Chinese Chives

Also known as “garlic chives, ” Chinese chives are more pungent and flatter and wider than Western chives, though they are the same deep green color. Yellow chives are the same vegetable, but they are deprived of the sun as they grow, which makes them a pale yellow. Although both green and yellow chives have an essential taste of garlic, the yellow is more delicate. Once yellow chives were an underground industry, literally, grown in Chinatown basements by newly arrived immigrants. Nowadays both green and yellow chives are widely available and are sold fresh by weight. Do not use the familiar Western chive in their place. Its taste differs, and your recipe will reflect that difference.