Food Decoration : Spring Onion Curls (Flower)

It is 'scallion' to some and 'spring onion' to another, depending where you're from. For us, it's called the spring onion or daun bawang (onion leaf) in Malay.

I often use spring onions as a garnishing food item or bake them into savoury treats. The ones I eat are grown from red onions and is harvested fresh from my balcony garden. It's something I plant because I find it therapeutic to do so and pretty to look at.

This is one of my favourite ways to decorate home-cooked meals. It's easy and uncomplicated. A little snip here and there and the spring onion curls into a delicate flower decoration that can be used on top of pies, thick soups, or sprinkled abundantly over any dish of your preference.

The steps. Take a fresh stalk. Rinse under cool water.

Fresh Spring Onions

Cut the spring onion into 1.5-inch pieces . With a small scissor (or knife), make a cut along the length of the piece, about 1-inch from one end of the stalk. Make another cut and another, until several thin strips have been made (at the same length). Depending on the size of the stalk, I make between 5-8 small cuts.

Be careful not to slice or tear it all the way down.

Making a cut into the Spring Onion

 It should look like this.

Make several strips at the tip!

The strips will start to curl. If not, dip in cool water or rinse lightly under cool tap water. It will curl into these beautiful looking flowers.

Spring Onion Flower Curls

Now, you can decorate your dish! Some examples for an idea.