The Spice Guys
3/327 The Esplanade, Scarness,
Hervey Bay Qld 4655
Pickled Onions Recipe
Pickled Onion Recipe
Ingredients:- 2 kg small onions (brown or white, or any mix of brown and
white is O.K.)- 1.5 litres vinegar (see notes) - Pickling spices. (see
notes) - Sugar (see notes) - Salt (see notes) Notes:-
The vinegar should be at least 6% acidity. Cheap supermarket vinegars do
not seem to indicate the acidity on the label, so are probably less than
6%. Almost any mixture of vinegars seem to work well; cider, wine,
spirit or malt, depending on preference. Good quality vinegars (7% or
above will increase the overall acidity) The picking spices I use are
"Kumari Aussie Mix Pickling Spices" available in local supermarkets in
100gmpacks. They consist of several types of peppercorns; black, white,
brown and of differing sizes. Also in the pack are some small seed
husks, which may be mace. To this I add a cinnamon stick and a few bay
leaves [bay leaves are included in our mix], but the choice is up to
individual taste. The sugar is added to take off the sharpness of the
acidity of the vinegar and the amount used will vary depending on
personal taste. The salt is used to make a brine to soak the onions and
the amount depends on the size of the container used.
Method:-
Skin the onions, removing the outer membranes and any blemishes. Place
the onions in a large container (plastic or enamel coated, not metal),
cover with water and add salt to make brine. The amount of salt is not
critical: I add salt slowly until the water becomes slightly cloudy.
Place container in a cool place overnight, to allow the brine to draw
out the juices in the onions. Next morning, pour the vinegar into a
heating pan, add the spices and heat slowly until the mix reaches
boiling point. Turn the heat down, and, stirring occasionally, simmer
until the spices have infused their flavour into the vinegar (test this
by smell or, if you can bear it, by tasting; about 20 minutes is
enough). Turn off the heat and add 3 tablespoons of granulated white
sugar; stir and allow to dissolve. Taste vinegar to see if its acidity
is sufficiently reduced for your liking. If acidity is too strong, add 1
tablespoon of sugar and taste again. Repeat until the balance between
acidity and sweetness is to you liking. Set aside the vinegar mix and
allow to cool to room temperature. Strain the brine off the onions and
rinse onions in fresh water to remove any residual brine. Pack onions
tightly into glass containers . The containers should be of the type
that can be capped (coffee companies sell their coffee in glass jars
with half glass/ half plastic lids, which are ideal), but not sealed, as
the vinegar/sugar mix can cause some fermentation and build-up of
pressure. Pour the cool vinegar into the containers until all the onions
are covered. Don’t be afraid to allow some of the spices to go into the
containers; not only is it visually appealing, by where the spices come
into contact with an onion, they impart an extra flavour. Place
containers in a safe, cool storage for 4 weeks, after which the onions
can be tasted. They should be really good. Enjoy them. If you feel they
have not sufficiently absorbed the spiced vinegar (i.e., still taste
like ordinary onions), then leave another 2 weeks and try again.
However,
they have a limited lifespan, and will start to go soft if kept too
long, although this can be increased by refrigeration. 8 months is
probably the limit, when stored at 20 deg C or less. Remember this:-
pickled onions made to this recipe are quite aggressively acid (unless
you add heaps of sugar), so they should not be eaten with other
strong-tasting foods ( i.e. blue cheese) The Flavours will conflict. A
more bland cheese and unsalted biscuits are more
suitable!
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