions or scallions belong to A. cepa var. cepa. Other species sometimes used as scallions include A. ×proliferum and A. ×wakegi.

Etymology

The words scallion and shallot are related and can be traced back to the Greek askolonion as described by the Greek writer Theophrastus. This name, in turn, seems to originate from the Philistine town of Ascalon (modern-day Ashkelon in Israel). The shallots themselves apparently came from farther east of Europe.

Uses

Harvested for their taste, they are milder than most onions. They may be cooked or used raw as a part of salads or Asian recipes. Diced scallions are used in soup, noodle and seafood dishes, as well as sandwiches, curries or as part of a stir fry. To make many Eastern sauces, the bottom quarter-inch of scallions are commonly removed before use. Cut at root level.

In Vietnam, Welsh onion is important to cook dưa hành (a kind of kimchi) served for Tết festival. A kind of sauce, mỡ hành (Welsh onion fried in oil), is used in some dishes such as cơm tấm, bánh ít, cà tím nướng and others. Welsh onion is the only ingredient in the dish cháo hành (a dish to treat the common cold).

Varieties

Allium cepa

White Lisbon White Lisbon Winter Hardy - an extra-hardy variety for overwintering.

Allium fistulosum

Allium ×wakegi（分葱、ワケギ）

See also

Onion

Leek

Allium tricoccum

Chives

References

External links

Varieties of Japanese scallion (negi)

Category:Leaf vegetables Category:Onions Category:Flora of Jamaica Category:Puerto Rican ingredients