According to the Offerings from the Mountain Home, the line from Du Fu's poem, "Trimming spring chives in the …
According to the Offerings from the Mountain Home, the line from Du Fu's poem, "Trimming spring chives in the night rains" is often misunderstood as cutting chives directly from the field. In truth, the word "trim" is well chosen: to blanch chives properly, one must align the roots of chives (similar to the phrase "cooking scallions with rounded ends like jade chopstick tips".) One holds the tips in the left hand, immerses the base in boiled water, and trims off a small portion of the tips. Discard the tips, blanch only the roots until semi-cooked, then plunge them into cold water to crisp. Slice the chives with a bamboo knife. Tender leaves are tossed with ginger shreds, soy sauce, and vinegar for a dish that promotes diuresis and relieves urinary obstruction. A variation calls for adding a few tender willow leaves to the blanching water, enhancing the dish's fragrance. Thus, it is poetically known as Willow and Chives.