ONCE upon a time, the single scallion on the salad plate, accompanied by half a hard-boiled egg, half a tomato and a dry lettuce leaf, with a blurp of salad cream, was what was held to constitute a salad. Biting into the terse green shoot was enough to make your eyes water, and so for many of us the scallion - the spring onion - became a bit of a no-no, despite its essential presence in a dish of champ.
This is a shame, for the scallion, when used properly, is as noble as the shallot. We have a local organic grower who brings bunches of them to the country market, and their rich jade colour and elegant filigree tapering into the whiteness of the bulb is glorious.
And here is a great way to use the scallion which deliciously seizes the essence of the vegetable, a Scallion Oil which comes from an imaginative and fun book of Chinese vegetarian cookery by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo, a much respected Chinese-American cookery writer who remains little known over here. "Scallion oil is less an accompaniment than it is an ingredient," she writes, and she uses it in dishes such as blanched chicory, and with fish and shellfish preparations.
It is, in fact, superb with steamed or roasted fish, and is very simple to make.
Scallion Oil (Chung Yau)
2 cups peanut oil
8 to 10 scallions, cut into 3-inch sections, the white portions lightly smashed (3 cups)
1. Heat a wok over medium heat. Add the peanut oil, then the scallions. When the scallions turn brown, the oil is done.
2. With a strainer, remove the scallions. Strain the oil through a fine strainer into a mixing bowl and allow to cool to room-temperature. Pour the scallion oil into a glass jar and store in a cool place until needed. Do not refrigerate.