Hi Everyone, Sweat is one of the least appetizing words when it comes to food and cooking, but sweated onions are a key part to cooking many dishes.
To sweat onions means to cook chopped or sliced onions on low heat until they are softened, tender, and translucent. As the onions cook on the low gentle heat, they become sweeter. Sweated onions never develop colour or rather they are never intended to advance to the stage of getting a colour as that will then impact on the flavour and colour of dish in which it is to be used. For example, colourless sweated onions – as unappetizing as it sounds – are a key base for white sauces, risottos, sautéed vegetables and shine rice among other things.
There are different approaches to sweating onions and all are workable as they inevitably lead to the same end results – softened, 
sweet, colourless, cooked onions. The following are the various methods used:
● Fat (oil, butter or a combination) and onions are added at the same time to a cold pan and cooked over low heat.
● Fat is heated first and then the onions added, once added to the heated oil, the temperature is reduced to low.
● Onions cooking in the fat over low heat are covered so that the trapped steam that builds up drips back on to the onions.
● Onions cooking in the fat over heat are cooked uncovered with salt added to the onions to draw out some of the moisture from the onions so that it can cook gently in its own juices.
My approach is to first heat the oil, add the onions along with a sprinkling of salt and then reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered. Works for me every time.
Sweating onions, takes time so you have to be patient. Sweated onions, depending on quantity, will vary; on average it can take from 5 to 10 to 12 minutes. It may seem like a long time at this initial stage of cooking but it is totally worth it, let me tell you why.
The softened onion, cooked in its own juices, releases its sweetness and aromatic flavour into any dish in which it is used as the foundation ingredient. By foundation ingredient I mean that it is the first (foundation) stage of whatever you are making that requires sweated onions. The onions offer not just their flavour but also provide moisture and tenderness to the food and blends well with added aromatics and flavours.
When we cook we are layering and building flavours, therefore, you will find many recipes that will suggest adding ingredients such as garlic, tomatoes, fresh herbs and spices after the onions have been softened. What this means is that whatever you are making will have depth of flavour. It is about cooking using a technique to develop flavour. This is why you can give people the same list of ingredients and ask them to make an identical dish but each version comes up tasting different. If all the aromatics are added at the same time, it has one flavour, if the aromatics are layered they yield a different flavour. If all the aromatics are added in their raw state (without being cooked through sweating or sautéing) then it will have even another flavour.
Sweated onions are good for stuffing, meatballs and meatloaf(s), certain types of fritters, many one-pot rice dishes, pate and certain styles of curries and stews.
Give your onions a workout, and they will turn out some tasty food, sweat them!
Cynthia
