Melted Onions Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

Why do you dip onions in vinegar? ›

the onions are stored and preserved in salted vinegar solution so that it can be used later. basically, when the onions are stored with vinegar, it not only preserves it. but the onions would absorb salt and sour taste from vinegar and thus making the ideal accompaniment.

The preparation for Melting Onions is pretty simple. You will need aluminum foil and a little bit of patience. To get the melt-in-your-mouth texture, the onions need to be covered tightly and need a heaping helping of the secret ingredient: time.

Baking soda makes the onions more alkaline, which speeds up the browning reactions necessary for properly caramelized onions. But it also weakens the pectin that holds the onion's cells together, turning what should be soft but distinct pieces of browned onion into a nauseating stew of pea-green mush.

Rinsing washes away the sulfur and leaves behind a milder onion. All onions contain sulfur, though red onions tend to be the most pungent. If you have time, try soaking a sliced onion in ice water for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour.

The trick is to leave them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won't brown), but not so long so that they burn. After the first 20 to 30 minutes you may want to lower the stove temperature a little, and add a little more oil, if you find the onions are verging on burning.

The salt softens the onion's fibrous texture and mellows the sharpness of their flavor. There are other ways to tame raw onion, of course. You could soak slices in lemon juice for 20 minutes, which lends a slightly pickled flavor, as in this Tomato and Herb Salad with Sumac.

A simple and quick way to do that, according to chef Rick Bayless, is to pour boiling water over the chopped onions. That's pretty much all you need to know. This step makes the onions much mellower and is an easy alternative to sauteing onions in a pan for 10 minutes to take the "flame" out of them.

You can get rid of the strong taste by soaking sliced onions in ice water for 20 to 30 minutes or by sprinkling them with an acid such as vinegar. Onions soaked in ice water will get very crisp while those sprinkled with vinegar will soften a bit, but they will lose the strong taste and become sweeter.

This is our secret ingredient to make the best caramelized onions. Vinegar adds a touch of acidity to balance out the sweetness of the onions. It elevates their flavor wonderfully. We recommend balsamic vinegar if you use red onions and apple cider vinegar if you use white or yellow onions.

Pickled red onions for a digestive boost. Fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut or pickled red onions contain high amounts of good probiotics and digestive enzymes. Maintaining a healthy gut flora can aid your digestion and overall energy levels.

What happens if you leave raw onions in vinegar? ›

What happens when you soak onions in vinegar? Eventually you get a not-very-good “pickled” onion. To make it better and to pickle it properly, you want to put some salt and spices in there with the vinegar.