How to cook caramelized onions at home

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Every person at least once in their life has tasted caramel candy, which is obtained by heating and toasting sugar. With this process, you can get not only such a sweet treat. The natural sugar content of fruits and vegetables makes it possible to caramelize most of them.

What is caramelization?

The process of oxidation of sugar under the influence of high temperatures is called caramelization. When heated, its crystals are destroyed, water evaporates, the consistency becomes viscous, and the color becomes dark brown. Natural sugar, which is contained in vegetables, is released with an increase in temperature, and with prolonged languor, they also acquire a similar color. The most commonly used in cooking is caramelized onion. This is the familiar dressing for soups and borscht.

Features of onion caramelization

From vegetables, onions are most often caramelized. Although it has a bitter taste, it containsthere is even more natural sugar than in apples.

To get a truly sweet onion with a pleasant caramel flavor, it is best to choose large heads for cooking. Shallots and red onions are especially high in sugar.

The pan should have a thick bottom. Ideally, if it is made of cast iron. But it is better to refuse to use a Teflon coating for caramelizing onions, otherwise the finished dish will have an unpleasant aftertaste.

It takes time to get caramelized onions. It is impossible to cook this dish in 10 minutes, especially if you fry over high heat. The average time required for caramelization is 30 minutes at low temperature. The texture of the onion is soft, as if stewed, but drier and with a pronounced sweetish-nutty flavor.

Caramelized onions: cooking recipe

Cooking caramelized onions is easy.

But you can achieve a good result only if you adhere to a certain technology.

How to caramelize onions:

1. First, a large onion must be cut into half rings.
2. Heat some vegetable (butter) oil in a frying pan. It is important to keep the proportion here. If there is little oil, then the onion can burn, if there is a lot, it can become sugary fat. The optimal ratio: for one onion, you need to take a tablespoon of oil.
3. Pour chopped onion intofrying pan and gently mix with oil.
4. Fry at low temperature, stirring occasionally with a wooden spatula to prevent the onion from burning.
5. Minimum cooking time is 20 minutes. If the onion starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, you can add a couple of tablespoons of water.
6. Ready caramelized onion has a dark brown color.

In what dishes is it used? French Onion Soup

Caramelized onions have a versatile taste. Due to this, it is added to vegetable and meat dishes, and is also used as a filling for pies. In general, caramelized onions are an indispensable component of any first course. But often, in order to save time, it is not brought to the desired state, which, of course, affects the taste of the culinary product.

French onion soup has such a deep rich taste thanks to properly caramelized onions.

How to cook it? For 2 liters of broth you will need 750 g of onion, a couple of tablespoons of butter, a clove of garlic, 150 g of cheese, your favorite herbs and spices. First, garlic is fried in butter, then chopped onions are added to it and vegetables continue to simmer over low heat for about an hour. When the onions are soft and caramelized, it's time to pour in the broth, s alt, Provencal herbs, thyme, and black pepper. Serve soup with crackers, and be sure to sprinkle grated cheese on top. This is delicious! Bon appetit!