''Allium chinense'' (also known as Chinese onion,Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database

University of Melbourne. Updated 3 August 2013. Retrieved 5 September 2014. Chinese scallion, glittering chive, Japanese scallion,

Kiangsi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north into hi ...

scallion, and Oriental onion) is an edible species of '' Allium'', native to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and cultivated in many other countries. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot,

leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

, chive, and

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plant in the genus ''Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chive, Allium fistulosum, Welsh onion and Allium chinense, Chinese onion. It is native to South A ...

Distribution

''Allium chinense'' is native to

(in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong,

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces). It is

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

in other parts of Asia as well as in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Uses

Culinary

Owing to its very mild and "fresh" taste, ''A. chinense'' is often pickled and served as a side dish in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Vietnam to balance the stronger

flavor Flavor or flavour is either the sensory perception of taste or smell, or a flavoring in food that produces such perception. Flavor or flavour may also refer to: Science *Flavors (programming language), an early object-oriented extension to Lis ...

of some other component in a meal. For example, in Japanese cuisine, it is eaten as a garnish on

Japanese curry is commonly served in three main forms: , curry udon (curry over thick noodles), and (a curry-filled pastry). It is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. The very common "curry rice" is most often referred to simply as . Along with the sau ...

. In Vietnam, pickled ''A. chinense'', known as ''củ kiệu'', is often served during Tết (Lunar New Year). In Japanese, it is known as . Glass bottles of white ''rakkyō'' bulb pickles are sold in Asian supermarkets in North America.

Medicinal

''Allium chinense'' is used as a folk medicine in tonics to help the intestines, and as a stomachic.

References

External links