What to do with sprouting garlic?
We eat a lot of garlic so we usually buy a bunch in those web sacks. The only problem is, the garlic sprouts even if kept in a cold, dark place. So what to do? My wife wanted to see if the garlic would flower, like forcing paperwhites. She placed the garlic cloves on pebbles in a nice container filled with water up to the bulb end. The garlic immediately grew quite rapidly but I don't think we'll see it bloom.
It is nice to have some greenery in the house though and I think it looks rather interesting and nice in a minimalist kind of way. It was certainly worth the experiment.
posted by Ki at
4:57 AM
8 Comments:
I think it looks nice and green garlic shoots are very delicious. It would be worth growing indoors just to get the shoots. Now I'm kicking myself that I've never tried it. Thanks for planting an idea!
I wondered if the shoots were edible, Entangled. I once had some Korean kimchi that had a few pieces of chopped garlic tops but it's quite rare for kimchi to include the garlic greens. At least that was the first and last time I encountered the greens in kimchi. The tops were quite tough when pickled in the brine so I just assumed they would be tough and inedible even cooked.
Well, when the shoots start to bend as some of them are already doing, I'll have to harvest the greens to use in cooking. Do you use it like green onions?
I first had green garlic in a potato soup. I think it was pureed in that version, but it was so long ago I'm not sure.
I pull up some of my garlic plants before they're mature and cut them crosswise (like green onions) and use as a pizza topping. The green tops when first sprouted are quite tender, but as they mature they get tougher.
They're frequently made into chutney in Indian cooking - Google "green garlic chutney" and you'll find tons of recipes.
This site has several Californish recipes, including green garlic soup and green garlic pizza (with potatoes, hmmm).
I can imagine a leek, garlic and potato soup would be wonderful. Thanks for all the ideas and link. The topping of pizza with the greens sounds wonderful... melding two of our favorite foods. But potatoes on pizza? Too many carbs I think.
I wouldn't have thought garlic greens are used in chutney. I have never seen it. I guess I live too sheltered a life!
Well I now know what to do with the dozens of cloves which are starting to sprout. Thanks a lot Entangled.
The garlic greens are attractive in the glass container. I was interested in reading Entangled comments about what can be done with the greens. I hadn't heard of green garlic chutney before.
Hi Kate,
The chutney might be interesting to try though I haven't the faintest idea where to buy it. I guess doing a Google search might turn some up. I'll have to try some of the uses for the garlic greens and will let you know how the experiment turns out. Entangled is a treasure trove of interesting information.
Ki: Garlic greens are to garlic what chives/green onions are to onions-and can be used in any dish you'd use garlic/chives or green onions. Soups, stews, fish, salad dressing...
Hi Nicole,
I thought the garlic greens were inedible because there was a sliver or two in some Korean kimchi I had once and the garlic greens were quite tough to chew. I thought it was added to impart a stronger garlic taste rather than as something to eat. I haven't had the opportunity to use the greens but I will do one of these days. Thanks for the comment.
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