Garlic chives (Simplified: 韭菜; Traditional: 韭菜; Hanyu Pinyin: jiu3cai4), also known as Chinese chives, Chinese leek, Ku chai or Nira is a relatively new vegetable in the English-speaking world. 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. Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiÇŽntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiÇŽnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Pinyin (拼音, Pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Binomial name Allium cepa L. Onion in the general sense can be used for any plant in the Genus Allium but used without qualifiers usually means Allium cepa L., also called the garden onion. ... Binomial name Allium sativum L. Garlic (Allium sativum) is a perennial plant in the family Alliaceae and genus Allium, closely related to the onion, shallot, and leek. ...

Garlic Chives - flowers

It grows in slowly expanding perennial clumps, but also readily sprouts from seed. It is not only an interesting vegetable, but a very attractive flower. 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. Oriental Garlic Chives flowers, photo by WMFender-Westwind File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Oriental Garlic Chives flowers, photo by WMFender-Westwind File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Species See List of Allium species Allium is the onion genus with about 1250 species, mostly classified in its own family Alliaceae. ...

The flavor of garlic chives is rather more like garlic than chives, 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 fry ingredient. In China, they are often blanched by covering them in the spring. The flowers may also be used as a spice. Binomial name Allium schoenoprasum Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are a member of the onion family (Alliaceae) grown for their leaves, which are used as an herb. ... Stir frying is a common Chinese cooking technique used because of its fast cooking speed. ... Screen shot of Spice OPUS, a fork of Berkeley SPICE SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits Emphasis) is a general purpose analog circuit simulator. ...

Many garden centers carry it (usually unaware of its culinary uses) as do most oriental specialty groceries if they have fresh produce at all.

External links

• Evolution, Domestication and Taxonomy of Allium (PDF)

Newly introduced in the United States the garlic chive has two forms, the wild form considered as Allium ramosum and a cultivated form considered as Alluim tuberosum (“Garlic chives”). In contrast to regular chives, garlic chives have flat leaves, while normal chives have hollow spears. They have a white flower that bloom in the warmth of the summer (Mountain Valley Growers). Chives are perennial plants, which are plants that remain active through one year or many years. They grow in clusters, or they mat clump closely together. They’ll grow quite easily in a raised bed or a container. They like moderately rich soil with a pH around 6.0, and they like to have full sunlight (Hock). Garlic chives have the taste of garlic, but are milder. They are completely edible along with the flowers (Mountain Valley Growers). The flowers can be used as a spice, and the blades of the garlic may be used in many different dishes, including stir-fry dishes and dumplings (“Garlic chives”). Not only are garlic chives used in the kitchen, they are also used medicinally. They are used for urinary incontinence, kidney and bladder weakness, stomach chills, and as a poultice for knee injuries (Rainy Side Gardeners). According to the National Cancer Institute of China, chives may reduce prostate cancer by around 50%. Chives have sulphur-rich oils that not only give the chives their flavor, but also some extra medicinal values. The oil is an antiseptic and also helps to lower blood pressure. In traditional Chinese medicine, chives were used to treat meat poisoning and hiccups (Hock). Chives are rarely bothered by pests and some gardeners used them as companion plants for roses, and they are supposed to prevent beetles and black spots on the roses. Not only do chives help roses they also help the cucumber family which include melons, squash, and cucumber by preventing the growth of mildew. Also it is predicted that carrots will grow larger when planted with chives (Hock). When harvesting chives, the leaves should be at least six inches long. The chives should be snipped regularly to encourage more growth. It also avoids the leaves from becoming tough. To get a normal supply of the leaves, the flower heads should be removed. Pulling the whole plant should be avoided, but to get tender new leaves cut the leaves to about two inches from the ground (Hock).