used in China, Japan, and to some extent in SE Asia, are mostly varieties of Allium fistulosum: the species name means ‘tubular’. These onions never form bulbs; instead, there is a cluster of thickened stem bases like a closely packed bunch of spring onions, which they resemble when young in both appearance and flavour. As they grow older, they keep the same shape, simply becoming larger and coarser.
A. fistulosum, as the senior member of the onion family in China, has a name of a single character, cong (chung in Cantonese). These are general names for all onions, modified as suitable for other kinds: for example, the round European onion is called in Cantonese yeung chung tau, meaning foreign onion head. The Japanese name for the species is negi.
These oriental bunching onions are everywhere visible in the Orient. As Joy Larkcom (1991) puts it:
If the long loaf epitomizes the French shopper, the long white-stemmed onion epitomizes the Chinese. Tied to bicycles, peering out of panniers, it is the most ubiquitous of Chinese vegetables.
A. fistulosum spread westwards in early times, reaching Europe during the Middle Ages and England in 1629. It was called the ‘welsh’ onion: nothing to do with Wales, but from an old word, welise in Anglo-Saxon, Welsch in German, meaning ‘foreign’. The French name ciboule comes from the same Latin source as the Italian and German names for the round onion. Although it has the advantages of being perennial and very hardy, it has never been very popular in Europe; but it is sometimes used to provide spring onions.
Another onion species of Chinese origin, A. chinense, is known in China as jiao tou (in Cantonese chung tao) and in Japan as rakkyo. There is no western name other than the puzzling ‘bakers' garlic’ or the vague ‘Chinese onion’, so it is convenient to use the Japanese name. This species is grown in Japan, S. China, SE Asia, and to some extent in India. Rakkyo is another bunching type with clusters of very small bulbs, which are used mainly for pickling. In English, misleadingly, these may be called ‘pickled scallions’ or ‘pickled leeks’; see also pickling onions.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Larkcom, Joy (1991), Oriental Vegetables, London: John Murray.
