Why do some onions lack the aroma? How to store onions to make them fragrant?

Scallions are an important condiment in people's daily life, especially in the north. In some places, scallions are eaten at every meal. Why do some farmers grow scallions but some are not fragrant? Is it related to the planting method?

Why do some onions lack onion fragrance?

This kind of onion has very strong vitality in the seedling stage and has "overwintering alveoli", which means that the onions that are grown in the spring of this year, if not transplanted, will "come back to life" in the spring of next year after overwintering. Therefore, once the seedlings are grown, they can be grown and transplanted for at least two years.

This is the typical "scallion flavor" of green onions during the seedling stage. In my hometown in the spring, this kind of "onion sprouts" (local dialect, mainly the name of green onions during the seedling stage) is very popular. Stir-frying with newly grown leek sprouts and young leaves of pepper trees is the most delicious "salted vegetables" (local dialect, meaning dishes stir-fried with leeks, onions, etc., mainly used as condiments when eating noodles.)

How to store onions for flavor

Then we will go to the hillside in mid-winter to dig out these "frozen and dried" onions. At this time, you will sigh at how tenacious the vitality of the onions is. Just think about it, on the dry hillside, the onion whites are already frozen into ice chips, and the soil is already frozen. It is very difficult to dig, and many of the onion roots will be broken when you dig them out.

After digging them out, we will cut off the dry onion leaves and the green onion whites with large scissors or directly by hand, then stack them neatly, pull them down from the hillside by car and pull them into the greenhouse for "transplanting". You heard it right, it is the transplanting in winter. In the winter of the year before last, my family transplanted them into the greenhouse of my childhood friend's house, but last year we did not transplant them for some reasons.

What is the fragrance of onion usually related to?

There are two kinds of onions that people usually grow. One is the "strong onion" (in our local dialect, it means very spicy onion, mainly used as a seasoning for cooking). This kind of onion is relatively long and thin, growing in clusters, and can be seen in the vegetable market.

However, due to the variety and planting environment, the outermost layer of the onion skin of the onion in my hometown is reddish-brown, which is also a sign that it is very spicy. The planting method is direct sowing, and the seedlings are not raised first and then transplanted.

There is another kind of onion that we usually eat. This kind of onion has the same appearance as Shandong onion, but it is thinner and shorter than Shandong onion. In the following two points, I will focus on the "onion fragrance" of this kind due to different growth times and cultivation methods.

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The above are the reasons why some onions are particularly fragrant. One reason is that the varieties of onions are different, which is very common. What is even more magical is that the different growth times of the same onion and the special transplanting and planting needs at different growth times that are suitable for local food culture present a stronger fragrance created by "artificially adding onion growth properties". This is practiced by our local farmers under the best ratio of the environment and the growth of onions, and it is very popular among people.