Vegetable vendors in traditional markets make a habit of throwing a few scallions in with purchases to keep their customers happy. While this highlights how ubiquitous scallions are in local cuisine, it's also indicative of their relative lack of status. Old sayings about scallions reinforce this impression. For example, "a scallion like any other" suggests a person of little consequence vastly overestimating his or her abilities, and "a stupefied scallion" describes someone whose responses are sluggish.

But Sanxing Scallions, which have been grown in Yilan's Sanxing Township and continuously improved for nearly 30 years, are turning this image on its head. These outstanding scallions have won market share and become the darlings of the restaurant business, and have recently been turned into Sanxing Scallion Sauce, a line of sauces jointly developed by the Sanxing Farmers' Association and local farmers and targeted at visitors to the area. These sauces have won over tourists and foodies alike, and become a model for how to maintain and add to the value of agricultural products.

Located in a converted grain silo, the Green Onion Culture Palace in Sanxing Township, Yilan County greets visitors to its doors with a playful sculpture: Little Scallion and Princess Leek are joyously setting off on a tandem bicycle; the princess is bearing pussy willows on her back, and the bike's basket is full of juicy, sweet "General" pears. This piece pays homage to Sanxing's "four treasures"-the scallion, garlic, pussy willow, and General pear industries on which the community has been built.

Leaving the town, we pass through lush fields. The only people we see this afternoon are vigorous seniors in their 60s, busily prepping for planting, fertilizing, and harvesting various fields. A farmer for more than 20 years, Auntie Li stoops to extend her hands down into the earth along the stalks of the scallions, pulling up one after another. The slender white bulbs and jade-green leaves glisten, giving off a surprisingly pungent scent as they radiate away the warmth of the earth in which they grew.

Producers are proud and delighted when consumers recognize the quality of their products.

Everything coming together

In the old days, rice was Sanxing's principal crop. Then, in the late 1970s, it began transitioning to higher-value produce, such as scallions, Asian pears, and tankan oranges. Nowadays, scallions are grown on some 300 hectares of township land and comprise its most cultivated cash crop.

Lin Zhangfa, the son of a farmer and head of the farmers' association's recreation and tourism division, oozes pride as he explains what makes Sanxing's agricultural products so very good: Sanxing is located on an alluvial terrace on the upper reaches of the Lanyang River. The waters here are clear, and there's abundant cloud cover and plentiful rainfall. The area is also caressed by gentle breezes off of the Snow Mountains year round. The significant differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures that result yield especially plump vegetables.

The wonderful flavor of Sanxing scallions is the fruit of the hard work of the farmers' association and local farmers. The area cultivates three basic varieties of scallions that vary in their tolerance for drought and their growth periods: Lanyang No. 1, a variety developed many years ago by the Yilan branch of the Hualien District Agricultural Improvement Station, and the locally developed Heiye and Xiaowang varieties. The farmers' association recommends that farmers vary the variety with the season and has worked continuously to improve growing techniques. The result has been scallions known for their exceptional tenderness and very long bulbs. In recent years, the association has also pushed local farmers to use biological controls with the result that the whole township has now received the Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) certification.

But as Sanxing's production volumes and name recognition have increased, its scallions have faced a problem common to many agricultural products: seasonal imbalances between supply and demand. In the winter, when harvests are large, scallion prices can dip as low as NT$20 per kilogram. Unwilling to harvest at a loss, many farmers often prefer to plow their crop under as fertilizer for the next season. In the summer, typhoons can break sprouts and stems or cause plants to rot in the fields, pushing scallion prices to levels at which homemakers are unwilling to buy them. "They've gone as high as NT$500 per kilogram," says Lin. "But we had no product to ship, so both farmers and consumers lost out."

To better manage scallion prices and reduce risk for farmers, the Sanxing Farmers' Association's partnering program proposed making Sanxing Scallion Sauce, and asked Yang Chuan-hua, then teaching in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences at Fu Jen Catholic University, to work on product development. (Professor Yang has since moved on to head the R&D department of Filipino food conglomerate Jollibee.)

The Fu Jen team spent a year tasting and tweaking flavors before settling on formulas for chili-bean, mushroom, and black-pepper flavors. The Chinese-style chili-bean flavor pairs well with noodles, steamed seafoods, and tofu dishes, whereas the Western-style mushroom and black-pepper flavors work better with spaghetti and as dipping sauces. Scallions are the number-one ingredient in all three sauces, which deliver the delicious sweetness and intense fragrance of fresh Sanxing scallions. Since the sauces contain no chemical additives or preservatives, consumers should refrigerate them after opening and use them quickly.

The scallion sauces are currently available at tourist spots throughout Yilan County, where they are a much-prized souvenir. Since rolling out the sauces, the farmers' association has also introduced a scallion-butter spread, a scallion oil for frying foods, and prepared foods such as scallion pancakes and scallion noodles. The private sector has also gotten into the act, increasing demand for Sanxing's scallions and putting them to use in new applications.

In addition to maintaining their high standard of quality, Sanxing scallions are now also retaining their value with prices holding steady in the NT$40-100 per kilogram range. And, in the event that prices get out of hand in the summer, customers can whet their appetites with scallion sauce until things get back to normal.

Sanxing Scallions Fact File

The scallions grown in the Yilan area are "four seasons scallions" (also known as "nine-stalk scallions" and Japanese scallions), which have longer bulbs, thicker leaves, and more tender flesh than the "northern scallions" (also known as "water scallions") cultivated in central and southern Taiwan. They have a brisk and biting mouth feel that cuts through the heaviness of meaty or spicy dishes and go well with roast goose, beef wrapped in pancakes, and other dishes calling for raw scallions. Northern scallions, on the other hand, have thinner leaves and smaller bulbs, and are really only good for seasoning or accompanying dishes.

Sanxing scallions propagate by division, so farmers retain one quarter of every crop to replant, burying the roots deep and covering the soil with rice straw to keep the plants cool and moist. After 100 days, they harvest shoots that have reached about 15 centimeters in height, then wash them to remove dirt and old and damaged leaves. This also cools the freshly harvested scallions and so reduces wilting and helps preserve their freshness and bright green color.

Scallions are a naturally green health food containing protein and Vitamins A, B1, B2, and C. They also contain allium compounds that stimulate the secretion of digestive fluids, promote sweating, and have diuretic effects.

The hard work of the farmers and farmers' association of Yilan's Sanxing Township has helped Sanxing scallions earn market renown. In recent years, they've also developed a number of tasty processed scallion products for visitors to the township to load up on before they leave.

Sanxing's unique scallion washing huts make its scallion production relatively labor intensive.

The loose earth in which they were clothed removed by a bath, the scallions are surprisingly slender, white, and pungent.