Garlic chives (buchu)

Buchu is garlic chive (Allium tuberosum), a perennial relative of onions and garlic. It is native to western and northern China, where the sixth-century agricultural treatise Qimin yaoshu already describes it as a vegetable. In Korea it also goes by regional names such as sol and jeongguji.

Garlic chives probably reached Korea during the Three Kingdoms period, and the earliest Korean record is in the thirteenth-century Goryeo medical text Hyangyak gugeupbang. In traditional medicine the plant was valued as a warming tonic thought to aid digestion.

As a perennial, buchu regrows after cutting, so one planting can be harvested several times. It is sown in spring or early autumn and is easily propagated by dividing clumps.

In the kitchen garlic chives are eaten raw in quick, chili-dressed salads such as buchu-muchim, blanched, stir-fried and folded into pan-fried pancakes. They are also used in kimchi, both on their own and as part of the seasoning paste for oi-sobagi.

• Allium family: Like garlic and onions, garlic chives contain sulfur compounds that give them their aroma; research on these compounds is ongoing.
• Leafy green: Per the Korean Food Composition Table, raw buchu is a good source of vitamin K and also provides vitamin A, folate and dietary fiber.
• Traditional use: In traditional Korean medicine it was regarded as a warming tonic that supports digestion; this is a traditional belief rather than an established health effect.