("Dio e Zingaro" by La Municipale Balcanica)
- Hi, I'm Jerry James Stone.
In today's video we're gonna talk
about the difference between scallions,
sometimes called green onions, or spring onions.
So let's get to it.
Okay, so we have scallions,
which are these babies right here,
sometimes called green onions.
Then we also have spring onions, these babies right here.
So what's the difference between the two?
Well you've probably seen both in the produce aisle,
or at a farmer's market.
And it can be really confusing
because people use the names interchangeably.
Scallions, also sometimes called green onions,
can also sometimes be called spring onions.
Which makes it even harder to keep the two separate.
But they're very, very, very different.
So scallions, these babies right here,
they're actually a cultivar of the onion family,
and they don't actually produce a bulb.
They've been primed to never produce a bulb.
So they have these little tiny roots
that'll form on the white end.
This is as big as it's probably gonna get.
Has this lighter green area,
and then they have the tubular greens on the end.
So the scallions are never ever gonna get
a fully developed bulb.
That's one of the main differences
between them and an actually spring onion.
Spring onions, like these babies here,
can pretty much be any color that regular onions are,
because they're just an immature onion.
They're actually harvested before a full bulb has formed.
So that difference is,
is that the onion part is a lot tenderer,
it's a lot softer
as far as those really strong onion flavors.
It's really, really gentle,
and can be a great sort of introductory onion
if someone maybe does not like onions.
It's wonderful for that sort of stuff.
The other difference is,
is the greens on spring onions,
you don't want to consume those.
They're usually too tough,
too difficult for a garnish, they're too difficult to cook.
They're just not as tender and delicious
as the ones that you get on the green onions/scallions.
So that's the main difference between the two.
The scallion is actually just developed
to only be a scallion.
It doesn't produce a bulb.
It just has these lovely, tender,
delicious greens and white onion part.
The spring onion is just a onion bulb
that's been pulled out early,
and as a result is much more delicious
if you're not a huge onion fan.
It's a little bit softer on the pallette,
but it's not a scallion, you can't use the greens.
Botanically speaking, the scallion, or green onion,
is also known as the Japanese bunching onion,
or if you want to get technical, the Allium fistulosum.
So that's one main difference.
The spring onion is completely different.
On the flip side, the spring onion, the Allium cepa,
is just a regular, common onion.
Like I said, it's just been pulled out of the ground early,
so it's a lot softer, not as acidic.
These are great for grilling.
They're really delicious.
There's lots of things that you can use them in.
Just only use the onion part, don't use the greens.
So why the confusion?
Because, like I said, scallions can sometimes be called
green onions or spring onions.
Well what it comes down to is
in other countries, scallions,
which are referred to as green onions,
are pretty commonly called spring onions.
Here in the States we don't typically call them that,
but they can be called that in other countries.
And I think if you're Googling things
and looking for recipes that involve them,
or have foreigners as friends, (chuckles)
whatever it may be.
That interchangeable word usage
can make it really, really confusing.
So that's probably why it's really confusing,
'cause scallions, like I said, as green onions,
in other countries are referred to as spring onions.
And here in the States, these are the spring onions,
the sort of premature, common onion.
That's the difference between the two.
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