Grilled Spring Onions

Spring onions. Tender and crunchy with a spicy bite, I see them all the time in Banh Mi, Peking Duck, stir fries, salads and pancakes. Or do I? The naming of this versatile vegetable is probably one of the most confusing, we all seem to call it a different name, often incorrectly. I grew up knowing it interchangeably as Spring Onions and Shallots, and using them when the recipe called for Green Onions or Scallions. So, what is the difference?

Well they are all members of the Allium family, and in Australia (or at least New South Wales):

Shallots, Schallots, Eschallots are smaller than an onion with a papery shell, often bronze or golden coloured. They are sweeter and milder than a brown onion and are often used whole in stews or finely diced and used raw. Green Shallots refer to Spring Onions.

Spring Onions, Green Onions or Scallions are very immature onions that are harvested when before the bulb develops. They are straight, slim and very versatile.

Salad Onions are spring onions that have been grown a little longer allowing the bulb to develop. Confusingly, these can be referred to as Green Onions also.

Anyway, whatever you call them, very young and tender Spring Onions make a perfect accompaniment to, well, almost anything in my opinion. Charred until just sweet and smoky, salted and drizzled with lime juice, this dish is delicious, even when cold because you cooked it too early when the light was still nice, an hour before you even started the rest of dinner. 

If you see tiny fresh spring onions in the greengrocer, buy them and try them out at a vegetable all on their own.

Grilled Spring Onions
(adapted from Australia Gourmet Traveller)
small, thin, young spring onions
1T olive oil
Lime

Heat a frypan over medium-high heat. Clean the spring onions and remove any loose layers. Cut the roots off as well as any ratty green ends (this dish will look nicer if you cut each onion evenly).
Heat oil in the pan and when it is hot add the spring onions (you may need to fry these in batches to ensure the onions get nicely browned and don’t stew). If your onions are thin and young, then they will need to be a little charred, but not softened or cooked the whole way through.
Season, and serve drizzled with lime juice.

Serve with any kind of grilled meat, mix through potato salad or alongside steamed fish.