Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes, originally uploaded by myviaggi.

I was very surprised to see these in New York. Coincidentally, the weekend after I discovered them at a street market, The New York Times published an article mentioning them. Apparently, most of people are not familiar with garlic scapes, nor how to cook them. In China, this vegetable is simply stir-fried in the same way as many other vegetables. It is a "quick fire" dish with a bit salt and light soy sauce with omelet or thin pieces of beef. Fresh garlic scapes are very fragile and age quickly even more so than asparagus.

While I myself had never been keen on these (cooked in the Chinese way), I was so impressed by the taste brought out by the Western way. I think our soy sauce method might have overwhelmed the freshness of this unique vegetable. Last weekend, we grilled them as a side dish for our BBQ.

HOW TO PREPARE:

* Trim off the soft tip from each stem; if the bottom end is yellowish, it means they are aged and need to be trimmed too.
* Chop or break them to pieces about 4-5 inches long.
* Marinade the vegetable with olive oil, salt, pepper and some Provence herbs for half an hour.
* Grill them on a flat pan on the BBQ until the green color deepens slightly.

It is almost the same way as how asparagus would be grilled. Garlic scapes however are much crunchier. Instead of a bambooish taste, garlic scapes carry a hint of garlic without being 'garlicky'. A perfect companion for a beef burger.

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