Chive Flowers

Ingredients

2 bunches of chive flowers – available at area Asian grocery stores.

1 shallot minced

3 cloves of garlic minced

1-2 inches fresh ginger skinned and chopped

4 tbsp cooking oil (it can be peanut, canola or even olive)

salt, pepper and soy sauce to taste.

What to do

Cut the chive flowers in 2 inch pieces, but discard the bottom 2 inches or so – these tend to be hard and won’t taste good when cooked- In a steamer basket, steam these for about 3-4 minutes until they are bright green and just beginning to be tender. Set aside. Heat  a wok or large frying pan, add the oil, stir fry the garlic, ginger and shallots for a few minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the chive flowers and stir fry for an additional 2-3 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and soy sauce.

Serve this with rice or quinoa.  Some local Chinese restaurants will feature this dish on their menu. In Chinese it is called ‘you hua’ (yoh gwah).

This is the 13^th recipe of Mr. Welsh’s Class Cooks 2006. May 4, 2006