the last few times we’ve been at h mart i’ve stared at the garlic chives and asked the chef what to do with them. i’d never heard of, or seen them before. he was pretty clueless, too.
doesn’t he have a culinary degree?
from the best school in the country?
and i have to google this?!
turns out they’re this mix between garlic and onions, almost exactly like a ramp. in west virginia, where i’m from, ramps are a huge deal. they’re only available from late, late april until early, early june. west virginia even has a ramp festival every year, celebrating and exploring the the culinary uses of the ramp. these things stink to high heavens. and so do garlic chives. in fact, i had to take them out of the refrigerator and put them in a ziplock bag because the chef thought they were making his cans of sparkling water too smelly to drink. garlic ramps are native to asia: the himalayas and china. the chef loves ramps and he loved this 5 minute side dish i whipped up with the garlic chives. he ate all of his, half of mine and the leftovers. then i made him brush his teeth. ; )
garlic chives are super crunchy. when you cook them, you want them to stay super crunchy. it’s part of their charm! i wish i would have taken a picture of the chives before i cooked them, but i was too hungry, so i didn’t. here’s a photo from specialty produce of what they look like in the grocery store. follow the link for a few more tidbits about these guys.
have some garlic chives and five minutes? here’s a perfect, stinky side dish!
you’ll need:
~1 lb garlic chives
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. fresh cracked pepper
+oil for the pan
- wash + chop the chives into ~1 inch pieces. keep the little blossom at the top, too, that part is totally edible and makes your plate so pretty!
- heat sauté pan to high heat. add a smidge of oil. toss in garlic chives and coat.
- quickly add in soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, salt + pepper. toss, toss, toss to coat.
- these babies only need to cook for about four or five minutes. just until they get bright green, but still maintain their crispiness.
- plate, eat, brush teeth! : )
we topped ours with a crispy chicken thigh. if i could only eat chicken thighs for the rest of my life, i think it might take 10 years before i asked for something else. just look at that perfectly rendered skin… drool!
oh and hey, w.va. friends! if you’re looking for a ramp dinner, here’s a website with every ramp dinner in the state listed! you’re too late this year, ramp season is long gone, but bookmark this page and find a fancy ramp dinner near you in 2017!
chef meets girl 