Spring Onions — season, tips, and recipes in New Zealand
Spring Onions is a vegetables available in New Zealand during August, September, October, November, December, January, February, peaking in September, October, November. This page is a practical guide for home cooks: when to buy spring onions, how to pick a good one, how to store it, what it goes well with, three original recipes, and detailed nutrition information.
One of the easiest vegetables to regrow at home. Put the white root end in water and it'll regrow within days.
How to pick a good one
The white part is sharper, the green part milder. Use both. Should be firm and crisp with bright green tops.
How to store it
Fridge in a damp paper towel. Use within a week. Stand in water to keep fresh longer.
Goes well with
ginger: Spring onion and ginger is a fundamental Chinese cooking pairing. Both are aromatic and sharp, but in different ways -- the combination covers more flavour ground than either alone.
soy sauce: Soy's deep savouriness amplifies spring onion's sharper, greener flavour. Used together as a finishing sauce for steamed fish, the combination is one of the most versatile in Asian cooking.
sesame: Sesame's rich, roasted nuttiness and spring onion's sharp freshness create a contrast used across Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cooking.
egg: Spring onion and egg is a pairing found across Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian cooking. The mild, fatty richness of egg and the sharp, aromatic freshness of spring onion work in both directions.
chilli: Chilli's heat and spring onion's sharp green flavour are used together across Asian cooking as a finishing combination. Applied at the end, both retain their individual intensity.
Recipes
Spring Onion Pancakes
Crispy, savoury, irresistible.
Ingredients: 200g flour, 150ml boiling water, 2 tbsp sesame oil, 4 spring onions (sliced), pinch salt, oil for frying
Method: Mix flour and boiling water into dough. Rest 20 min. Roll thin. Brush with sesame oil, scatter spring onions and salt. Roll up into a log, coil into a disc. Roll flat again. Fry in oil 3 min each side.
Spring Onion & Ginger Sauce
Chinese restaurant condiment. On everything.
Ingredients: 6 spring onions (finely sliced), 2 tbsp fresh ginger (grated), 3 tbsp oil (heated until smoking), 1 tsp salt
Method: Put spring onions, ginger, and salt in a heatproof bowl. Pour smoking hot oil over (it will sizzle). Stir. Serve with chicken, rice, fish.
Cheese & Spring Onion Scones
Warm from the oven. 20 minutes.
Ingredients: 300g flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 50g cold butter, 100g cheese (grated), 4 spring onions (sliced), 150ml milk, pinch salt
Method: Rub butter into flour, baking powder, salt. Stir in cheese and spring onions. Add milk, mix until just combined. Pat out, cut rounds. Bake 220C for 12 min.
Nutrition
One cup provides 25% of your daily vitamin K, 20% of your vitamin C, and 15% of your vitamin A. The green tops are more nutritious than the white base. Contains allicin (same as garlic), which has antimicrobial properties. About 32 calories per cup. One of the easiest vegetables to regrow at home: put the root end in water.