When I saw a bunch of flowering chives at the store, it immediately drew my attention. Smelling the flowers, I was expecting, probably due to their lavender color, that they would have a sweet floral smell. However, to my surprise, they had fresh onion scent, similar to that of the chives. I later learned that the flowers are edible and can be used in the same way chives is used.
As I had shrimps and chives fritters in mind, it was an easy decision to add the flowers into the mix. In order not to mask the chives flavor and scent, I went ahead with adding minimal seasoning to the batter.
I decided to use rice flour in the batter, instead of white flour, so that the fritters will be lighter, and also to keep them gluten free, due to a special request.
The fritters came out light and tasty. A simple dipping sauce on the side, which also included chives flowers, added a nice finishing touch. Try it and enjoy.
Notes:
* If you can’t find flowering chives, increase the amount of chives instead.
* White rice flour is available in most stores, or online. I found that the fritters absorbed very little oil while frying, so that’s another good reason to use it.
* Firm white fish, or crab meat, can be used instead of the shrimps.
Makes: 10
Prep time: 15 minutes
Frying time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
½ cup white rice flour
½ cup water
1 bunch flowering chives (see notes)
1 L egg
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground four peppers mix
13 oz (370 grams) devained peeled shrimps, fresh or frozen, thawed
Oil for frying
Lemon wedges for serving
For the dipping sauce:
3 Tbs mayonnaise
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Sriracha sauce
1 tsp ketchup
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbs chopped chives flowers (see notes)
1. In a small bowl, mix the rice flour with the water and set aside. Place the shrimps in a food processor, fitted with the metal blade, and chop roughly.
2. Separate the chives blossoms from the stems. Set aside a few, for decoration, and roughly chop the rest. Separate the tender chives from the tougher inner stems, and discard them. Chop the chives roughly.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg with the salt and pepper. Add the rice flour mix, and whisk together, to a smooth batter. Add the chopped shrimps, chives and flowers, leaving 1 Tbs aside, for the dipping sauce, and mix well.
4. Heat oil for shallow frying in a medium pan, over medium-high heat. Add heaped spoonfuls of the batter and flatten the tops lightly. Fry until golden on both sides and place over paper towels, to absorb extra oil. Serve warm, with lemon wedges on the side, and the dipping sauce.
5. The dipping sauce: mix the mayonnaise, soy sauce, Sriracha sauce, ketchup, mustard, lemon juice and ½ Tbs chopped chives flowers. Mix well and place in a ramekin. Sprinkle the remaining ½ Tbs chopped flowers on top, and serve with the fritters.
Ma sono veramente golose… Assolutamente da provare… Nemo&Nancy di NemoInCucina!!!
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Grazie! Sono contento che ti siano piaciuti e spero che proverai e divertirai! (Spero che Google trasnlate sia corretto!)
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Looks delicious! I do not think I ever saw flowering chives! How interesting.
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Thank you Bernice, I’m glad you liked the dish. I also haven’t seen this before, so was immediately intrigued. It was fun to experiment with! 🙂
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Love this Ronit – shrimps into fritters – yes! I use edible flowers all the time and my chives are blooming too. The flowers do have a slight onion taste but don’t eat the hard stalks they bloom on. I made cupcakes a few years ago using them 🙂
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Thank you Judi, I’m glad you liked the fritters. They turned out so tasty, no doubt I’ll be making them again soon.
I figured a savvy gardener like yourself would know more about chives and its flowers! I did notice the hard stem that holds the flower, and noted on the instructions to remove it. I will look for your cupcakes recipe using them. 🙂
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I have a number of chive stalks which are blooming, those are tough. The ones that are not blooming are tender and delicious.
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I had no idea chives had flowers! And how cool that they smell oniony.
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First time for me too! The oniony aroma was so surprising, even though perfectly logical! 🙂
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I love it when my big chive pots come into flower and usually use the bounty atop various salads both for looks and taste ! Un my part of Australia have not seen such for sale. Tasty prawn fritters tho’ the dipping sauce will probably have yoghurt as its base . . .
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This was the first time I’ve used the flowers, and was very happy with the results. They are indeed a wonderful tasty garnish for many dishes. 🙂
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I love chive flowers! What a wonderful way to use them. Looks so delicious!
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Thank you Angela, I’m glad you liked the dish. Now that I’ve used the flowers, I’m a big fan as well! 🙂
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I’ve never seen flowering chives, but this looks like such a lovely dish and a delicious recipe, Ronit. Edible flowers are all the rage now; I guess I’ll have to get on board with that, and your recipe is a great way to start.
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Thank you Dolly, I’m glad you liked the dish. I’ve cooked with edible flowers before, but these were new to me. well worth looking for. 🙂
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After Shavuot, I will. Hag Shavuot Sameach!
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חג שמח to you too! 🙂
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Wonderful idea to use such beautiful edible flowers while making fritters & dipping sauce.
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Thank you Megala, I’m glad you liked the dish. The flowers added such nice flavor and color. 🙂
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Ronit, I love fritters but haven’t tried them with chive blossoms. I love the rice flour idea and can’t wait to give this a try. Oh, and the dipping sauce, well let’s just say it’ll be used for more than fritters. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Ron, I’m glad you liked the dish. The flowers added such nice flavor and color, and I loved how light the fritters were, thanks to the use of rice flour. The dipping sauce is my take on Thousand Islands dressing. Glad you liked it. 🙂
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I used to grow chives and I never thought to use the blossoms. It’s so stunning as a garnish! I feel quite sad I didn’t think of this before. This seems like such a great seasonal recipe. I can’t wait to give it a try. Cheers!
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Thank you Chava, I’m glad you liked the recipe. The flowers added such nice flavor and color. Hopefully you’ll be able to find some! 🙂
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This sounds just perfect, so great to serve at parties too. I never knew you could eat the flowers 👌
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Thank you Myra, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I too had no idea the flowers are edible, that was a pleasant surprise! I enjoyed experimenting with them. 🙂
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Looks so good! Great recipe 🙂♥️
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Thank you! 🙂
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Sounds so good.
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Thank you Paul. It really was! 🙂
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These remind me of kolokithokeftedes. 🙂
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As much as I know these are made from zucchini? In any case, I’m glad this brought up tasty memories. 🙂
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Yes they are and they are so so good! You can make similar ones that are made of tomatoes as well. 🙂
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So pretty and sound delicious, Ronit…Flowers are very popular here they certainly elevate a dish…;)
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Thank you Carol, I’m glad you liked the dish. The flowers indeed elevated the dish with their flavor and color. 🙂
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Your recipes are always so inspiring. I’ve pinned and will be making the fritters as soon as I get some rice flour. I used to grow chives in my gardens in New England. The flowers are nice to add to a pretty little bottle of vinegar. I will turn lavender in color and the vinegar has a wonderful mild chive flavor.
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Thank you Karen, I’m glad to know! I hope you’ll enjoy these tasty fritters. I love the idea of using the flowers to flavor vinegar! Hopefully I can get more soon and give it a try. 🙂
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I’ve grown chives as long as I can remember and I never knew one could eat the flowers! You’d be so sad if you saw all of the blossoms I had to dead head this past week. But there will be more! These fritters look wonderful. I think I’d prefer shrimp over crab…
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Thank you Mimi, I’m glad you liked the fritters. I also didn’t know the flowers are edible. It is a shame about the discarded flowers, but better late than never! 🙂
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I currently have some chive plants that are flowering in my garden. I hadn’t realized that the flowers were edible. I’m going to have to give them a try.
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Thank you Sheryl, I’m glad you’ve found the post helpful. I’ve used edible flowers before, but this was the first time I encountered chives flowers. It was a very pleasant surprise. I hope you’ll enjoy them too. 🙂
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Yumm 💕💜
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Thank you! 🙂
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My pleasure ❤️
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Now I want to grow chives! 😉
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lol Good thinking! 🙂
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Looks so yummy, a great recipe I will have to try out! I have a ton of chives growing in my garden!
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Thank you Ursula, I’m glad you liked the recipe. I’m sure you’ll get even better results with such fresh herbs! 🙂
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😋
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Amazing… My son will love this!
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Thank you, I’m glad to know. 🙂
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I am intrigued… And we have flowering chives in our garden right now! I am bookmarking this recipe, thank you 😊
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Thank you Joellle, I’m glad you liked the recipe. The flowers added such nice flavor and color. I hope you’ll enjoy them too. 🙂
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