Onions

[MaryIsobel]

Funny story about onions. My mother grew up on a big farm in northern Manitoba. Lots of hired hands. Of course my grandmother was in charge of feeding everyone. She made sure to fry up a couple of onions first thing before dinner prep, so everyone who came through the door said "something smells good in here." Bought her a little time.

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

1 hour ago, MaryIsobel said:

Funny story about onions. My mother grew up on a big farm in northern Manitoba. Lots of hired hands. Of course my grandmother was in charge of feeding everyone. She made sure to fry up a couple of onions first thing before dinner prep, so everyone who came through the door said "something smells good in here." Bought her a little time.

Love it!

 

If I shop in our local mercado I will find only white-skinned and red-skinned onions, and occasionally smaller white ones like you'd use to pickle. Never scallions or shallots.  I can find yellow onions in large grocery stores in Morelia if I happen to be there. I've just grown accustomed to using the white and red ones. Almost all white onions are sold with their greens still attached, though you pay for that (they're sold by weight). The vendor always asks if you want to have the tops removed, which they generally do by just ripping them off by hand. 

 

I have a huge amount of garlic chives in the garden. Their delicate flowers are a nice addition in mixed flower arrangements. But they have very little garlic flavor or aroma so I use them in place of regular round chives.

[KennethT]

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

... but my favourite local allium has to be Allium tuberosum, 韭菜 (Mand: jiǔ cài; Cant: gau2 coi3), garlic chives. We get them in three formats.

Regular

 

 

Left to grow a little. they develop flower buds. At this stage, they are sold as 韭花 (Mand: jiǔ huā; Cant: gau2 faa1) where 花 means 'flower'.  so, flowering garlic chives

 

 

Then my favourite of the favourites.  韭黄 (Mand: jiǔ huáng; Cant: gau2 wong4), which are the stems  of the same plant, but grown under reduced light conditions so that they do not develop the green colour, but are yellow, the meaning of 黄. To my palate and nose, this technique also increases the garlic flavour and scent considerably. This is a good thing in my book.
 

 

I love when I get home with these and open the bag and the whole kitchen fills with the scent of garlic (in a good way).

 

I always have these in my refrigerator. I get them from the Hmart - normal supermarkets don't carry them. As the week goes on, they really perfume the refrigerator!

[heidih]

38 minutes ago, KennethT said:

I always have these in my refrigerator. I get them from the Hmart - normal supermarkets don't carry them. As the week goes on, they really perfume the refrigerator!

Love them - grow the green, don't care for the yellow blanched, and buy when I can with the flower bud- like the pop.

 

California has lots of wild onions Some consider them invasive in cultured garden beds. I dig them up and transplant at home. A green garlic flavor, hardy and pretty https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=41179

Edited December 21, 2022 by heidih (log)

[liuzhou]

Brace yourself!
Besides red onions, the most common onions round these parts are these: 大葱 (dà cōng), literally 'big onion'.

 

 

Dictionaries tend to translate that as 'green Chinese onion' or 'leek' or give the scientific name, Allium fistulosum. 'Leeks' aren't allium fistulosum, but Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum, also known as Allium porrum, so I am dismissing 'leeks', leaving Allium fistulosum which is usually taken to be scallions, green onions, spring onions, as you prefer. However, that group is actually Allium ascalonicum and Allium Fistulosum is more properly Welsh onions, which lie somewhere between onions and leeks. Are you confused yet?

 

I''m going to call them sybows or sybies (the 'sy' is pronounced 'sigh'), the Scots variation of the now obsolete English term chibol or cibol. The Scottish version lives on in some dialects, including mine, in which we prefer sybies! Or I'll stick with the Chinese notion and call them 'big onions'. 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

They did remind me of the negi that @torakris often spoke of

[AAQuesada]

I've seen Negi called Welsh onion's to my taste the are like a milder leek in flavor

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, AAQuesada said:

I've seen Negi called Welsh onion's to my taste the are like a milder leek in flavor

 

Negi (ネギ) is just the Japanese for Welsh onion.

[Bernie]

Why does just about every recipe for "cooking or browning onions to soft and translucent"almost always state a time of 3~5 minutes?

In practice the real time is 20~25mins.

 

Perhaps it is one of those great urban myths that seems destined to persist because even "experienced" cooks on the internet are afraid that no one will try their recipe if it takes an extra 20 minutes to prepare😀

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Bernie said:

Why does just about every recipe for "cooking or browning onions to soft and translucent"almost always state a time of 3~5 minutes?

Yes.  And they all say that onions can be deeply caramelized in ~ 10 minutes!  Seems like it would be much less frustrating for beginner cooks if they gave real world times! 

 

While I'm here, I'll mention that caramelizing 4 or 5 lbs of onions and storing them in a zip-lock in the freezer is such a great time saver.  Just a few minutes ago, I broke off a chunk, thawed in the MW, spread on toasted baguette slices, topped with pecorino Romano and broiled a bit.  Mmmmmmm. Perfect with a glass of red. 

[liuzhou]

I confess myself baffled by onion powder. It seems that almost every American recipe uses it (slight exaggeration!) Same with garlic powder. I'm sure it is available in Europe, but have never seen it in the stores or seen anyone use it. If we want onions, we use onions. If we want garlic, we use garlic.

 

What is the explanation? Don't you have access to real onions and garlic?

 

Onion Powder

 

Thinking about this odd culinary phenonemon, I went looking for onion powder in China. It is available. In 100 cwt sacks for industrial usage. It is also available in more sensibly sized containers for use in the domestic kitchen - but only from expensive import stores. (Even though it was probably produced in China, in the first place.)

 

The only thing I do come across other than fresh onions (in many  forms) and garlic is this dried wild onion, although I've no idea what people do with it. I have asked friends, but just get blank looks.

 

 

Most mysterious.

Edited December 23, 2022 by liuzhou (log)

[Tropicalsenior]

5 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

And they all say that onions can be deeply caramelized in ~ 10 minutes!  

It can be done, they will get brown in 10 minutes, but what beginners don't realize is that they're not caramelized, they're burnt.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Tropicalsenior (log)

[Anna N]

4 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I confess myself baffled by onion powder. It

Click.

I am not in the least ashamed to say that I have both onion powder and garlic powder close at hand when I am cooking. Both have their place and fresh garlic and fresh onion cannot do the job. 

[scubadoo97]

Typically see yellow, reds, shallots, green onions and chives in the grocery store.   I buy the yellows and shallots most often.  Like the shallots due to their size being smaller but also they are a little milder 

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

Click.

I am not in the least ashamed to say that I have both onion powder and garlic powder close at hand when I am cooking. Both have their place and fresh garlic and fresh onion cannot do the job. 

Dry rubs spring to mind as a use-case where fresh onions and garlic don't work.

 

I make lavish use of fresh onions and garlic - I've spoken elsewhere about the massive hardneck garlic I grow in my garden - but have, and use, both powders as well.

[Tropicalsenior]

It is not so much of a problem now but there were times of the year that you couldn't buy a decent onion or a decent head of garlic to save your soul. We still have that problem in Costa Rica at times because most of the produce is local. When that happens, it's handy to have some garlic powder on hand. I don't like onion powder but dehydrated onion saved my dinner more than once when I reached for my last onion and found it had turned to mush.

[heidih]

As others noted there are times wiith bare pantry but you want that flavor. Like @Tropicalsenior I do not use onion powder but the dehydrated flakes are useful, can use in coatings too You see the fried shallots or garlic in jars for cheap in ethnic markets but when not available the dehydrated ones can work. Also for rubs on the garlic as @chromedomesaid. I orefer onion juice in a marinade to powder.  Also if you have hand issues, there are days when dealing with fresh is not happening and the dry form can save a dish. I'll note that garlic powder is not in my pantry - prefer  granulated. Really all my locals carry. So not the same as fresh of course, various uses - not to be sniffed at - or up -.oh that onion powder - do not do as my ENT said about Afrin "inhale like the best you ever got". Nope. 

[Tropicalsenior]

2 minutes ago, heidih said:

prefer  granulated

That's what I use, too. Garlic powder, especially here in the tropics just turns into nasty clumps.

[FauxPas]

18 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I confess myself baffled by onion powder. It seems that almost every American recipe uses it (slight exaggeration!) Same with garlic powder. I'm sure it is available in Europe, but have never seen it in the stores or seen anyone use it. If we want onions, we use onions. If we want garlic, we use garlic.

 

What is the explanation? Don't you have access to real onions and garlic?

 

Like others, I often use the powdered or granulated forms as components in a dry rub, especially for beef and pork. 

Edited December 23, 2022 by FauxPas (log)

[kayb]

On 12/22/2022 at 9:18 PM, blue_dolphin said:

Yes.  And they all say that onions can be deeply caramelized in ~ 10 minutes!  Seems like it would be much less frustrating for beginner cooks if they gave real world times! 

 

While I'm here, I'll mention that caramelizing 4 or 5 lbs of onions and storing them in a zip-lock in the freezer is such a great time saver.  Just a few minutes ago, I broke off a chunk, thawed in the MW, spread on toasted baguette slices, topped with pecorino Romano and broiled a bit.  Mmmmmmm. Perfect with a glass of red. 

I have always thought the highest and best use of a slow cooker was to cram as full of sliced raw onions as possible, add a stick of butter, turn it on low, and go away for 18 hours. It will get quite fragrant, but it yields about six cups  of gloriously caramelized onions.

 

On 12/22/2022 at 11:02 PM, liuzhou said:

I confess myself baffled by onion powder. It seems that almost every American recipe uses it (slight exaggeration!) Same with garlic powder. I'm sure it is available in Europe, but have never seen it in the stores or seen anyone use it. If we want onions, we use onions. If we want garlic, we use garlic.

 

What is the explanation? Don't you have access to real onions and garlic?

 

Onion Powder

 

Thinking about this odd culinary phenonemon, I went looking for onion powder in China. It is available. In 100 cwt sacks for industrial usage. It is also available in more sensibly sized containers for use in the domestic kitchen - but only from expensive import stores. (Even though it was probably produced in China, in the first place.)

 

The only thing I do come across other than fresh onions (in many  forms) and garlic is this dried wild onion, although I've no idea what people do with it. I have asked friends, but just get blank looks.

 

 

Most mysterious.

 

I cook a lot with fresh onions and garlic, but I would not be without both in powder form. First, in recipes that either do not cook or cook relatively briefly, I find both to have a harsh, astringent flavor. Second, I do not care for the texture of a chunk of onion cooked in, say, a meat loaf. Onions cooked in things should be cooked almost to the point they dissolve. Third, one of my sons in law tolerates onion flavor just fine, but gags at the texture.

 

Plus dry rubs, barbecue sauces, etc.

[Darienne]

22 minutes ago, kayb said:

I have always thought the highest and best use of a slow cooker was to cram as full of sliced raw onions as possible, add a stick of butter, turn it on low, and go away for 18 hours. It will get quite fragrant, but it yields about six cups  of gloriously caramelized onions.

Thank you, thank you.  I just feel as if I've received the best Christmas gift of all (besides getting our power and our water back again.)  Thank you kayb.

[gulfporter]

One item I miss here are scallions.  Mexican 'green' onions are a far cry from scallions. 

 

They have large white bulbs.  The bulb is the desired part; the green shoots are left to dry, shrivel and die.  These onions are not refrigerated so the green part dries up fast. 

 

Once in a rare while I will see a fresh batch of these green onions with some of the green shoots still firm.  

[FauxPas]

1 hour ago, gulfporter said:

One item I miss here are scallions.  Mexican 'green' onions are a far cry from scallions. 

 

They have large white bulbs.  The bulb is the desired part; the green shoots are left to dry, shrivel and die.  These onions are not refrigerated so the green part dries up fast. 

 

Once in a rare while I will see a fresh batch of these green onions with some of the green shoots still firm.  

 

Do you do any gardening there, @gulfporter? It might not be too hard to grow some scallions. 

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, Darienne said:

I have always thought the highest and best use of a slow cooker was to cram as full of sliced raw onions as possible, add a stick of butter, turn it on low, and go away for 18 hours. It will get quite fragrant, but it yields about six cups  of gloriously caramelized onions.

I tried this on more than one occasion with great hope. Never did I find that they held a candle to caramelized onions. There was something about both the taste and texture that put me off. But if it works for you, that’s great. 

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

I tried this on more than one occasion with great hope. Never did I find that they held a candle to caramelized onions. There was something about both the taste and texture that put me off. But if it works for you, that’s great. 

kayb said this.