Hi Everyone, It’s been almost 13 years since my first taste of fried onions and the memory is still as fresh as if it were yesterday.
It was the beginning of fall (autumn) and friends and I took a car trip in the US Midwest to a fair – Indiana’s Covered Bridge Festival. The festival celebrates the county’s 31 covered bridges. It was a sunny day, the various shades of green from the trees and grass, mixed with the red, yellow, orange and tan colours of leaves and trees all around made for a stunning, picturesque setting. It was breathtaking. I want to go back… There were lots of craft, fun, markets, and merriment, and of course food!
My friend Alice bought (what I later learnt) a blooming onion for us to share and snack on as we strolled from one bridge to another. It was the first time I had seen a blooming onion much less tasted one. A blooming onion is a large onion that has been cut into thin slices with the slices still attached at the root (think of an open lotus flower with its perfectly opened petals). Once cut, the onion is then dipped into flour and then into a batter and deep fried, cut side down, until lightly brown, it is served hot with a dipping sauce. As we walked, Alice held the onion and I the dipping sauce. At first I didn’t think I’d like the fried onion but after the first bite, I was hooked. Crisp on the outside, sweet and tender on the inside. We walked. We talked. We ate.
A couple of weeks later on the plane ride back to Barbados, I wondered if I’d be able to get a blooming onion at one of the restaurants. I had seen onion rings on lots of the menus but no blooming onion. The blooming onion would be considered pub food so I started calling around the eateries in Barbados that I figured might have the blooming onion on the menu. As luck would have it, I found one place that had it on the menu. I ordered it for pick up.
Trembling with excitement, the container warm my hands, I walked quickly back to the car, lifted the lid of the container and stared lovingly at the blooming onion. Perfectly battered uniformed petals. I thought how wonderful it is to experience something when you travel and then to come home and find it too. It tasted okay. I mean it wasn’t bad. I found the batter was very thick and not as crisp as it should be. I gave up after a few pieces, and, being one not to waste food, I chopped up the rest of it when I got home to add to the stuffing I was going to make the following day.
Since then, I’ve stayed away from fried onions because I want it light and crisp and I can never seem to get it that way when eating out. Maybe I have to go back to the Covered Bridge Festival to get my fix. Or, maybe, I can find a substitute version of fried onions in the form of shoestring fried onions. Oh yeah!
5 ingredients (including salt and pepper) is all you need to make a mess of crisp fried onions with which you can top your burger, fries, steak, mashed potatoes or eat like a snack, just like that! You don’t even need a sauce for it.
Give it a try.
Shoestring Fried Onions
INGREDIENTS
● 2 large onions, peeled and sliced thinly into rounds
● 2 cups whole milk
● 1 + ½ cups all-purpose seasoning
● Salt and pepper to taste
● Oil for deep frying
DIRECTIONS
1. Add the sliced onions to a shallow baking dish and separate the rings.
2. Pour the milk all over the onions and toss them gently, you want to get some moisture onto them. Do worry if all of the onions are not completely submerged in the milk.
3. Add the flour to a large bowl and season generously with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Heat oil on medium heat until hot but not smoking. The oil should shimmer a little on the surface.
5. Working in batches, take some of the onions, shake off the excess liquid and put the onion rings into the flour and toss to coat completely. Shake off the excess flour.
6. Add to heated oil and fry until gently brown, remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat until all the onions are fried.
NOTES
● Use buttermilk if you prefer. To make your own, add 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice to the milk and let stand at room temperature for 15 – 20 minutes.
● Season the flour with paprika or any dry spice seasoning you like.
● Keep the onions crisp in a warm (140 – 160 degrees F) oven while cooking in batches.
Cynthia
