洋蔥和紅蔥頭：我們哪裡不一樣？！
（Photo from Wix）
洋蔥和紅蔥頭到底有什麼不一樣呢？在食譜中，我們總是依照指示分別使用這兩種食材，但他們同樣有一層粗硬的外皮、同樣有一端長滿鬍鬚的蒂根、也同樣有像千層蛋糕般、一層一層堆疊的鱗葉，可以兩個互換嗎？這兩種食材究竟是什麼？
這篇文章原始來源自 CookingLight & Extra Crispy 。以下我們來探個究竟...
（Photo from wix）
Alliums are not particularly sexy. You don’t find the members of the onion family proudly displayed up front, like seasonal fruits or whatever vegetable is having its moment in the sun. You might enter your grocery store to a pyramid of shiny apples, or a table laden with bunches of asparagus, sitting proud in icy tubs. You may encounter an array of heirloom tomatoes in all the colors of the rainbow. But the onion tubs will always be somewhere in the back of the produce section, one half-step down on the produce loveliness hierarchy from potatoes.
蔥、蒜家族並不是特別迷人的蔬菜。你永遠不會看見他們像那些正當季的蔬菜一樣驕傲地被陳列在貨架上最顯眼的位置。當你走進雜貨舖，你可能會瞧見用蘋果疊成的火紅金字塔、或是滿佈一桌、安插在冰盆中的新鮮蘆筍，亦或是一整列如虹彩般、五顏六色的祖傳番茄。但洋蔥一族呢？在蔬菜受寵的等級制度看來，比馬鈴薯略遜一籌的洋蔥家族總是會被放在貨架後某個不起眼的小角落。（小編A：我家附近的小超市，洋蔥和馬鈴薯就被擺放在貨架和梁柱中間、狹窄的小空間裡。）
This does a complete disservice to the entire onion oeuvre. Onions and their kin are the workhorses of the kitchen. They form the base of nearly every culture’s flavor-building: a classic French mirepoix, Italian soffritto, Latino sofrito, or German suppengruen. Anyone from New Orleans will discuss with you at length the proper use of the Holy Trinity, and onions are a part of plenty of Asian dishes, both in the cooking and garnishing
但這個行為對於洋蔥家族無疑是種貶毀！洋蔥家族在廚房中是工作最吃重的角色。在幾乎所有的文化中，為其料理提供基本的底味：例如調味蔬菜（洋蔥、紅蘿蔔、西芹），法文寫作 Mirepoix、義大利文的 Soffritto，拉丁文寫作 Sofrito，或是德文的Suppengruen。而任何來自紐奧良的人都會詳細地和你爭論如何適當地使用這料理界中的＂三大聖靈＂，更不用說洋蔥在大部分亞洲菜餚中，在食用上或是裝飾用的重要性。
Onions come in a lovely variety of hues and textures, from pure white to deep purple, and in flavors that range from nearly as sweet and mild as an apple to powerful punchy, to deeply spicy. They range in size from tiny pearls to gargantuan orbs the size of a softball, and even come in a strangely flattened form from Italy, the lovely cippolini.
洋蔥有許多不同的色澤及質地，顏色上來說，自淨白至深紫色，而在味道上，則可像蘋果般甜而溫和、又可嗆辣有勁、強烈的火辣嗆人口鼻！尺寸上也有差異，小如珍珠、大若軟球，義大利甚至還有奇特的扁平洋蔥－Cipollini。
（Photo from Nerds with Knives）
Mixed in with your basic onions in almost every store are the shallots, which many people assume are really just a small version of the red onion. And their proximity and lovely lavender hue might make that a reasonable assumption, but the fact is that the shallot is an elegant European cousin to the rest of the onions we know and love so well, and a really terrific addition to your cooking.
而在大多數的店家中，總是和洋蔥混在一起，被多數人認為是小一號紅洋蔥的就是紅蔥頭。當然，長的相似、又有美麗薰衣草色澤般的外衣，這個設想是合理的；但事實是，紅蔥頭是我們敬愛的洋蔥家族，一位優雅的歐洲遠親，在料理中，也是上好的食材！
While they are related, shallots differ from onions in some basic ways. First of all, unlike regular onions, which grow as single bulbs, shallots grow in clusters, more like garlic. They are a bit sweeter than regular onions, and their flavor is more subtle. This makes them especially good as a seasoning in raw applications like vinaigrettes or salads, where they add oniony flavor without too much punch, or in slow roasted or braised dishes, where their sweetness can really enhance a dish without watering it down.
雖然兩者是親戚，但是紅蔥頭和洋蔥有些許的不同。首先，洋蔥是一種鱗莖，生長的時候，鱗葉會一層層的包裹成一顆莖體，而紅蔥頭則是群生，比較像蒜頭。與洋蔥相較，紅蔥頭味道較甜，較為細緻。也因此，紅蔥頭非常適合生食，用在醋醬或是沙拉中，如此可以提供似洋蔥的風味但卻不過嗆；或是於慢烤、燉菜中，紅蔥頭的甜味可以幫助增強一道菜的風味。
Shallots come in a couple of different colors, the pale purple with brown skin being the most common, and the French gray shallot, which is rarely available and considered the ultimate in shallot superiority. Here in the States, you will almost always find the regular plain shallot, which is small and squat. But if you ever spot a banana shallot, sometimes called a torpedo shallot, which are much longer and straighter, grab them. They are easier to peel and I find they have a milder aspect that I just love. They are widely available in the markets in Europe, and I wish they were less of a specialty item here.
紅蔥頭有許多不同的顏色，最稀鬆平常的是帶淺紫色的棕外皮，而法國的灰色蔥頭則是最罕見、也被認為是紅蔥頭家族中最高級的品種。在美國，你總是可以找到最普通的紅蔥頭，尺寸通長小又短胖，但若你有幸看到＂香蕉蔥＂，有時又被稱為＂魚雷蔥＂（如下圖），通常體態長而直，記得抓上一把！他們的皮容易剝，味道也更為溫和，在歐洲市場十分常見，希望在美國能夠更加流行。
（Photo from Kirby and Lewis）
Regardless, while both onion and shallot give an oniony flavor, they are not actually interchangeable. If you are using them as an enhancement, measured in tablespoons, as in a salad dressing, you can swap them out with little issue. But in a bigger cooked dish, the general thought is that you should use half the amount of shallot as you would onion when making substitutions.
然而，即便洋蔥和紅蔥頭都帶有相似的洋蔥風味，其實他們並不能直接互換。如果你只是需要他們來加強風味，且只是用量匙秤用、不多的用量，如沙拉醬，那這個情況下是可以互換的，不會有太大的問題；倘若是製備一道大菜！那麼洋蔥的用量應當是紅蔥頭的一半。
Whether you are making a dish that is very onion-forward, or just relying on an onion to provide a solid base to carry other flavors, adding fresh minced shallot as a garnish on your salad, or fried shallots on your next experiment with Thai cooking, the alliums will always have your back. They might not be sexy themselves, but your food can’t be sexy without them.
因此，無論你的菜餚是否以洋蔥家族為主角，或只是藉由他們來提味，在你的沙拉上放上新鮮的紅蔥頭片作為裝飾或是炸蔥頭來搭配泰式料理，蔥蒜家族永遠都是你的好幫手。雖然他們本身一點都不迷人，但少了他們，所有的菜餚終將遜色。
***所有內容都是筆者本身經驗、筆記，引用自書章之資料或影片也皆有註明出處。若對於內容有任何問題，也歡迎業界各位前輩，同好不吝指教！感謝
***小編並非專業譯者！只是針對自己的專業有所研究，若有任何問題請各位前輩、同好不吝指教！
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