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Home › Articles › Food A-Z › From Caramelized to Fried

From Caramelized to Fried

The Many Layers of Onions

By Kelly Burgess

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When you purchase onions, look for firm orbs that seem heavy for their size and have no brown or soft spots. Avoid those that have begun to sprout. Onions are often sold in net bags – try eyeing the bulk of them through the bag to make sure there are no obvious flaws. When you get them home, it pays to open the bag and sort the onions, removing any with brown spots because rot can spread and quickly ruin the entire bag. Store them in a cool, dry location, and they'll keep for about two weeks. According to Roberts-Dominguez, product managers are often busy and will just dump new shipments of sweet onions in old displays. If you specifically want, say, an OSO sweet onion as opposed to some other brand, be sure to check the label on the onion and don't just trust the display.

Using Onions
There are as many ways of using onions as there are varieties, but the most popular, without a doubt, is to use it as a flavoring. There are few sauces, casseroles or any multi-ingredient dishes that don't contain onion – either chopped, minced, sliced or quartered. In fact, Maggie Waldron, an American author and editor, once said, "It's probably illegal to make soups, stews and casseroles without plenty of onions."

But the onion doesn't need to be a supporting player. While the sweet onions are delicious raw in a variety of dishes, all onions love long, slow-cooking techniques. This is called "caramelizing," and it brings out the onion's natural sweetness. It's also very simple.

To caramelize onions, just heat a small amount of butter or oil in a skillet over low heat, add sliced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to brown. For a low-fat version, use water.


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