Cooking Delicious and Nutritious Dishes with Different Types of Onions

1. Brown Onion

This is the most popular type of onion with a strong and spicy taste. They are suitable for cooking most dishes. Because it contains a large amount of starch, brown onions retain their structure even after long cooking processes such as stewing and braising. They are very nutritious when combined with boiled, stir-fried, or braised dishes.

2. Purple Onion

This onion has a sweet, soft, and slightly spicy taste, so it can be eaten raw. Purple onions contain many nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin B6, biotin, folic acid, chromium, calcium, and good fiber for health like improving cardiovascular health, reducing cholesterol and triglycerides, and preventing blood clotting.

In addition to their nutritional value, they are also prominent when combined with other dishes, so they are very suitable for decorating salads. Purple onion salt is also delicious when eaten with main dishes to prevent nausea or enhance flavor.

3. Spring Onion

Spring onions have a sweet, slightly spicy, and slightly bitter taste. They are rich in vitamin C, which helps boost the immune system and improve iron absorption in the body. They are also rich in flavonoids – plant compounds that are beneficial to health, helping to reduce the risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and infections.

Spring onions are best used as a garnish for stir-fried dishes such as stir-fried beef, stir-fried liver, noodle soup, rice vermicelli soup, and salads like spring onion salad.

4. Leek

Leeks are a cluster-forming vegetable with small, green leaves that resemble onions but have a spicier taste. Leeks contain various flavonols and polyphenolic compounds that help reduce the risk of chronic conditions such as arthritis, asthma, cancer, and diabetes.

Leeks are not commonly used like onions, but they are suitable for marinating and eating with roasted meats, or adding to salads.

5. Leaf Onion (Green Onion)

Leaf onions are low in calories but rich in vitamin K, fiber, vitamin C, vitamin A, and folate, which are beneficial to health. They are used in almost all dishes and are indispensable. They are soft, spicy, and nutritious like a herb.

6. Baro Onion (Garlic Chive)

Baro onions are green in color, with long stems and leaves that are twice the size of regular onions. This type of onion is not commonly sold in markets but is mainly available in large supermarkets because it is not grown as much as regular onions. Baro onions are used like regular onions but have a sweet and mild taste, containing vitamins B, C, E, and many minerals, making them suitable for cooking dishes for children.

7. Welsh Onion

Potato onions, also known as bulb onions, are white and look small and attractive. Potato onions are rich in vitamin C, antioxidants, good for the eyes, bones, and immune system. This type of onion originates from Europe and North America, but in Vietnam, potato onions are mainly grown in the Central provinces.

People in the Central regions often use potato onions for stewing, steaming poultry and fish because of its rich flavor.