Jiangxia Shallots

Jiangxia Shallots

　　Shallots, also known as Allium chinense, have a history of over 3,700 years in China. According to the "Nongsang Jiyao," as early as the Southern Song Dynasty, areas such as Shu'an Township in Jiangxia District, Wuhan City, our province, began large-scale cultivation of shallots. For over eight hundred years, this tradition has been passed down without interruption. Jiangxia shallots are famed for their golden, translucent hue, sweet-savory flavor with a mild spice and fragrant aroma, along with a tender, soft, and glutinous texture. They have long enjoyed great renown. Eating them can balance flavors, cut through greasiness, strengthen the spleen, stimulate appetite, and enhance one's desire to eat. Moreover, they can be served as a standalone delicacy or used as an ingredient to prepare a variety of delicious dishes. As a garnish on lavish banquet tables, they serve to highlight and elevate the overall presentation. A couple of proverbs popular among locals go: “After eating many fine dishes, you lose your sense of taste—only the sweet shallot stirs your cravings,” and “No need to worry if you’ve lost your appetite—just eat a sweet shallot.”

During the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, General Ma Yuan of the Fubo Commandery camped at Peach Blossom Spring while leading a southern campaign. His soldiers suffered from discomfort due to the unfamiliar climate and an outbreak of plague. It was only after drinking a secret herbal tea offered by an elderly woman, paired with pickled sour shallots, that Ma Yuan’s army recovered and achieved a grand victory. To this day, when receiving their most distinguished guests, the people of Peach Blossom Spring still serve them herbal tea with shallots. According to the "Ben Jing" (Classic of Materia Medica), shallots “treat infected wounds and promote recovery, lighten the body without causing hunger, and contribute to longevity,” and “treat deficiency syndromes of the Lesser Yin, wheezing and diarrhea, chest stabbing pain, regulate qi, disperse blood, and calm the fetus.” Such a delicious yet therapeutic food is truly rare in the world.

As a vegetable, the Allium chinense plant is fragrant and delicious, and was highly favored by people in ancient times. The Qing Dynasty poet Li Shufan wrote in "Spring Vegetables": “Dried siler root dropped into the pot tastes better than meat, wild greens on the plate are more humble than reeds. In the spring mist and rain, large shoots of daylily sprout; after ten days of warm sunshine, fragrant mushrooms cluster. Foals nibble on newly clipped pigweed, children clutch fistfuls of young bracken. Shield ferns are full of spiny seed pods, and magpie flowers gather like millet tufts.” However, the Song Dynasty poet Lu You, in his poem "Salted Allium," said: “In the ninth and tenth months, frost fills the house, and the family fears the yellowing of garden vegetables. Small jars and large vats store washed greens, carefully preserving green mustard and leeks.” But “frozen allium at this time costs a thousand pieces of gold, surpassing even the famous pea shoot noodles of Fox Spring.” Seems rather pricey. As for what the allium plant actually looks like? Through the lens of poet Du Fu, we see something round and jade-like, emerald-green and dewy: “Within the hermit’s wooden gate, vegetable plots circle the autumn hut. Baskets brim with dew-laden allium, no need to send a request for them. Bundled in the color of green hay, perfectly round like jade chopsticks. In my aging years, my stomach feels cold—but their warmth brings no worry.”

In terms of preparation, methods vary across time, regions, and locales. From the "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Pang Can": “Just place one large shallot root and a bowl of water in front of the door screen.” The mention of “one large root” shows that since ancient times, people have eaten the root. The bulb of the shallot cannot be eaten raw, but later someone tried pickling it in saltwater and discovered that the pickled shallot had a pleasantly sour-sweet taste—so they abandoned the root and started eating the bulb. Every year between September and October, local farmers plant hundreds of shallot clumps per household, then begin harvesting and pickling them between Mangzhong and the Summer Solstice the following year, consuming them in the second half of the year.

Today, Jiangxia shallots have entered large-scale production. Wuhan Little Bee Company has introduced the most advanced domestic shallot processing equipment in China and has built a shallot fermentation cellar with a single-batch capacity of 1,800 tons. What was once only salted shallots has now evolved into a series of shallot products catering to various individual tastes and preferences. Nowadays, their shallot products are continuously sold both within and outside the province, and are also exported to countries such as the United States and Japan. This has brought Hubei’s traditional top six famous dish ingredient—the shallot—to the international market.