Whether you’re a cooking enthusiast or not, most of you must know how important is onion in cooking. There also exists a bunch of similar bulb veggies from the onion family that is widely used in a variety of dishes for its distinct taste and flavour. We are talking about spring onions and scallions. Used both spring onions and scallions an aromatic and garnishing ingredients, they might look alike but aren’t. No wonder why often people get confused about these two ingredients. Here’s how you can tell the difference between scallions and spring onions.
Scallions or ‘green onions’ are the young version of onion with bulbs. Similar to chives, you will notice scallions have lone green stalks and white slender shaped bulbs. Both its green and white parts are edible and used in cooking. Scallions make for a good topping as they’re safe to be eaten raw as well. You can also notice scallions in your salad or noddles. Taste wise it has a mildly sharp flavour and typically comes without any aroma.
Spring onions, on the other hand, can be termed as immature onions which get harvested during the spring to summer season. It consists of a smaller-looking white or yellowish colour bulb and tender long leaves that are edible. It has a sweet aftertaste and aroma.
You can easily spot the difference by looking at the bulbs of these two. Scallion will have more like a slender shaped white stalk than a well-rounded bulb whereas spring onions will have a well-defined bulb. Scallions will have a milder sharp taste, more close to white onion whereas the spring onion has a sweet taste. Scallions make for a good substitute of onion but majorly only the greens of the spring onion are used in several cuisines because of its aroma, aftertaste and crunch. As suggested by the name, spring onion is found fresh in the market during the spring-summer season and is not a green onion.
Photo credit: Google
