As I wait for the new garden to be complete, in lieu of any domestic crops I’ve been hitting the yard pretty hard. There are at least seven wild plants worth eating right now, all just a few feet from my kitchen door, and in various combinations (raw salads, pesto, and cooked different ways) they’re filling my need for fresh produce admirably.
In a case of serendipity, a friend recently sent me an Instagram reel of a Korean chef preparing buchujeon, a pancake filled with chives. This version, which I had never seen before, was made as a rectangular raft of parallel chives, bound together by batter, and then topped with seafood and egg and chiles before being flipped over in the oil to finish cooking. He then chopped it into pieces, creating manageable rectangles for easy eating.
This video coincided happily with the plentiful arrival of field garlic (a.k.a. wild chives, onion grass, and other names). Its Latin name is Allium vineale, and it’s considered to be invasive here in North America—so unlike its cousin the ramp, there’s no worry about over-harvesting. I’ve been using excess sourdough starter as the batter for all manner of jeon, okonomiyaki, and various pancake/crêpe/fritter variants for years; it’s a wonderfully versatile way to avoid throwing out perfectly tasty and useful starter. You can read my starter discard crêpe recipe over at Andrew’s spot to see how those work.
You may well have some too—it comes up earlier than grass, is a darker green, and often grows in dense clumps. The real giveaway, though, is its strong garlicky smell. Sometimes they grow individually, and in those cases they’re often much taller and have fatter bulbs which work well in place of garlic cloves.
I’m lucky to have a patch of lawn that’s lousy with field garlic, but if you are not similarly blessed do not despair—chives, garlic chives (which are all over Asian markets at this time of year), or scallions would all work perfectly for this. If you like scallion pancakes, you’re going to love this recipe—and it’s much easier to make.