What is this vegetable?

June 28, 2022 2:06 AM

I get a weekly vegetable box, and I don't recognise this one. It's made up of thin, hard stalks that taste a bit like leek. (photos inside)

Photo 1
Photo 2

If you are familiar with it, feel free to recommend recipes!

posted by cincinnatus c to Food & Drink (12 answers total)

Best answer: Garlic scape?
posted by mani at 2:14 AM on June 28, 2022 [22 favorites]

Response by poster: I think you've got it. Thanks, mani!
posted by cincinnatus c at 2:23 AM on June 28, 2022

Could also be onion scapes, but more likely to be garlic. I think leek scapes are a bit thicker.
posted by kschang at 2:25 AM on June 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Gosh you're so lucky -- garlic scapes are so hard to come by. My family used to make this all the time and it was my absolute favorite meal in Beijing, we usually make it with ground pork but easily substituted. Garlic Scapes Stir Fry
posted by yueliang at 2:51 AM on June 28, 2022 [12 favorites]

Garlic scapes. Delicious in pesto and lactofermented pickles.
posted by wicked_sassy at 3:18 AM on June 28, 2022 [5 favorites]

Yup, if you are in the temperate northern hemisphere, it’s garlic scape season—we’ve had some from our CSA the last two weeks. We made a pesto-adjacent sauce with them, with parsley (also in our box), Parmesan, salt, pepper, olive oil, and nuts, and it was super delicious.
posted by tchemgrrl at 3:29 AM on June 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yum! A super simple and delicious way to eat this is to cut them into bite sized pieces, sauté in butter until they turn bright green, and slow scramble some eggs in with them. Amazing on toast or with some cheese and a side salad for a light meal. The gentle garlic flavor will permeate the eggs without being too aggressive.

Last year when I got these from my local produce folks I tossed them with lemon slices, fennel wedges, s&p and olive oil and piled that all on top of a nice piece of salmon. Roast in the oven on medium high until the salmon is just cooked through. Normally I do this with shallots but the garlic scapes added a sweetness and a green almost asparagus like vegetal flavor and texture I really enjoyed.
posted by Mizu at 3:34 AM on June 28, 2022 [3 favorites]

yeah, confirming those are garlic scapes since I got some in my last box as well.

They're good in stir fry dishes. Sometimes with meat, sometimes all on their own.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:07 AM on June 28, 2022 [2 favorites]

I got some too. I made honey garlic chicken with these as a stir-fried in vegetable.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:55 AM on June 28, 2022

My absolute favorite breakfast is a big plate of scrambled eggs made with a dollop of sour cream, a little cheddar and mozzarella, and an absolutely ridiculous pile of garlic scapes.
posted by xedrik at 7:26 AM on June 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

Our food co-op sells garlic scapes in early summer. We just made pesto with their recipe a couple nights ago.
posted by dlugoczaj at 9:26 AM on June 28, 2022

FWIW, I was just searching for Chinese name of garlic scapes, and found this veggie garlic scape stir-fry recipe. If you can stirfry and have a decent selection of vegetables this seems a good way to use them. :)

Beware, they are only available in a very short period. Use them ASAP!
posted by kschang at 3:19 PM on June 29, 2022