First of all, we are going to point out some very important considerations:
1.- The onion reduces a lot in volume when cooked. If you want to prepare enough to keep in a jar and keep it, I recommend making 4 large onions or about 1 kilo. To give you an idea, with 2 onions you get enough for a pizza for 4 people. 1 kilo of onions will allow you to fill half a pot of jam.
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2.- Another very important consideration is that you must be very careful of do not burn the onionsince it gets bitter and there or there is turning back. Then I recommend that you cook with enough time to pay attention to the matter.
Let’s do it!
The first thing you have to know is that to caramelize the onion, what we are looking for is to cause the Maillard reactions.
You don’t have to have a Nobel Prize in chemistry to cook, but it’s good to learn a little, right? The Maillard reaction is a series of chemical reactions that occur between proteins and sugars of food when they are at high temperatures and that generate this roasted color, taste and smell so delicious that it appears, for example, in roasts, coffee, beer and also in caramelized onions.
For this to happen it is necessary cook the onion over a very low heat and with a little more oil than usual. This way we avoid roasting before time.
Usually the whole process takes between an hour and an hour and a half (I repeat) on fire very slow. But if you’re short on time there is a trick great and wonderful to get speed up this process.
Ingredients for the caramelized onion
- Julienne onion: 1 kg
- Extra virgin olive oil: 10 ml
- Baking soda: teaspoon1
How to make caramelized or candied onions easily
- Difficulty: Half
- total time: 55m
- Elaboration: 10m
- Cooking: 45m
The first thing to choose is how you want your onion. You can make it in 2 ways: jam type and in threads.
For the first way, you must chop the onion into small squares, as if you were going to prepare a pie pine. That cut is called Brunoise.
I usually prefer it to be in long strands, so I cut the onions julienne (which is the same as cutting the «feather» onion, as well as for a Chilean salad)
As we are going to chop a kilo of onions, I recommend that you chop them under water and with a sieve underneath. That way you don’t cry as much. After crying my eyes swell, they turn red and I have a terrible dream. I don’t know if it happens to you, but onions are fed up so think of tricks to not cry… so much.
Once you have all the onions ready and chopped, you should put a large frying pan with olive oil and add all the onion, adding a handful of salt and stir well so that all the strands are slightly impregnated with oil.
The oil issue is really silly. All the recipes say to add olive oil, but I find the taste very intrusive and personally I prefer the wonderful one. But any vegetable oil is fine. Even corn, although it also has a very characteristic flavor.
But what I want to tell you is that the oil you have is fine. Don’t stop cooking if you don’t have olive oil at home since we know that it is NOT cheap and out there only some people can have it in their kitchens.
Then, with the heat at a minimum, the onion will take approximately 5 minutes to start poaching.
To speed up the process and caramelize the onion in about half an hour, add a dessert spoon of baking soda, sprinkling it over the onion.
With the bicarbonate, the natural sugars of the onion and part of its water come out earlier. After a couple of minutes, the onion will be a yellowish color and will appear to be swimming in its juices.
At this point, you should continue reducing the onion slowly, stirring gently until the onion it darkens as its sugars transform into caramel and while the water evaporates.
After 30 minutes the onion is perfectly caramelized and ready for use.
a little sweeter
Although I personally prefer to use caramelized onions in their own sugars, you can finish off the process by adding a touch of sweetness and a more intense color. adding the optional ingredients when the onion has already caramelized, that is, after 30 minutes.
In that case, you can add two small tablespoons of sugar (white or brown) and you should continue stirring for another two or three minutes until the sugar has disappeared, transforming into more caramel and darkening the onion.
You can also add a dash of acetate or its reduction, achieving interesting acid notes that contrast with the caramelized onion.
With what to accompany the caramelized onion
Caramelized onions have many uses in the kitchen. Since intensify the flavor of a potato omelette to be part of one of the star ingredients of a well-prepared hamburger.
You can also use it as a base in canapés, you can put it on bread as a base and then you can add caramelized ham. You can add it to the pizza as an extra ingredient; you can use it in a fugazza. You can also add to cooked potatoes. The truth is that there are many applications that this product has.
I personally love it to accompany a good bread with cheese melted in the microwave and a little oregano.
It is also great for a fresh cheese and ham sandwich. Or a rice with steak (you add a little onion to the meat and it remains, oh my god!). At the end of the day, it is a great product that you should not miss.
I hope you make it and love it.