It's onion time!
So what is an onion? An onion is a member of the lily family, the genus Allium. They are originally thought to come from Central Asia, so long ago that no-one can remember when, but the onion we know best today - Allium cepa - is thought to be a result of cultivation.
TYPES OF ONION
There are several important onions, some of which we may never think of as onions. Chives, scallions, shallots, garlic and leeks are all members of the onion family, and some of these can be substituted for "regular" onions if, by some crazy turn of events, you end up onionless in your kitchen. But that's for another time. This installment will deal with what are known as "storage onions" or, alternatively, "dry onions". I'll stick with calling them storage onions when I remember, but in general we, like the rest of the Western world, will just call them onions.
These storage onions are the onions most of us are used to. (Incidentally, those onions not under the "storage" umbrella are known as "fresh" onions.) Yellow onions, brown onions, white onions, red onions and sweet onions are the main ones you'll come across in the average grocery store or farmer's market. Onions vary greatly in flavour and shape, and some come with additional considerations that may not be immediately obvious.
Sweet onions - for example Vidalia onions and Maui onions - have a higher water content than other onions. This helps give them less of a sulfurous presence but it also means they don't store very well, so it's best to buy soon before using them. (This is probably why grocery stores sell big bags of yellow onions, but sweet onions tend to come two or three to a bag.)
Red onions taste pretty mild and sweet when raw, which is one reason they're a favourite for burgers. They can become a bit mushy when cooked, and if you're substituting them for other onions or you're inventing or altering a recipe (as you should be!) this may become a factor. Italian red onions (which may become known as Tropea onions in early 2008 under an EU ruling, but it's just a rumour I heard) behave a little better when cooked, so if you want a little less mushiness look for the elongated, rounder red onions rather than their fatter, squatter brethren.
In my experience, yellow and white onions are the general go-to alliums for most cooking needs. (Yellow tend to be a little stronger tasting than white.) They both have their considerations too - these onions tend to have a higher sulfur content, which is simply something you have to learn to deal with when using onions.
DON'T BE A CRY BABY
When you cut into an onion, you inevitably break down cell walls and release the sulfur compounds contained within. These compounds make their way upwards, and ultimately mix with the water coating the surface of your eyes. This reaction creates sulfuric acid, which kind of stings a little. And that is why even the toughest, butchest cook is prone to a bout of tears when prepping onion. Sulfuric acid, it turns out, IS something to be sniffed at. Just because yellow onions have more sulfur doesn't mean other onions have none. You're liable to get bleary eyes when cutting most types of storage onions, although leeks cause few leaks. (And there ends my career in comedy.)
There are many folk remedies which claim to avoid stinging eyes and tears, but there is really no single cure for everyone. Onion goggles apparently work, but I wear contact lenses so cutting off the air supply may avoid sulfuric acid build-up, but it starves my eyes of oxygen and they start to sting anyway. No success there. Cutting onions under running water is another old wives remedy. That's pretty dangerous and stupid - you're combining a knife with a viewing obstacle (tap/faucet, running water, all in your way) so I definitely do NOT recommend that. And it doesn't work for me anyway.
The only thing I've found that's remotely effective doesn't guarantee tear free cutting, but it does prevent it often enough that when I DO tear up it's a significant event. And it uses no gadgets and no crazy schemes. And no old wives were harmed in the development of this solution.
First, store your onions in a drawer or similar cool, dry place and not in the fridge. Second, cut them with a sharp, well maintained knife and don't press down too hard. Use nice, gentle slicing motions. The stinging-eye problem is caused by sulfur compounds reaching your eyes because you're breaking down cell walls when cutting. A sharp knife will break fewer cell walls when used. Also if you cut gently you will apply less pressure to the blade so adjacent cell walls will not be pulled toward the knife and ruptured. I don't know why having your onion at room temperature helps, but I suspect it may be that sulfur at ambient room temperature is less likely to move around as quickly because it's more in stasis with the air around it. (If that is rubbish, please let me know in the comments section - I'm guessing, but I'd love to know if the temperature differential of the onion and air matters. Why? Because it sounds cool!)
All this seems to lead to less sulfur being released, less sulfur moving around and therefore less sulfuric acid building up in your eyes. Make it sharp, take it easy. This works for me, and I hope it works for you, but please let me know either way!
This brings us nicely round to the subject of how best to cut an onion. Anybody can figure out how to cut almost any vegetable, but cutting it quickly, consistently, and above all easily is what we're after. The three cuts most recipes call for are sliced, diced and minced.
PREPARING ONIONS
To prep an onion, first chop the stalk end off.
The root is the bit with several stringy bits hanging off, and the stalk is the other end. Cut the onion in half from root-end to stalk-end, and peel the skin off each half. (It's easier to peel the skin off half an onion than it is to peel it off a whole onion.) You can use a paring knife to help here - think of the knife as an extension to your hands and, when trying to grab onion skin, as an extension to your fingernails. It turns out Freddy Krueger was onto a good thing after all... An optional step here is to leave some of the thicker skin near the root-end intact and pull it back over the root instead of removing it completely. This gives you a little more to grab onto and makes the actual cutting easier.
After getting your onion ready to cut, follow the appropriate method below to get your slice, your dice or your mince.
To slice an onion
To slice, simply hold the onion with your non-cutting hand (thumb tucked under your palm and holding the skin, fingertips tucked in on top, and using your knuckles to guide the blade) and slice across the onion. If you want shorter slices, cut once down the length of the onion almost to the root, but not through it. Always leave the root intact and sacrifice the 1/4 inch-or-so of onion adjacent to the root in order to have a stable, safe cutting platform.
To dice an onion
Place the onion cut-side down and slice perpendicular to the root. Try to make each cut about 1/4 - 1/8 of an inch wide, depending on how fine a dice you're trying to achieve.
Next, turn your knife so the blade is parallel to the chopping board and make a few incisions through the onion starting at the stalk end and stopping just shy of the root. Go slow and gentle, as pushing too hard could make you slip and nick a finger! BAD! At this point nothing (or at least very little) should be falling off your onion. It should have a grid of cuts going almost through to the root on two planes.
Lastly, start at the stem-end of the onion and slice across the first cuts, again trying to keep each slice consistent. With each of these cuts your onion should be falling into a nice even dice on the cutting board.
To mince an onion
Cut the halved onion once more into quarters, and cut one quarter at a time. Place one of the flat sides on the board and make several thin cuts almost through to the root. Turn the onion over onto its other flat side and repeat. Cut across the onion, perpendicular to the other cuts, to produce a fine mince. (I'm not very good at this mincing technique, and usually resort to dicing and then chopping the resulting dice...)
I'm yet to find an easy, consistent method for cutting onion rings, but so far a fork stuck through the root works OK for holding the onion while slicing all the way through. Big onions mean you have to use a two-pronged carving fork, which can be a little awkward. I'll let you know if I crack easy onion rings...
COOKING ONIONS
After we've prepped our onion as called for by a recipe it's time to cook it (and why do recipes "call" for things instead of just listing or stating them? Just curious.) Recipes are usually pretty good at telling you how to proceed with your onion once it's ready to go in the pan, but these recipes rarely explain what they're actually asking you to do. Does the recipe say "brown", "saute" or "sweat"? None of these means "fry". Recipes tend to assume you know the difference between these methods, but I messed up a lot of meals because I assumed they were all the same thing. Here's what I found out:
Sweating means heating the onions slowly in a small amount of oil until they are getting to be almost see-through (translucent) but without browning. This usually takes about 6 or 7 minutes, with smaller onion pieces taking less time (because there's more surface area in the pan for the heat to get to.) Sweated onions taste mild, but have not become sweet yet.
Sauteing requires a wide frying pan with sloped sides - more correctly called a "saute pan" - which is preheated BEFORE adding the oil. The food is added in a single layer immediately after the oil, so if you have loads of food and a small pan, do it in batches instead of crowding. (If you crowd it'll simply reduce the heat of the pan and you won't be sauteing anymore - you'll be stewing.) Onions are sauteed for a few minutes over high heat, moving them around often but not constantly. The aim is to brown them a little while still keeping vibrant colours and flavours, and the whole operation should take only 3-5 minutes if that. Because a saute is quick and hot, you probably should avoid cooking in any expensive, tasty oils (e.g. extra-virgin olive oil) but would be better off using more "neutral" oils. I use regular olive oil.
Incidentally the sloped sides of a saute pan allow steam to escape quicker than from a straight-sided pan - giving you crisper food - while also allowing the food to be easily turned or tossed to produce even results. If you're going to toss your food instead of use a spatula to turn it, be very mindful of the oil and how much you use!
Browning your onions means cooking them over medium heat for anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they're a golden colour.
Caramelized onions are cooked very slowly over low heat - for up to about an hour - until they are soft and brown. Caramelized onions will usually reduce to about half their volume after so much low-heat cooking, and that's normal. You should still keep an eye on them though - don't get too distracted by Walker Texas Ranger and forget to check in on them.
So now that we've covered (albeit briefly) the origins, differences, drawbacks, preparation and cooking of onions, I thought it best to wrap up with a recipe. Well, it's not so much a recipe in and of itself, but rather a base for a variety of different dishes.
Mirepoix
Mirepoix is a combination of sauteed onions, carrots and celery, and preparing this and adding a bunch of different stuff results in totally different meals. Add lots of stock, some cooked shredded chicken and some noodles and you have Chicken Noodle Soup. Add less stock, stewing beef, a tablespoon of pearl barley and some herbs and in a couple of hours you have Beef Stew. Mirepoix is of French descent and is cooked in butter. If you don't like French cooking (or still call your fries "Freedom Fries") then use olive oil instead of butter. This is the Italian base known as soffritto. It's pretty simple to prepare:
Ingredients:
1 onion, diced (or leek if you prefer)
1 carrot, diced
1 celery rib, diced
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
1 sprig of thyme (optional)
Method:
Melt the butter in a saute pan and add the carrot, cooking gently over medium heat, for about 2mins.
Add the celery and simmer a further 1minute, before adding the onion and sprig of thyme. Continue simmering until the vegetables are soft, about 6mins or so.
Use as a base for sauces, roasts, soups, stews, etc.
Below is mirepoix cooking in a saute pan, but please note that the onions in this case are halved then sliced, not diced. (I was using it to make chicken and barley soup and wanted longer pieces of onion.)
This scales pretty well too. If you look at the ingredients list we have one onion, one carrot and one rib of celery. The onion alone will make about the same amount of dice as the carrot and celery combined, so the ratio of ingredients is pretty much 2:1. If you need a cup of mirepoix, use 1/2 cup onion, and 1/4 each of carrot and celery. Or you can use 2 onions, 2 carrots and 2 ribs of celery. And so on.
That's all, folks...
Well, after getting through this I'm honestly hoping you're not sick of onions and it just remains for me to encourage you to take advantage of this versatile vegetable. And to thank my readers for making it this far through this long post. So a great big thank you to both of you!
